Generating PDF with Headers and Footers from Separate HTML Files

Updated on Jun 5, 2026

Environment

Version	Product	Author
2025.3.806	RadWordsProcessing	Desislava Yordanova

Description

This article shows how to combine separate HTML files for header, footer, and content into one document and produce a PDF with the result.

Solution

To generate a PDF with separate headers and footers, process the HTML files with RadWordsProcessing. Follow these steps:

1. Import the HTML content: Use the HtmlFormatProvider to import the HTML content into RadFlowDocument objects.
2. Add headers and footers: Use the DocumentElementImporter to insert header and footer content into the main document.
3. Export the document to PDF: Use the PdfFormatProvider to export the final document to PDF format.

Code Example

csharp

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            string headerHtml = "\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold;\">\r\n    Company Name\r\n</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;\">\r\n    Document Title\r\n</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;\">\r\n    Date: October 28, 2025\r\n</p>\r\n";
            string contentHtml = "<p>This is the main content of the document.</p>";
            string footerHtml = "\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;\">\r\n    Confidential - For Internal Use Only\r\n</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;\">\r\n    Page 1 of 1\r\n</p>\r\n";

            var htmlProvider = new HtmlFormatProvider();

            // Load each HTML file into a separate document
            RadFlowDocument headerDoc = htmlProvider.Import(headerHtml, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));
            RadFlowDocument contentDoc = htmlProvider.Import(contentHtml, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));
            RadFlowDocument footerDoc = htmlProvider.Import(footerHtml, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));

            // Create importer for header
            var headerImporter = new DocumentElementImporter(contentDoc, headerDoc, ConflictingStylesResolutionMode.UseTargetStyle);
            Header defaultHeader = contentDoc.Sections.First().Headers.Add();

            foreach (var block in headerDoc.Sections.First().Blocks)
            {
                BlockBase importedBlock = headerImporter.Import(block);
                defaultHeader.Blocks.Add(importedBlock);
            }

            // Create importer for footer
            var footerImporter = new DocumentElementImporter(contentDoc, footerDoc, ConflictingStylesResolutionMode.UseTargetStyle);
            Footer defaultFooter = contentDoc.Sections.First().Footers.Add();

            foreach (var block in footerDoc.Sections.First().Blocks)
            {
                BlockBase importedBlock = footerImporter.Import(block);
                defaultFooter.Blocks.Add(importedBlock);
            }

            // Export to PDF
            var pdfProvider = new PdfFormatProvider();
            string outputFilePath = "FinalDocument.pdf";
            using (var outputStream = File.Create(outputFilePath))
            {
                pdfProvider.Export(contentDoc, outputStream, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));
            }
            Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo() { FileName = outputFilePath, UseShellExecute = true });
        }

The following three separate HTML files serve as input:

• Header HTML:

html

<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold;">
    Company Name
</p>
<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;">
    Document Title
</p>
<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;">
    Date: October 28, 2025
</p>

• Footer HTML:

html

<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;">
    Confidential - For Internal Use Only
</p>
<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;">
    Page 1 of 1
</p>

• Content HTML:

html

<p>This is the main content of the document.</p>

The resulting PDF document combines all of the HTML files into one common document:

See Also

• DocumentElementImporter
• Headers and Footers