Ghostscript.NET

Ghostscript.NET is a managed C# wrapper for the Ghostscript native library (gsdll64.dll / libgs.so). It lets you rasterize, convert, and process PDF, PostScript, EPS, and (with a licensed GhostPDL library) Microsoft Office files from any .NET application without shelling out to a command-line process.

Install-Package Ghostscript.NET
# Optional: ship Ghostscript natives with the app (no system install required)
Install-Package Ghostscript.NativeAssets

Ghostscript version compatibility: Ghostscript.NET has been tested with Ghostscript versions up to 9.x. Compatibility with Ghostscript 10+ is not yet fully verified, though Ghostscript.NativeAssets currently ships Ghostscript 10.07.1. See ghostpdl-downloads for available Ghostscript releases. Provide the native library via a system install or the optional Ghostscript.NativeAssets package.

Why Ghostscript.NET

In-process — calls the Ghostscript library directly via P/Invoke; no child process, no shell, no temp-file plumbing
High-fidelity rendering — uses the same Ghostscript engine that powers commercial print workflows
Memory-based rasterization — render pages to SKBitmap (via SkiaSharp) without writing to disk
Multi-instance — run multiple Ghostscript instances simultaneously within a single .NET process
Cross-platform — targets .NET Standard 2.0; works on Windows and Linux
32-bit and 64-bit — auto-detects and loads the matching native library
PDF/A-3 + ZUGFeRD / Factur-X — embed XML invoices into PDF/A-3 files for European e-invoicing standards

Requirements

Requirement	Details
.NET	.NET Standard 2.0 or any compatible runtime (.NET 6, 7, 8, Framework 4.6.1+)
Ghostscript native library	Install separately or reference `Ghostscript.NativeAssets`
Ghostscript version	Tested with versions ≤ 9.x; Ghostscript 10+ not fully verified (`NativeAssets` ships 10.07.1)
OS	Windows (32-bit and 64-bit), Linux
SkiaSharp	Included as a NuGet dependency; provides `SKBitmap` for rasterized output

Installing the Ghostscript native library

Ghostscript.NET resolves the native library in this order:

Explicit path / GhostscriptVersionInfo supplied by the caller
Bundled binaries from Ghostscript.NativeAssets (app-local)
System Ghostscript installation (Windows registry / Linux common paths)

Option A — NuGet native assets (recommended for seamless installs)

<PackageReference Include="Ghostscript.NET" Version="1.3.4" />
<PackageReference Include="Ghostscript.NativeAssets" Version="10.7.1" />

Package versions are managed in Versions.props. Ghostscript.NativeAssets currently includes Ghostscript 10.07.1 for win-x64, win-x86, and linux-x64. NuGet uses 10.7.1 because numeric version components cannot contain leading zeroes.

Option B — system install (Windows)

Download and install the Ghostscript installer. The installer registers the DLL path in the Windows registry so GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion() / GetPreferredVersion() can find it automatically.

Option C — system install (Linux / Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt-get install ghostscript
# Installs libgs.so to /usr/lib or /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
# Note: removing the ghostscript package may leave libgs*.so installed via libgs10 / libgs9

Installation

Package Manager Console

Install-Package Ghostscript.NET

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Ghostscript.NET

PackageReference

<PackageReference Include="Ghostscript.NET" Version="1.3.4" />
<!-- Optional companion package for app-local Ghostscript binaries -->
<PackageReference Include="Ghostscript.NativeAssets" Version="10.7.1" />

Quick start

Rasterize all pages of a PDF to PNG files

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;
using SkiaSharp;

// Prefers Ghostscript.NativeAssets (if referenced), then a system install
var version = GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetPreferredVersion();

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", version, false);

for (int page = 1; page <= rasterizer.PageCount; page++)
{
    SKBitmap image = rasterizer.GetPage(dpi: 150, pageNumber: page);
    using var stream = File.OpenWrite($"page_{page:D3}.png");
    image.Encode(stream, SKEncodedImageFormat.Png, 100);
}

