C#/VB.NET: Create Tables in PDF

A table provides fast and efficient access to data displayed in rows and columns in a visually appealing manner. When presented in a table, data has a greater impact than when just used as words and enables readers to easily compare and understand relationships between them. In this article, you will learn how to create a table in PDF in C# and VB.NET using Spire.PDF for .NET.

Spire.PDF for .NET offers the PdfTable and the PdfGrid class to work with the tables in a PDF document. The PdfTable class is used to quickly create simple, regular tables without too much formatting, while the PdfGrid class is used to create more complex tables.

The table below lists the differences between these two classes.

PdfTable PdfGrid
Formatting
Row Can be set through events. No API support. Can be set through API.
Column Can be set through API (StringFormat). Can be set through API (StringFormat).
Cell Can be set through events. No API support. Can be set through API.
Others
Column span Not support. Can be set through API.
Row span Can be set through events. No API support. Can be set through API.
Nested table Can be set through events. No API support. Can be set through API.
Events BeginCellLayout,  EndCellLayout, BeginRowLayout, EndRowLayout, BeginPageLayout, EndPageLayout. BeginPageLayout, EndPageLayout.

The following sections demonstrate how to create a table in PDF using the PdfTable class and the PdfGrid class, respectively.

Install Spire.PDF for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.PDF for.NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

PM> Install-Package Spire.PDF

Create a Table Using PdfTable Class

The following are the steps to create a table using the PdfTable class.

  • Create a PdfDocument object.
  • Add a page to it using PdfDocument.Pages.Add() method.
  • Create a Pdftable object.
  • Set the table style through PdfTable.Style property.
  • Insert data to table through PdfTable.DataSource property.
  • Set row height and row color through BeginRowLayout event.
  • Draw table on the PDF page using PdfTable.Draw() method.
  • Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
  • VB.NET
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using Spire.Pdf;
using Spire.Pdf.Graphics;
using Spire.Pdf.Tables;

namespace CreateTable
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a PdfDocument object
            PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

            //Add a page
            PdfPageBase page = doc.Pages.Add(PdfPageSize.A4, new PdfMargins(40));

            //Create a PdfTable object
            PdfTable table = new PdfTable();

            //Set font for header and the rest cells
            table.Style.DefaultStyle.Font = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", 12f, FontStyle.Regular), true);
            table.Style.HeaderStyle.Font = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", 12f, FontStyle.Bold), true);

            //Crate a DataTable
            DataTable dataTable = new DataTable();
            dataTable.Columns.Add("ID");
            dataTable.Columns.Add("Name");
            dataTable.Columns.Add("Department");
            dataTable.Columns.Add("Position");
            dataTable.Columns.Add("Level");
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "1", "David", "IT", "Manager", "1" });
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "3", "Julia", "HR", "Manager", "1" });
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "4", "Sophie", "Marketing", "Manager", "1" });
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "7", "Wickey", "Marketing", "Sales Rep", "2" });
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "9", "Wayne", "HR", "HR Supervisor", "2" });
            dataTable.Rows.Add(new string[] { "11", "Mia", "Dev", "Developer", "2" });

            //Set the datatable as the data source of table
            table.DataSource = dataTable;

            //Show header(the header is hidden by default)
            table.Style.ShowHeader = true;

            //Set font color and backgroud color of header row
            table.Style.HeaderStyle.BackgroundBrush = PdfBrushes.Gray;
            table.Style.HeaderStyle.TextBrush = PdfBrushes.White;

            //Set text alignment in header row
            table.Style.HeaderStyle.StringFormat = new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle);

            //Set text alignment in other cells
            for (int i = 0; i < table.Columns.Count; i++)
            {
                table.Columns[i].StringFormat = new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle);
            }

            //Register with BeginRowLayout event
            table.BeginRowLayout += Table_BeginRowLayout;

            //Draw table on the page
            table.Draw(page, new PointF(0, 30));

            //Save the document to a PDF file 
            doc.SaveToFile("PdfTable.pdf");
        }

        //Event handler
        private static void Table_BeginRowLayout(object sender, BeginRowLayoutEventArgs args)
        {
            //Set row height
            args.MinimalHeight = 20f;

            //Alternate row color
            if (args.RowIndex < 0)
            {
                return;
            }
            if (args.RowIndex % 2 == 1)
            {
                args.CellStyle.BackgroundBrush = PdfBrushes.LightGray;
            }
            else
            {
                args.CellStyle.BackgroundBrush = PdfBrushes.White;
            }
        }
    }
}

C#/VB.NET: Create Tables in PDF

Create a Table Using PdfGrid Class

Below are the steps to create a table using the PdfGrid class.

