Sumatra PDF vs IronPDF: Technical Comparison Guide

Sumatra PDF HTML to PDF

Sumatra PDF cannot convert HTML to PDF—it requires external tools as intermediaries:

// NuGet: Install-Package SumatraPDF (Note: Sumatra is primarily a viewer, not a generator)
// Sumatra PDF doesn't have direct C# integration for HTML to PDF conversion
// You would need to use external tools or libraries and then open with Sumatra
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Sumatra PDF cannot directly convert HTML to PDF
        // You'd need to use wkhtmltopdf or similar, then view in Sumatra
        string htmlFile = "input.html";
        string pdfFile = "output.pdf";

        // Using wkhtmltopdf as intermediary
        ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "wkhtmltopdf.exe",
            Arguments = $"{htmlFile} {pdfFile}",
            UseShellExecute = false
        };
        Process.Start(psi)?.WaitForExit();

        // Then open with Sumatra
        Process.Start("SumatraPDF.exe", pdfFile);
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package SumatraPDF (Note: Sumatra is primarily a viewer, not a generator)
// Sumatra PDF doesn't have direct C# integration for HTML to PDF conversion
// You would need to use external tools or libraries and then open with Sumatra
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Sumatra PDF cannot directly convert HTML to PDF
        // You'd need to use wkhtmltopdf or similar, then view in Sumatra
        string htmlFile = "input.html";
        string pdfFile = "output.pdf";

        // Using wkhtmltopdf as intermediary
        ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "wkhtmltopdf.exe",
            Arguments = $"{htmlFile} {pdfFile}",
            UseShellExecute = false
        };
        Process.Start(psi)?.WaitForExit();

        // Then open with Sumatra
        Process.Start("SumatraPDF.exe", pdfFile);
    }
}

This approach requires:

• External tool installation (wkhtmltopdf)
• Process spawning and management
• Multiple points of failure
• No programmatic control over conversion

IronPDF HTML to PDF

IronPDF provides direct HTML-to-PDF conversion:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

        string htmlContent = "<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is HTML to PDF conversion.</p>";

        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
        pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

        Console.WriteLine("PDF created successfully!");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

        string htmlContent = "<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is HTML to PDF conversion.</p>";

        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
        pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

        Console.WriteLine("PDF created successfully!");
    }
}

The RenderHtmlAsPdf method converts HTML content directly to PDF using the Chromium rendering engine. No external tools, no process management, no user dependencies.

Sumatra PDF Display

Sumatra PDF excels at viewing PDFs through process execution:

// NuGet: Install-Package SumatraPDF.CommandLine (or direct executable)
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string pdfPath = "document.pdf";

        // Sumatra PDF excels at viewing PDFs
        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "SumatraPDF.exe",
            Arguments = $"\"{pdfPath}\"",
            UseShellExecute = true
        };

        Process.Start(startInfo);

        // Optional: Open specific page
        // Arguments = $"-page 5 \"{pdfPath}\""
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package SumatraPDF.CommandLine (or direct executable)
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string pdfPath = "document.pdf";

        // Sumatra PDF excels at viewing PDFs
        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "SumatraPDF.exe",
            Arguments = $"\"{pdfPath}\"",
            UseShellExecute = true
        };

        Process.Start(startInfo);

        // Optional: Open specific page
        // Arguments = $"-page 5 \"{pdfPath}\""
    }
}

This approach:

• Requires Sumatra PDF installed on the user's system
• Spawns an external process
• Cannot access or modify PDF content programmatically

IronPDF Display

IronPDF can load, manipulate, and then display PDFs:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");

        // Extract information
        Console.WriteLine($"Page Count: {pdf.PageCount}");

        // IronPDF can manipulate and save, then open with default viewer
        pdf.SaveAs("modified.pdf");

        // Open with default PDF viewer
        Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo("modified.pdf") { UseShellExecute = true });
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");

        // Extract information
        Console.WriteLine($"Page Count: {pdf.PageCount}");

        // IronPDF can manipulate and save, then open with default viewer
        pdf.SaveAs("modified.pdf");

        // Open with default PDF viewer
        Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo("modified.pdf") { UseShellExecute = true });
    }
}

IronPDF's PdfDocument.FromFile() method loads the document for programmatic access—extracting page count, manipulating content, and saving modifications before display.

Sumatra PDF Text Extraction

Sumatra PDF cannot extract text programmatically—it requires external command-line tools:

// Sumatra PDF doesn't provide C# API for text extraction
// You would need to use command-line tools or other libraries
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Sumatra PDF is a viewer, not a text extraction library
        // You'd need to use PDFBox, iTextSharp, or similar for extraction

        string pdfFile = "document.pdf";

        // This would require external tools like pdftotext
        ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "pdftotext.exe",
            Arguments = $"{pdfFile} output.txt",
            UseShellExecute = false
        };

        Process.Start(psi)?.WaitForExit();

        string extractedText = File.ReadAllText("output.txt");
        Console.WriteLine(extractedText);
    }
}

// Sumatra PDF doesn't provide C# API for text extraction
// You would need to use command-line tools or other libraries
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Sumatra PDF is a viewer, not a text extraction library
        // You'd need to use PDFBox, iTextSharp, or similar for extraction

        string pdfFile = "document.pdf";

        // This would require external tools like pdftotext
        ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo
        {
            FileName = "pdftotext.exe",
            Arguments = $"{pdfFile} output.txt",
            UseShellExecute = false
        };

        Process.Start(psi)?.WaitForExit();

        string extractedText = File.ReadAllText("output.txt");
        Console.WriteLine(extractedText);
    }
}

This workaround:

• Requires external tool installation (pdftotext)
• Writes to intermediate files
• Cannot extract from specific pages programmatically
• Adds complexity and failure points

IronPDF Text Extraction

IronPDF provides native text extraction APIs:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");

        // Extract text from all pages
        string allText = pdf.ExtractAllText();
        Console.WriteLine("Extracted Text:");
        Console.WriteLine(allText);

        // Extract text from specific page
        string pageText = pdf.ExtractTextFromPage(0);
        Console.WriteLine($"\nFirst Page Text:\n{pageText}");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");

        // Extract text from all pages
        string allText = pdf.ExtractAllText();
        Console.WriteLine("Extracted Text:");
        Console.WriteLine(allText);

        // Extract text from specific page
        string pageText = pdf.ExtractTextFromPage(0);
        Console.WriteLine($"\nFirst Page Text:\n{pageText}");
    }
}

The ExtractAllText() and ExtractTextFromPage() methods provide direct programmatic access to PDF content without external tools or intermediate files.

Detailed Capability Comparison

Sumatra PDF Strengths

• Lightweight and fast PDF viewer
• Open-source and free to use
• Simple and user-friendly interface
• Excellent performance on older systems
• Command-line printing support

Sumatra PDF Limitations

• Reader only—no PDF creation or editing functions
• Standalone app—not a library for integration
• GPL license restricts commercial use
• Requires external process management
• No programmatic API for manipulation
• Desktop-only—no web or cloud support
• Users must install separately
• No text extraction API

IronPDF Strengths

• Comprehensive PDF creation and editing
• Native .NET library integration
• Commercial license for enterprise use
• Chromium-based HTML rendering
• Full programmatic API
• Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS)
• Web application support
• Cloud deployment compatible
• Text and image extraction
• Security and digital signature support

IronPDF Considerations

• Commercial licensing model
• Larger deployment footprint than a simple viewer