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Version: Version 1.0

Get started with .NET

This guide walks you through the steps to use a code example, and then explains how to integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application with .NET.

Prerequisites​

The Toolbox add-on for .NET requires .NET and .NET Core 2.0 or higher, or .NET Framework 4.6.1 or higher.

Getting started with a sample project​

Learn how to use the Toolbox add-on using a C# code example. The ImageExtraction example extracts all images and image masks from a PDF document. Use similar steps to run any other code example from the toolbox-examples-csharp repository.

Compile and run the sample​

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This sample describes the process using Visual Studio 2022.

  1. Clone the toolbox-examples-csharp repository:

    git clone https://github.com/pdf-tools/toolbox-examples-csharp.git

  2. Open the project in Visual Studio:

    toolbox-examples-csharp/ImageExtraction/ToolboxImageExtraction.csproj

  3. In the Program.cs file, replace the string "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY" with your license key:

Sdk.Initialize("YOUR_LICENSE_KEY", null);

  1. Click Build -> Build Solution to compile the project.

  2. Run the compiled sample application. Provide inputPath for the input PDF file and outputDir path for the output directory where the image files will be stored:

    ToolboxImageExtraction <inputPath> <outputDir>

    For example, to extract all images and image masks from the sample PDF file ImageCollection.pdf to the output directory /tmp/images, run:

    ToolboxImageExtraction ImageCollection.pdf /tmp/images
tip

You can apply a similar procedure as described in this tutorial for other code examples. For more information, see Code samples page.

Integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application​

Integrate and initialize the Toolbox add-on into your application by following the instructions in the next sections.

Add the Toolbox add-on to your project​

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The integration section describes the process using Visual Studio 2022 on Windows.

  1. Open your solution in Visual Studio.
  2. Click Tools > Nuget Package Manager > Manage NuGet Packages for Solution….
  3. Click the Search tab and search for PdfTools.Toolbox.
  4. Select the NuGet package named PdfTools.Toolbox by PDF Tools AG, select your Project, and then click Install.
  5. Click OK to allow the changes, and then review and Accept the license agreement.

Initialize the SDK​

After installing the Nuget package the final step before using the SDK is to initialize the SDK with your license key. Replace YOUR_LICENSE_KEY in the following method with the value of your license key:

PdfTools.Toolbox.Sdk.Initialize("YOUR_LICENSE_KEY", null);
tip

Without a valid license key the Toolbox add-on returns an error. Contact the Pdftools sales team through the Contact page to get a full license.

Implement your use case​

  • Find more use cases and code examples on the Toolbox add-on Code samples page.
  • For more technical information about the Toolbox add-on for .NET, consult the .NET technical notes.