  • Create a PdfDocument object.
  • Add a page to it using PdfDocument.Pages.Add() method.
  • Create a PdfGrid object.
  • Set the table style through PdfGrid.Style property.
  • Add rows to the table using PdfGrid.Rows.Add() method.
  • Insert data to specific cells through PdfGridRow.Cells[index].Value property.
  • Span cells across columns or rows through PdfGridRow.RowSpan or PdfGridRow.ColumnSpan property.
  • Set the formatting of a specific cell through PdfGridRow.Cells[index].StringFormat and PdfGridRow.Cells[index].Style properties.
  • Draw table on the PDF page using PdfGrid.Draw() method.
  • Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
  • VB.NET
using Spire.Pdf;
using Spire.Pdf.Graphics;
using Spire.Pdf.Grid;
using System.Drawing;

namespace CreateGrid
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a PdfDocument object
            PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

            //Add a page 
            PdfPageBase page = doc.Pages.Add(PdfPageSize.A4,new PdfMargins(40));

            //Create a PdfGrid
            PdfGrid grid = new PdfGrid();

            //Set cell padding
            grid.Style.CellPadding = new PdfPaddings(1, 1, 1, 1);

            //Set font
            grid.Style.Font = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Times New Roman", 13f, FontStyle.Regular), true);

            //Add rows
            PdfGridRow row1 = grid.Rows.Add();
            PdfGridRow row2 = grid.Rows.Add();
            PdfGridRow row3 = grid.Rows.Add();
            PdfGridRow row4 = grid.Rows.Add();
            grid.Columns.Add(4);

            //Set column width
            foreach (PdfGridColumn col in grid.Columns)
            {
                col.Width = 110f;
            }

            //Write data into specific cells
            row1.Cells[0].Value = "Order and Payment Status";
            row2.Cells[0].Value = "Order number";
            row2.Cells[1].Value = "Date";
            row2.Cells[2].Value = "Customer";
            row2.Cells[3].Value = "Paid or not";
            row3.Cells[0].Value = "00223";
            row3.Cells[1].Value = "2022/06/02";
            row3.Cells[2].Value = "Brick Lane Realty";
            row3.Cells[3].Value = "Yes";
            row4.Cells[0].Value = "00224";
            row4.Cells[1].Value = "2022/06/03";
            row4.Cells[3].Value = "No";

            //Span cell across columns
            row1.Cells[0].ColumnSpan = 4;

            //Span cell across rows
            row3.Cells[2].RowSpan = 2;

            //Set text alignment of specific cells
            row1.Cells[0].StringFormat = new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Center);
            row3.Cells[2].StringFormat = new PdfStringFormat(PdfTextAlignment.Left, PdfVerticalAlignment.Middle);

            //Set background color of specific cells
            row1.Cells[0].Style.BackgroundBrush = PdfBrushes.Orange;
            row4.Cells[3].Style.BackgroundBrush = PdfBrushes.LightGray;

            //Format cell border
            PdfBorders borders = new PdfBorders();
            borders.All = new PdfPen(Color.Orange, 0.8f);
            foreach (PdfGridRow pgr in grid.Rows)
            {
                foreach (PdfGridCell pgc in pgr.Cells)
                {
                    pgc.Style.Borders = borders;
                }
            }

            //Draw table on the page
            grid.Draw(page, new PointF(0, 30));

            //Save the document to a PDF file
            doc.SaveToFile("PdfGrid.pdf");
        }
    }
}

C#/VB.NET: Create Tables in PDF

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