TerraFluent
TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting · v2.0.2

True PDF files, zero dependencies

A pure managed C# PDF 1.7 writer — invoices, reports, statements, labels, and certificates composed from fluent layout primitives. No native binaries, no headless browser, no third-party packages.

View on GitHub NuGet Getting started
NuGet version NuGet downloads MIT license
dotnet add package TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting
Quick start

A complete PDF in one lambda

Page setup, styled header, content column, page-numbered footer — published straight to a PDF that opens in every major viewer. Deterministic, code-first output with no browser engine to babysit.

  • Targets .NET 8 (LTS), .NET 9, and .NET 10 (LTS)
  • Built-in Helvetica, Times, and Courier families — no font embedding needed
  • Metric and imperial units via Unit helpers
using TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting.Core;
using TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting.Helpers;

PdfDocument.Create(container =>
{
    container.Page(page =>
    {
        page.Size(PageSize.A4);
        page.Margin(2, Unit.Centimetre);
        page.DefaultTextStyle(s => s.FontSize(11));

        page.Header()
            .Text("My Report").Bold().FontSize(24)
            .FontColor(Color.Blue.Darken2);

        page.Content().Column(col =>
        {
            col.Spacing(8);
            col.Item().Text("Hello, TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting!");
            col.Item()
               .Margin(6).Background(Color.Grey.Lighten4).Padding(10)
               .Text("Indented callout box").Bold();
        });

        page.Footer().AlignCenter().Text(t =>
        {
            t.Span("Page ");
            t.CurrentPageNumber().FontSize(9);
            t.Span(" / ");
            t.TotalPages().FontSize(9);
        });
    });
})
.PublishPdf("output.pdf");
Tables

Tables that paginate themselves

Relative and fixed-width columns, styled header rows, and full decorator support on every cell. Header rows repeat automatically on every continuation page when a table spans multiple pages.

  • RelativeColumn / ConstantColumn definitions
  • Backgrounds, padding, borders, and alignment per cell
  • Material-style Color palette with shade scales
container.Table(table =>
{
    table.ColumnsDefinition(cols =>
    {
        cols.RelativeColumn(4);
        cols.RelativeColumn(1);
        cols.ConstantColumn(70);
    });

    table.HeaderRow(row =>
    {
        row.Cell().Background("#1a4a8a").Padding(6)
           .Text("Description").Bold().FontColor(Color.White);
        row.Cell().Background("#1a4a8a").Padding(6).AlignCenter()
           .Text("Qty").Bold().FontColor(Color.White);
        row.Cell().Background("#1a4a8a").Padding(6).AlignRight()
           .Text("Price").Bold().FontColor(Color.White);
    });

    foreach (var item in lineItems)
    {
        table.Row(row =>
        {
            row.Cell().Padding(6).Text(item.Name);
            row.Cell().Padding(6).AlignCenter().Text(item.Qty.ToString());
            row.Cell().Padding(6).AlignRight().Text($"${item.Price:N2}");
        });
    }
});
Barcodes & QR codes

Code 128 and QR, rendered as vectors

Code 128 barcodes with optional human-readable captions, and a full ISO/IEC 18004 QR generator — versions 1–40, error-correction levels L/M/Q/H — drawn as vector rectangles that stay crisp at any zoom.

  • Custom module and background colours
  • Configurable quiet zones
  • Drop them anywhere — columns, rows, even table cells
container.Barcode("SKU-00042-A", width: 260, height: 50,
    hexColor: "#1A3C5E", showCaption: true);

container.QrCode("https://terrafluent.dev/", size: 90,
    level: QrErrorCorrectionLevel.Q);
Security

AES-256 encryption by default

Password-protect documents with the PDF 2.0 Standard Security Handler (Revision 6) — SHA-2 key derivation, no MD5 or RC4 in the chain. Legacy AES-128 remains available for very old viewers. Built entirely on System.Security.Cryptography.

