Create Your First PDF Document with the New PDF Document API

• May 13, 2026
• 8 minutes to read

Important

You need a license for the DevExpress Office File API Subscription or DevExpress Universal Subscription to use this library in production code.

Follow this tutorial to get started with the DevExpress PDF Document API for .NET and .NET Framework.

Create a .NET Application

1. Start Visual Studio and create a new Console Application project.

2. Install the DevExpress.Docs.Pdf package.

Read Tutorial: Choose Between Offline and Online DevExpress NuGet Feeds

Create a .NET Framework Application

1. Start Visual Studio and create a new Console Application (.NET Framework) project.

2. Install the DevExpress.Docs.Pdf package, or add references to the following libraries if you installed the products with the DevExpress Unified Component Installer:

   • DevExpress.Docs.Pdf.v26.1.dll
   • DevExpress.Data.v26.1.dll
   • DevExpress.Drawing.v26.1.dll
   • DevExpress.Printing.v26.1.Core.dll
   • DevExpress.Office.v26.1.Core.dll
   • DevExpress.Docs.Core.v26.1.dll

Create an Empty PDF Document

Paste the following code into the Program.Main() method to create a new empty PDF document:

Program.cs

using DevExpress.Docs.Pdf;

namespace DxPdfGetStarted;

public class Program {
    public static void Main(string[] _) {
        // Create a new PDF document.
        using (PdfDocument pdfDocument = new PdfDocument()) {
        }
    }
}

Module1.vb

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Pdf

Namespace DxPdfGetStarted

    Public Class Program

        Public Shared Sub Main(ByVal underscore() As String)
            ' Create a new PDF document.
            Using pdfDocument As New PdfDocument()
            End Using
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

Add a Page

Call the PageCollection.Add method to add a page to the document. You can specify a standard paper size or custom dimensions.

C#

// Proceed with the code from the previous step...
// Add an A4 page to the document.
Page page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4);

VB.NET

' Proceed with the code from the previous step...
' Add an A4 page to the document.
Dim page As Page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4)

For more information about page operations, refer to the following help topic: Organize Pages.

Add Text

Call the Page.AddTextFragment method to add text to the page. You can pass a simple string with coordinates, or create a TextFragment object to specify font, size, and other formatting options.

The following code snippet adds a title and a paragraph to the page:

C#

// Proceed with the code from the previous step...
// Add a title.
page.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "Quarterly Sales Report",
    Location = new PointF(50, 770),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Bold),
    FontSize = 24
});

// Add a paragraph.
page.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "This report summarizes sales data " +
        "for Q1 2026.",
    Location = new PointF(50, 730),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
    FontSize = 12
});

VB.NET

' Proceed with the code from the previous step...
' Add a title.
page.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Quarterly Sales Report",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 770),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Bold),
    .FontSize = 24
})

' Add a paragraph.
page.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "This report summarizes sales data " &
        "for Q1 2026.",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 730),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
    .FontSize = 12
})

For more information about content operations, refer to the following help topic: Add Content to Pages.

Add an Image

Call the Page.AddImageFragment method to add an image to the page. Create an ImageFragment object and specify the image source and position.

C#

// Proceed with the code from the previous step...
// Add an image.
DXImage logo = DXImage.FromFile("logo.png");
page.AddImageFragment(new ImageFragment(logo)
{
    Location = new PointF(50, 600),
    Size = new SizeF(200, 100)
});

VB.NET

' Proceed with the code from the previous step...
' Add an image.
Dim logo As DXImage = DXImage.FromFile("logo.png")
page.AddImageFragment(New ImageFragment(logo) With {
    .Location = New PointF(50, 600),
    .Size = New SizeF(200, 100)
})

Add a Second Page

Add another page and populate it with content to create a multi-page document:

C#

// Proceed with the code from the previous step...
// Add a second page.
Page page2 = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4);

page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "Sales Breakdown by Region",
    Location = new PointF(50, 770),
    Font = new DXFont("Arial", 18),
    Bold = true
});

page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "North America: $1,250,000",
    Location = new PointF(50, 730),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
    FontSize = 12
});

page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "Europe: $980,000",
    Location = new PointF(50, 710),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
    FontSize = 12
});

page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
{
    Text = "Asia Pacific: $670,000",
    Location = new PointF(50, 690),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
    FontSize = 12
});

