This WinForms program shows how to draw text and graphic with the same code in a preview window or on a PDF page. The following form uses the PDFsharp preview control to show some text and graphic. By pressing the Create PDF button the content is rendered to a PDF document.

PDFsharp Preview Window

The following code produces the output shown in the preview.

class Renderer
{
  /// <summary>
  /// Renders the content of the page.
  /// </summary>
  public void Render(XGraphics gfx)
  {
    XRect rect;
    XPen pen;
    double x = 50, y = 100;
    XFont fontH1 = new XFont("Times", 18, XFontStyle.Bold);
    XFont font = new XFont("Times", 12);
    XFont fontItalic = new XFont("Times", 12, XFontStyle.BoldItalic);
    double ls = font.GetHeight(gfx);
 
    // Draw some text
    gfx.DrawString("Create PDF on the fly with PDFsharp",
        fontH1, XBrushes.Black, x, x);
    gfx.DrawString("With PDFsharp you can use the same code to draw graphic, " +
        "text and images on different targets.", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls;
    gfx.DrawString("The object used for drawing is the XGraphics object.", 
        font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += 2 * ls;
 
    // Draw an arc
    pen = new XPen(XColors.Red, 4);
    pen.DashStyle = XDashStyle.Dash;
    gfx.DrawArc(pen, x + 20, y, 100, 60, 150, 120);
 
    // Draw a star
    XGraphicsState gs = gfx.Save();
    gfx.TranslateTransform(x + 140, y + 30);
    for (int idx = 0; idx < 360; idx += 10)
    {
      gfx.RotateTransform(10);
      gfx.DrawLine(XPens.DarkGreen, 0, 0, 30, 0);
    }
    gfx.Restore(gs);
 
    // Draw a rounded rectangle
    rect = new XRect(x + 230, y, 100, 60);
    pen = new XPen(XColors.DarkBlue, 2.5);
    XColor color1 = XColor.FromKnownColor(KnownColor.DarkBlue);
    XColor color2 = XColors.Red;
    XLinearGradientBrush lbrush = new XLinearGradientBrush(rect, color1, color2, 
      XLinearGradientMode.Vertical);
    gfx.DrawRoundedRectangle(pen, lbrush, rect, new XSize(10, 10));
    
    // Draw a pie
    pen = new XPen(XColors.DarkOrange, 1.5);
    pen.DashStyle = XDashStyle.Dot;
    gfx.DrawPie(pen, XBrushes.Blue, x + 360, y, 100, 60, -130, 135);
    
    // Draw some more text
    y += 60 + 2 * ls;
    gfx.DrawString("With XGraphics you can draw on a PDF page as well as " +
        "on any System.Drawing.Graphics object.", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls * 1.1;
    gfx.DrawString("Use the same code to", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    x += 10;
    y += ls * 1.1;
    gfx.DrawString("• draw on a newly created PDF page", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls;
    gfx.DrawString("• draw above or beneath of the content of an existing PDF page", 
        font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls;
    gfx.DrawString("• draw in a window", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls;
    gfx.DrawString("• draw on a printer", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls;
    gfx.DrawString("• draw in a bitmap image", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    x -= 10;
    y += ls * 1.1;
    gfx.DrawString("You can also import an existing PDF page and use it like " +
        "an image, e.g. draw it on another PDF page.", font, XBrushes.Black, x, y);
    y += ls * 1.1 * 2;
    gfx.DrawString("Imported PDF pages are neither drawn nor printed; create a " + 
        "PDF file to see or print them!", fontItalic, XBrushes.Firebrick, x, y);
    y += ls * 1.1;
    gfx.DrawString("Below this text is a PDF form that will be visible when " + 
        "viewed or printed with a PDF viewer.", fontItalic, XBrushes.Firebrick, x, y);
    y += ls * 1.1;
    XGraphicsState state = gfx.Save();
    XRect rcImage = new XRect(100, y, 100, 100 * Math.Sqrt(2));
    gfx.DrawRectangle(XBrushes.Snow, rcImage);
    gfx.DrawImage(XPdfForm.FromFile("../../../../PDFs/SomeLayout.pdf"), rcImage);
    gfx.Restore(state);
  }
}

The essential point is that the output renders in the preview as well as on a PDF page. With PDFsharp you can write an application that draws its output in a window, on a printer or on a PDF document.

See the PDF file created by this sample: Preview.pdf (65 kB)