Convert a PDF to PDF using GhostscriptProcessor

using Ghostscript.NET.Processor;

using var processor = new GhostscriptProcessor();
processor.Process(new[]
{
    "-dBATCH", "-dNOPAUSE", "-dNOSAFER",
    "-sDEVICE=pdfwrite",
    "-sOutputFile=output.pdf",
    "input.pdf"
});

Key capabilities

Area	Description
Page rasterization	Render any page of a PDF, PS, or EPS file to an `SKBitmap` at any DPI
Image export	Save pages as PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, or any SkiaSharp-supported format
In-memory rendering	Rasterize without writing intermediate files to disk
PDF conversion	Convert PS/EPS to PDF, compress PDFs, apply `pdfwrite` device settings
Office files	Convert and rasterize Word, Excel, PowerPoint (and related) files when a licensed GhostPDL library is present
Custom switches	Pass any Ghostscript command-line switch directly via `CustomSwitches` or `Process(args[])`
Progress events	`GhostscriptProcessor` raises `Started`, `Processing` (per-page), `Error`, and `Completed` events
Multi-instance	Multiple `GhostscriptProcessor` or `GhostscriptRasterizer` instances can run in parallel
Stdin/stdout capture	Capture or redirect Ghostscript stdout/stderr via `GhostscriptStdIO` callbacks
Version detection	Prefers bundled `Ghostscript.NativeAssets`, then system Ghostscript (Windows registry / Linux library paths)
PDF/A-3	Convert PDFs to PDF/A-3b and embed XML invoices (XRechnung, Factur-X / ZUGFeRD)
Anti-aliasing	Control `GraphicsAlphaBits` and `TextAlphaBits` for rendering quality
EPS cropping	`EPSClip` property for correct EPS bounding box clipping
Zoom	`GhostscriptViewer` supports zoom-in / zoom-out and progressive page updates

Code examples

Rasterize a single page to `SKBitmap`

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

var version = GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion();

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", version, false);

// Page numbers are 1-based
SKBitmap bitmap = rasterizer.GetPage(dpi: 300, pageNumber: 1);

Rasterize with anti-aliasing and custom switches

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

var version = GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion();

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.GraphicsAlphaBits = 4;   // 1, 2, or 4
rasterizer.TextAlphaBits = 4;
rasterizer.CustomSwitches.Add("-dUseCropBox");

rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", version, false);

for (int i = 1; i <= rasterizer.PageCount; i++)
{
    SKBitmap page = rasterizer.GetPage(dpi: 150, pageNumber: i);
    // use page...
}

Rasterize from a stream (no temp file)

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

var version = GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion();

using var stream = File.OpenRead("input.pdf");
using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open(stream, version, false);

SKBitmap bitmap = rasterizer.GetPage(dpi: 150, pageNumber: 1);

Convert PDF to PNG files using `GhostscriptPngDevice`

using Ghostscript.NET.OutputDevices;

var device = new GhostscriptPngDevice(GhostscriptPngDeviceType.Png16m);
device.GraphicsAlphaBits = GhostscriptImageDeviceAlphaBits.V_4;
device.TextAlphaBits    = GhostscriptImageDeviceAlphaBits.V_4;
device.ResolutionXY     = new GhostscriptImageDeviceResolution(300, 300);
device.InputFiles.Add("input.pdf");
device.Pdf.FirstPage    = 1;
device.Pdf.LastPage     = 5;
device.OutputPath       = @"output\page_%03d.png";
device.Process();

Convert PDF to JPEG

using Ghostscript.NET.OutputDevices;

var device = new GhostscriptJpegDevice(GhostscriptJpegDeviceType.Jpeg);
device.GraphicsAlphaBits = GhostscriptImageDeviceAlphaBits.V_4;
device.TextAlphaBits    = GhostscriptImageDeviceAlphaBits.V_4;
device.ResolutionXY     = new GhostscriptImageDeviceResolution(150, 150);
device.JpegQuality      = 85;
device.InputFiles.Add("input.pdf");
device.OutputPath       = @"output\page_%03d.jpg";
device.Process();

