RAD PDF Features & Requirements

As the most feature complete HTML based PDF viewer, editor, and form filler for ASP.NET, RAD PDF offers a flexible yet powerful alternative to customary PDF solutions. Unlike Adobe Acrobat Reader, RAD PDF operates in almost any modern web browser without software or plugins.

Integrating directly with ASP.NET, you can use RAD PDF to control PDF content access, to populate PDF forms dynamically, and to facilitate PDF modifications. RAD PDF offers unparalleled tools to analyze and edit PDF files both client-side and server-side.

Whether you utilize the built-in web browser interface or implement your own via the extensive developer API, RAD PDF is ready "out of the box" for startup and enterprise use alike. Scalable and secure, the technology behind RAD PDF has been exposed to millions of real web users in our free PDF editor.

Compatible with 99% of internet browsers on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, & Linux, RAD PDF allows you to deploy your solution universally without imposing additional requirements. No plugins. No Adobe Reader. No Adobe Flash.

Not merely a PDF to HTML converter, RAD PDF natively supports the most commonly used PDF features.

• Rotate, scroll, & zoom PDF pages
• PDF thumbnail, bookmark, & link support
• Open, save, download, & print PDF documents
• Search PDF text for terms & keywords with ease
• Select document text & copy PDF content to the clipboard

Beyond a PDF reader, RAD PDF equips web applications with a browser-based PDF editor and PDF annotator. Features not even available in Adobe Acrobat Reader can be selectively enabled and disabled to provide advanced PDF functionality.

• Add, crop, deskew, move & delete PDF pages
• Add text, shapes, whiteout & more to PDF files
• Annotate PDF files with markup and sticky notes
• Change PDF document information tags
• Create links to other PDF pages or web content
• Insert and remove bookmarks (PDF outlines)
• Encrypt PDF contents using a password
• Add images to PDF files via direct upload or server side
• Customize tools with dynamic content & server-side integrations

By enabling PDF form filling & PDF form saving directly in the web browser, RAD PDF users can utilize PDF form fields without worrying about having the right software installed.

• Fill out PDF forms using existing form fields or use the Text tool
• Check, Combo (drop-down), List, Radio, & Text field types supported
• Tab from field to field for rapid form completion
• Built-in support for field calculations, format, & style
• Prefill PDF form data & capture entered information
• Free of Adobe Reader & LiveCycle licensing fees

Facilitate the design of new PDF forms and modification of existing PDF forms using an online graphical user interface.

• Add new PDF form fields to any PDF file
• Style PDF form fields (font, size, color, etc)
• Modify or delete existing PDF form fields
• Customize fields beyond the specification (moving, resizing, etc)
• Integrate user actions (clicks, changes, etc) with your application

Unlike many PDF protection tools, RAD PDF allows your users to view a PDF without needing to install a plugin and without any client-side access to the document itself. By simply displaying an interactive representation of the PDF content, your PDF document can remain secure on your server.

• Prevent direct PDF access while still allowing viewing & printing
• Limit or disable printing, document searching, & text extraction
• Selectively enable or disable modification tools

Instead of relying on PDF documents to load properly in a "black box" like Adobe Reader, RAD PDF allows you to implement custom workflows and design a unique customer interaction with PDF documents. Our customers use RAD PDF accomplish countless tasks including:

• Save & reopen partially completed PDF forms
• Pre-fill PDF form data using C# or VB.NET
• Control PDF content usage (e.g. print once)
• Lock PDF form field values or object locations
• Add timestamps or user signatures from a server repository
• Customize & localize text in the client interface
• Intercept internal events (e.g. saving, printing, & searching)

Hosted entirely on your server, RAD PDF does not depend on any special client software or third-party web services or content. Direct ASP.NET integration.

No Adobe Acrobat Reader. No Adobe Flash. No Microsoft Active X.

Web Forms ready, but not reliant, RAD PDF can be used in both Web Forms and MVC based ASP.NET applications with just a few lines of code as shown in our Interactive Demo.

Utilizing the technology relied upon by millions, RAD PDF's performance, security, and reliability is tried and true. Built with scalability in mind, RAD PDF does not require troublesome ASP.NET features like session or caching variables. A .NET based solution, it has native 32-bit (x86) & 64-bit (x64) support.

Ready for the future of the web with ASP.NET Core / .NET 5.0 / .NET 6.0 / .NET 7.0 / .NET 8.0 / .NET 9.0 support, use RAD PDF with Razor, MVC, Web Forms, Blazor, or more. Utilize cloud storage like Azure Blobs to deploy RAD PDF directly to the cloud, without installs or SQL Server databases.