  • User and owner passwords
  • Fine-grained PdfPermissions flags — print, copy, edit, fill forms
  • Opens in Acrobat, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Preview, and more
PdfDocument.Create(container =>
{
    container.Encrypt(new EncryptionOptions
    {
        UserPassword  = "open123",
        OwnerPassword = "admin456",
        Permissions   = PdfPermissions.Print | PdfPermissions.CopyText,
    });

    container.Page(page =>
    {
        page.Size(PageSize.A4);
        page.Content().Text("This PDF is password-protected.").Bold();
    });
})
.PublishPdf("protected.pdf");
Navigation

Automatic TOC, bookmarks, and links

A navigable Table of Contents is generated from your H1()–H6() headings by the two-pass layout engine. Add hierarchical PDF bookmarks, clickable hyperlinks, and internal GoTo links between sections.

  • container.TableOfContents() — placed wherever you call it
  • Anchor-based bookmarks track rendered content automatically
  • Hyperlink() and InternalLink() annotations
PdfDocument.Create(container =>
{
    // TOC page is placed first
    container.TableOfContents(p =>
    {
        p.Size(PageSize.A4);
        p.Margin(2, Unit.Centimetre);
    });

    container.Page(page =>
    {
        page.Content().Column(col =>
        {
            col.Item().H1("Chapter 1");
            col.Item().Text("Body text…");
            col.Item().H2("1.1 Details");
        });
    });
}).PublishPdf("output.pdf");
Vector graphics

A fluent canvas for drawing

Draw lines, rectangles, rounded boxes, circles, ellipses, Bézier paths, polygons, and grids directly inside any layout slot — perfect for custom charts, dividers, and diagrams, with no imaging library required.

  • Top-left origin, PDF-point coordinates
  • Chainable drawing commands
  • Fills the available width at the height you specify
container.Canvas(120, c =>
{
    c.FillRect(0, 0, 200, 80, Color.Blue.Lighten4);
    c.StrokeRect(0, 0, 200, 80, Color.Blue.Darken2, 1.5);
    c.Line(0, 40, 200, 40, Color.Blue.Medium, 0.5);
});
v2.0.2

What's new

  • New name, same library — TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting 2.x is the direct continuation of TerraPDF 1.x: swap the package reference, update the namespaces, and replace Document.Create with PdfDocument.Create.
  • AES-256 encryption by default — Revision 6 security handler, with AES-128 compatibility mode.
  • Images from bytes and streams — Image(byte[]) / Image(Stream) with transparency and deduplication.
  • Anchor-based bookmarks — bookmarks bound to rendered elements keep destinations accurate.

Full changelog →

Documentation

Guides for every feature

From your first page to encrypted, bookmarked, barcode-laden documents — each guide is versioned with the code.

Getting StartedYour first PDF LayoutColumn, Row, and Table Text & SpansStyling and page numbers DecoratorsPadding, borders, backgrounds EncryptionAES-256, permissions Vector GraphicsCanvas, shapes, charts Table of ContentsAuto-generated from headings BookmarksHierarchical PDF outlines
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting really free for commercial use?

Yes. It is released under the MIT license — use it in closed-source and commercial products at no cost, with no revenue caps, royalties, watermarks, or feature-limited tiers.

How does TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting compare to iTextSharp, QuestPDF, or PDFsharp?

iText (iTextSharp) is AGPL licensed, which requires a commercial license for most closed-source use. QuestPDF's Community license is free only below a company-revenue threshold. PDFsharp is MIT but uses an imperative drawing model. TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting offers a fluent, composable, code-first API under a plain MIT license with zero runtime dependencies.

Does TerraFluent.Pdf.Reporting convert HTML to PDF?

No. It is a code-first PDF generator — you compose documents from C# layout primitives (Column, Row, Table, Text, Image), which means no headless browser, deterministic output, and fast rendering. If your source content is already HTML, an HTML-to-PDF converter is a better fit.

Does it run on Linux, macOS, and in Docker?

Yes. It is 100% managed C# with no native binaries, so it runs on any platform supported by .NET 8, 9, or 10 — including Alpine-based Docker images, Azure Functions, and AWS Lambda — with nothing extra to install.

Can it create password-protected PDFs?

Yes. Documents can be encrypted with AES-256 (the default) or AES-128 for legacy viewers, with user and owner passwords plus fine-grained permission flags for printing, copying, and editing.

Ships anywhere modern .NET runs

Targets .NET 8, .NET 9, and .NET 10 — Windows, Linux, macOS, Docker, Azure Functions, and AWS Lambda, with nothing native to install. MIT licensed.

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