Run with custom arguments and capture output

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Processor;

public class MyStdIO : GhostscriptStdIO
{
    public override void StdIn(out string input, int count) => input = string.Empty;
    public override void StdOut(string output) => Console.Write(output);
    public override void StdError(string error) => Console.Error.Write(error);
}

using var processor = new GhostscriptProcessor();
processor.Processing += (sender, e) =>
    Console.WriteLine($"Processing page {e.CurrentPage} of {e.TotalPages}");
processor.Error += (sender, e) =>
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"Error: {e.Message}");

processor.Process(new[]
{
    "-dBATCH", "-dNOPAUSE",
    "-sDEVICE=pdfwrite",
    "-dPDFSETTINGS=/ebook",       // compress for screen/ebook
    "-sOutputFile=compressed.pdf",
    "input.pdf"
}, new MyStdIO());

Specify the Ghostscript DLL explicitly

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

// Point directly to a specific DLL — useful when Ghostscript is not installed system-wide
var version = new GhostscriptVersionInfo(@"C:\gs\gs9.56.1\bin\gsdll64.dll");

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", version, false);

Load the DLL from memory (Windows only)

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

// In-memory loading is supported on Windows only.
// On Linux/macOS, pass fromMemory: false (or omit it) so the library is loaded from disk.
byte[] dllBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(@"C:\gs\gs9.56.1\bin\gsdll64.dll");

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", dllBytes);

API overview

Core classes

Class	Namespace	Purpose
`GhostscriptRasterizer`	`Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer`	Render PDF/PS/EPS pages to `SKBitmap`
`GhostscriptProcessor`	`Ghostscript.NET.Processor`	Run Ghostscript with any argument array; exposes progress events
`GhostscriptViewer`	`Ghostscript.NET.Viewer`	Interactive viewer with zoom and progressive rendering
`GhostscriptVersionInfo`	`Ghostscript.NET`	Discover installed Ghostscript versions; specify DLL path
`GhostscriptOffice`	`Ghostscript.NET`	Convert Office files to PDF via GhostPDL; detect supported extensions
`GhostscriptLibrary`	`Ghostscript.NET`	Low-level native library loader and P/Invoke surface
`GhostscriptStdIO`	`Ghostscript.NET`	Abstract base class for stdin/stdout/stderr callbacks
`GhostscriptPngDevice`	`Ghostscript.NET.OutputDevices`	Typed device for PNG output with all PNG switches
`GhostscriptJpegDevice`	`Ghostscript.NET.OutputDevices`	Typed device for JPEG output with quality and DPI settings
`PDFA3Converter`	`Ghostscript.NET`	Convert PDF to PDF/A-3b; embed XML invoices (ZUGFeRD / Factur-X)

`GhostscriptRasterizer` key members

Member	Type	Description
`Open(string path)`	Method	Open a file; auto-detects installed Ghostscript
`Open(string path, GhostscriptVersionInfo, bool fromMemory)`	Method	Open with explicit version info
`Open(Stream stream, ...)`	Method	Open from a stream; no temp file written to disk
`Open(string path, byte[] library)`	Method	Open with DLL loaded from a byte array
`GetPage(int dpi, int pageNumber)`	Method	Render page to `SKBitmap`; pages are 1-based
`PageCount`	Property	Total number of pages in the open document
`GraphicsAlphaBits`	Property	Anti-aliasing for graphics: 1, 2, or 4
`TextAlphaBits`	Property	Anti-aliasing for text: 1, 2, or 4
`EPSClip`	Property	Apply EPS bounding box clip when rasterizing EPS files
`CustomSwitches`	Property	`List<string>` of additional Ghostscript switches
`Close()`	Method	Release the open document
`Dispose()`	Method	Release all resources including the native library instance