VB.NET

' Proceed with the code from the previous step...
' Add a second page.
Dim page2 As Page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4)

page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Sales Breakdown by Region",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 770),
    .Font = New DXFont("Arial", 18),
    .Bold = True
})

page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "North America: $1,250,000",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 730),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
    .FontSize = 12
})

page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Europe: $980,000",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 710),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
    .FontSize = 12
})

page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Asia Pacific: $670,000",
    .Location = New PointF(50, 690),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
    .FontSize = 12
})

Save the Document

Call the PdfDocument.Save method to save the document to a file:

C#

// Proceed with the code from the previous step...
using (FileStream outputStream =
    File.Create("SalesReport.pdf"))
{
    pdfDocument.Save(outputStream);
}

VB.NET

' Proceed with the code from the previous step...
Using outputStream As FileStream = _
        File.Create("SalesReport.pdf")
    pdfDocument.Save(outputStream)
End Using

The resulting PDF document looks like this:

Complete Code Sample

The following code snippet contains the complete code sample:

C#

using DevExpress.Docs.Pdf;

namespace DxPdfGetStarted;

public class Program {
    public static void Main(string[] _) {
        // Create a new PDF document.
        using (PdfDocument pdfDocument = new PdfDocument()) {
            // Add an A4 page to the document.
            Page page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4);

            // Add a title.
            page.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "Quarterly Sales Report",
                Location = new PointF(50, 770),
                Font = new TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Bold),
                FontSize = 24
            });

            // Add a paragraph.
            page.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "This report summarizes sales data " +
                    "for Q1 2026.",
                Location = new PointF(50, 730),
                Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
                FontSize = 12
            });

            // Add an image.
            DXImage logo = DXImage.FromFile("logo.png");
            page.AddImageFragment(new ImageFragment(logo)
            {
                Location = new PointF(50, 600),
                Size = new SizeF(200, 100)
            });

            // Add a second page.
            Page page2 = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4);

            page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "Sales Breakdown by Region",
                Location = new PointF(50, 770),
                Font = new DXFont("Arial", 18),
                Bold = true
            });

            page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "North America: $1,250,000",
                Location = new PointF(50, 730),
                Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
                FontSize = 12
            });

            page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "Europe: $980,000",
                Location = new PointF(50, 710),
                Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
                FontSize = 12
            });

            page2.AddTextFragment(new TextFragment
            {
                Text = "Asia Pacific: $670,000",
                Location = new PointF(50, 690),
                Font = new TextFont("Arial"),
                FontSize = 12
            });

            // Save the document.
            using (FileStream outputStream =
                File.Create("SalesReport.pdf"))
            {
                pdfDocument.Save(outputStream);
            }
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Pdf

Namespace DxPdfGetStarted

    Public Class Program

        Public Shared Sub Main(ByVal underscore() As String)
            ' Create a new PDF document.
            Using pdfDocument As New PdfDocument()
                ' Add an A4 page to the document.
                Dim page As Page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4)

                ' Add a title.
                page.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "Quarterly Sales Report",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 770),
                    .Font = New TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Bold),
                    .FontSize = 24
                })

                ' Add a paragraph.
                page.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "This report summarizes sales data " &
                        "for Q1 2026.",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 730),
                    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
                    .FontSize = 12
                })

                ' Add an image.
                Dim logo As DXImage = DXImage.FromFile("logo.png")
                page.AddImageFragment(New ImageFragment(logo) With {
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 600),
                    .Size = New SizeF(200, 100)
                })

                ' Add a second page.
                Dim page2 As Page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add(DXPaperKind.A4)

                page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "Sales Breakdown by Region",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 770),
                    .Font = New DXFont("Arial", 18),
                    .Bold = True
                })

                page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "North America: $1,250,000",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 730),
                    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
                    .FontSize = 12
                })

                page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "Europe: $980,000",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 710),
                    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
                    .FontSize = 12
                })

                page2.AddTextFragment(New TextFragment With {
                    .Text = "Asia Pacific: $670,000",
                    .Location = New PointF(50, 690),
                    .Font = New TextFont("Arial"),
                    .FontSize = 12
                })

                ' Save the document.
                Using outputStream As FileStream = _
                        File.Create("SalesReport.pdf")
                    pdfDocument.Save(outputStream)
                End Using
            End Using
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

Next Steps

For more information about the DevExpress PDF Document API for .NET, refer to the following help topics:

Add Content to Pages

Add text, images, and other content to PDF pages.

Organize Pages

Add, delete, reorder, and rotate pages in a PDF document

Print PDF Documents

Print PDF documents from your application