`GhostscriptProcessor` key members

Member	Type	Description
`CreateForInput(string path)`	Static method	Optional: load GhostPDL up front for an Office path
`Process(string[] args)`	Method	Run Ghostscript; loads GhostPDL automatically if args include an Office file
`Process(GhostscriptDevice device)`	Method	Run using a typed device object
`Process(string[] args, GhostscriptStdIO callback)`	Method	Run with stdout/stderr capture
`StartProcessing(...)`	Method	Alias for `Process`; included for API compatibility
`StopProcessing()`	Method	Signal Ghostscript to abort the current job
`IsRunning`	Property	`true` while a job is in progress
`IsStopping`	Property	`true` if `StopProcessing()` has been called but the job hasn't exited yet
`Started`	Event	Raised when processing begins
`Processing`	Event	Raised once per page; `args.CurrentPage`, `args.TotalPages`
`Error`	Event	Raised on Ghostscript error output; `args.Message`
`Completed`	Event	Raised when processing finishes (success or error)

`GhostscriptVersionInfo` key members

Member	Type	Description
`GetPreferredVersion()`	Static method	Prefers bundled NativeAssets, then the newest system install
`GetLastInstalledVersion()`	Static method	Same as `GetPreferredVersion()` (kept for compatibility)
`GetLastInstalledVersion(license, priority)`	Static method	Same preference order; system installs filtered by license
`TryGetBundledVersion(out version)`	Static method	Locates app-local / NativeAssets binaries without throwing
`GetBundledVersion()`	Static method	Returns bundled NativeAssets library or throws
`GetInstalledVersions()`	Static method	Returns all system-installed Ghostscript versions as a list
`IsGhostscriptInstalled`	Static property	`true` if a bundled or system Ghostscript library is detected
`new GhostscriptVersionInfo(string dllPath)`	Constructor	Point to a specific DLL file path
`.DllPath`	Property	Path to the native library file
`.Version`	Property	`System.Version` of the detected installation
`.Source`	Property	`Bundled`, `System`, or `Custom`
`.NativeKind` / `.IsGhostPdl`	Property	Ghostscript vs GhostPDL native library
`GetGhostPdlVersion()`	Static method	Locates `gpdldll64.dll` / `libgpdl.so` (required for Office files)
`TryGetGhostPdlVersion(out version)`	Static method	Same lookup without throwing
`GetPreferredVersionForInput(path)`	Static method	GhostPDL for Office paths, otherwise preferred Ghostscript

Finding the Ghostscript native library

GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion() / GetPreferredVersion() searches automatically:

Bundled / NativeAssets — app base directory, native/, and runtimes/<rid>/native/ for gsdll64.dll / gsdll32.dll / libgs.so*
Windows system install: registry keys HKLM\SOFTWARE\GPL Ghostscript\, HKLM\SOFTWARE\AFPL Ghostscript\, and HKLM\SOFTWARE\Artifex Ghostscript\. Matches DLL bitness to the current process.
Linux system install: common paths including /usr/lib, /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu, and /usr/local/lib for libgs.so.10, libgs.so.9, or libgs.so.

If Ghostscript is not installed in a standard location, pass the path directly:

// Explicit path
var version = new GhostscriptVersionInfo(@"C:\MyApp\gs\gsdll64.dll");

// From embedded byte array (deploy DLL as an embedded resource)
byte[] dll = GetEmbeddedResource("gsdll64.dll");
rasterizer.Open("input.pdf", dll);

Office files (GhostPDL)

Standard Ghostscript (gsdll64.dll / Ghostscript.NativeAssets) cannot open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files. Office support uses GhostPDL (gpdldll64.dll / gpdldll32.dll / libgpdl.so), which includes SmartOffice and exposes the same gsapi_* API.

SmartOffice is commercial, in-house technology. The GhostPDL native library is not published on nuget.org and is not included in Ghostscript.NativeAssets. Without a commercial Ghostscript.NET license, opening an Office file throws GhostscriptPdlLibraryNotFoundException and directs you to Artifex. Licensed users obtain the matching library from the Ghostscript.NET.Office repository and copy it into the .NET project.

Place the file next to your application, under runtimes/<rid>/native/, or set GHOSTPDL_DLL (or GPDL_DLL) to its full path. After that, existing Ghostscript.NET processor code does not need to change: if the argument list includes an Office file, GhostscriptProcessor loads GhostPDL automatically (and ignores -dSAFER for that job). CreateForInput is optional. If gsdll64.dll sits beside GhostPDL, the viewer/rasterizer uses it to display the converted PDF.

Convert Office to PDF

using Ghostscript.NET;

GhostscriptOffice.ConvertToPdf(@"D:\report.docx", @"D:\report.pdf");

Rasterize an Office file (GhostscriptRasterizer / GhostscriptViewer convert to a temporary PDF automatically)

using Ghostscript.NET.Rasterizer;

using var rasterizer = new GhostscriptRasterizer();
rasterizer.Open(@"D:\report.docx");

for (int page = 1; page <= rasterizer.PageCount; page++)
{
    SKBitmap image = rasterizer.GetPage(dpi: 150, pageNumber: page);
}

Run GhostPDL with any device

Existing GhostscriptProcessor samples keep working. Pass an Office path in the argument list and place gpdldll64.dll next to the app:

using Ghostscript.NET;
using Ghostscript.NET.Processor;

GhostscriptVersionInfo gv = GhostscriptVersionInfo.GetLastInstalledVersion();
using var processor = new GhostscriptProcessor(gv, true);
processor.Process(new[]
{
    "-dBATCH", "-dNOPAUSE", "-dSAFER",
    "-sDEVICE=png16m",
    "-sOutputFile=page-%03d.png",
    @"D:\report.docx"
});

CreateForInput still loads GhostPDL up front when you already know the input is Office.

Use full paths for Office input and output. GhostPDL allows only one interpreter instance per process.

Supported extensions include .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .odt, .ods, .odp, .rtf, and .csv.

Usage with Ghostscript.NET, including sample code, is documented in Ghostscript.NET.Office. Maintainers who produce the native libraries see Ghostscript.NET.Office/BUILD.md.

PDF/A-3 conversion

The PDFA3Converter class converts any PDF to PDF/A-3b format and optionally embeds a ZUGFeRD or Factur-X XML invoice. This is the format required by XRechnung (Germany) and Factur-X (France/EU) electronic invoicing standards.

Convert to plain PDF/A-3

using Ghostscript.NET;

var converter = new PDFA3Converter(@"C:\gs\gs9.56.1\bin\gsdll64.dll");
converter.ConvertToPDFA3("invoice.pdf", "invoice-pdfa3.pdf");

Embed a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X XML invoice

using Ghostscript.NET;

var converter = new PDFA3Converter(@"C:\gs\gs9.56.1\bin\gsdll64.dll");
converter.SetZUGFeRDProfile(ZUGFeRDProfile.Comfort);
converter.SetZUGFeRDVersion("2.3");
converter.SetEmbeddedXMLFile("factur-x.xml");
converter.ConvertToPDFA3("invoice.pdf", "invoice-pdfa3-zugferd.pdf");

Issues with PDFA3Converter should be tagged to @stephanstapel on GitHub.

Documentation

Resource	URL
NuGet package	https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ghostscript.NET/
Native assets package	https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ghostscript.NativeAssets/
GitHub repository	https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/Ghostscript.NET
Sample projects	`Ghostscript.NET.Samples/` (project-references local `Ghostscript.NET` source; may reference `Ghostscript.NativeAssets` via NuGet)
Ghostscript documentation	https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io
Ghostscript binary downloads	https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/ghostpdl-downloads/releases
Ghostscript command-line reference	https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Use.html
Bug reports	https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/Ghostscript.NET/issues
Artifex commercial licensing	https://artifex.com/contact/ghostscript-net

License

Ghostscript.NET is available under two licences:

GNU AGPL v3 — free for open-source projects. Any application that uses or distributes Ghostscript.NET must release its complete source code under a compatible open-source licence. See COPYING in this repository for the full licence text.
Commercial licence — required for proprietary or closed-source applications. Contact Artifex for licensing. Artifex is the exclusive commercial licensing agent for Ghostscript.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Ghostscript.NET.DisplayTest		Ghostscript.NET.DisplayTest
Ghostscript.NET.PDFA3Converter.Samples		Ghostscript.NET.PDFA3Converter.Samples
Ghostscript.NET.Samples		Ghostscript.NET.Samples
Ghostscript.NET.Viewer		Ghostscript.NET.Viewer
Ghostscript.NET		Ghostscript.NET
Ghostscript.NativeAssets		Ghostscript.NativeAssets
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
COPYING		COPYING
Description.md		Description.md
Directory.Build.props		Directory.Build.props
Ghostscript.NET.VS2010.sln		Ghostscript.NET.VS2010.sln
Ghostscript.NET.VS2013.sln		Ghostscript.NET.VS2013.sln
Ghostscript.NET.VS2015.VC.db		Ghostscript.NET.VS2015.VC.db
Ghostscript.NET.VS2015.sln		Ghostscript.NET.VS2015.sln
Ghostscript.NET.VS2019.sln		Ghostscript.NET.VS2019.sln
Ghostscript.NET.VS2022.sln		Ghostscript.NET.VS2022.sln
LICENSE.md		LICENSE.md
README.md		README.md
Versions.props		Versions.props

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Ghostscript.NET

Contents

Why Ghostscript.NET

Requirements

Installing the Ghostscript native library

Installation

Quick start

Key capabilities

Code examples

Rasterize a single page to `SKBitmap`

Rasterize with anti-aliasing and custom switches

Rasterize from a stream (no temp file)

Convert PDF to PNG files using `GhostscriptPngDevice`

Convert PDF to JPEG

Run with custom arguments and capture output

Specify the Ghostscript DLL explicitly

Load the DLL from memory (Windows only)

API overview

Core classes

`GhostscriptRasterizer` key members

`GhostscriptProcessor` key members

`GhostscriptVersionInfo` key members

Finding the Ghostscript native library

Office files (GhostPDL)

PDF/A-3 conversion

Convert to plain PDF/A-3

Embed a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X XML invoice

Documentation

License

About

Releases

Packages

Used by

Contributors

Languages

Uh oh!

Latest commit

History

Folders and files

Repository files navigation

Ghostscript.NET

Contents

Why Ghostscript.NET

Requirements

Installing the Ghostscript native library

Installation

Quick start

Key capabilities

Code examples

Rasterize a single page to SKBitmap

Rasterize with anti-aliasing and custom switches

Rasterize from a stream (no temp file)

Convert PDF to PNG files using GhostscriptPngDevice

Convert PDF to JPEG

Run with custom arguments and capture output

Specify the Ghostscript DLL explicitly

Load the DLL from memory (Windows only)

API overview

Core classes

GhostscriptRasterizer key members

GhostscriptProcessor key members

GhostscriptVersionInfo key members

Finding the Ghostscript native library

Office files (GhostPDL)

PDF/A-3 conversion

Convert to plain PDF/A-3

Embed a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X XML invoice

Documentation

License

About

Topics

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages

Used by

Contributors

Languages

Rasterize a single page to `SKBitmap`

Convert PDF to PNG files using `GhostscriptPngDevice`

`GhostscriptRasterizer` key members

`GhostscriptProcessor` key members

`GhostscriptVersionInfo` key members