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How to Render WebGL Sites to PDF in C#

How to Render WebGL Sites in C

Chaknith Bin
Chaknith Bin
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WebGL is a powerful tool for creating interactive 3D graphics within web browsers, but converting these dynamic, highly interactive experiences into a static PDF format can be challenging. Rendering a WebGL website to PDF involves capturing the visual content generated by the WebGL context and converting it into a format suitable for a PDF document.

IronPDF provides the tools needed to capture and render websites with WebGL such as Mapbox and the WebGL Samples collection.

Quickstart: Render WebGL Content to PDF in .NET

Easily convert interactive WebGL graphics into static PDFs using IronPDF in .NET C#. This straightforward guide helps you quickly set up and render WebGL content from websites. By configuring the Chrome GPU mode to Hardware and enabling Single Process, you can efficiently capture dynamic web graphics. Follow these steps to start transforming 3D web content into shareable PDF documents today.

Nuget IconGet started making PDFs with NuGet now:

  1. Install IronPDF with NuGet Package Manager

    PM > Install-Package IronPdf

  2. Copy and run this code snippet.

    IronPdf.Installation.SingleProcess = true; IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Hardware;
new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer { RenderingOptions = { WaitFor = IronPdf.Rendering.WaitFor.RenderDelay(5000) } }
    .RenderUrlAsPdf("https://example.com/webgl‑demo")
    .SaveAs("webgl‑output.pdf");

  3. Deploy to test on your live environment

    Start using IronPDF in your project today with a free trial
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Minimal Workflow (5 steps)

  1. Download the IronPDF C# Library
  2. Set the SingleProcess property to true
  3. Change the ChromeGpuMode property to Hardware
  4. Apply a delay before rendering to ensure proper rendering
  5. Render the PDF from the URL and save the result


Render WebGL Websites

To enable WebGL rendering, there are a few IronPDF settings you need to configure:

  • SingleProcess = true. This forces Chrome to perform everything in the current process rather than using subprocesses.
  • ChromeGpuMode = Hardware mode.

Additionally, if the website requires some delay before rendering to display properly, you may use the WaitFor.RenderDelay method. Let's render a sample from Mapbox's GeoJSON Layer for our example.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/render-webgl-render-webgl.cs
using IronPdf;

// Configure IronPdf settings
IronPdf.Installation.SingleProcess = true;
IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Hardware;

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

// Set delay before rendering
renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor.RenderDelay(5000);

// Render from URL
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://docs.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/example/geojson-layer-in-slot/");

pdf.SaveAs("webGL.pdf");
Imports IronPdf

' Configure IronPdf settings
IronPdf.Installation.SingleProcess = True
IronPdf.Installation.ChromeGpuMode = IronPdf.Engines.Chrome.ChromeGpuModes.Hardware

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Set delay before rendering
renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor.RenderDelay(5000)

' Render from URL
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://docs.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/example/geojson-layer-in-slot/")

pdf.SaveAs("webGL.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Output PDF

It is currently not possible to render WebGL in a Docker setup. Rendering WebGL on Docker can be challenging because Docker containers are typically headless environments, meaning they do not have a graphical user interface (GUI). WebGL relies on access to the GPU to render graphics, and in a headless environment, access to the GPU is limited or nonexistent. Our developers are still investigating this possibility. If you want to be notified once a conclusion has been reached, please contact [email protected].

Ready to see what else you can do? Check out our tutorial page here: Addtional Features

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I convert HTML to PDF in C#?

You can use IronPDF's RenderHtmlAsPdf method to convert HTML strings into PDFs. You can also convert HTML files into PDFs using RenderHtmlFileAsPdf.

What is WebGL?

WebGL is a powerful tool for creating interactive 3D graphics within web browsers. It allows developers to render graphics directly within the browser without the need for plugins.

How can I render WebGL sites to PDF using IronPDF?

To render WebGL sites to PDF using IronPDF, configure the SingleProcess property to true and ChromeGpuMode to Hardware. Use the RenderDelay method to ensure all elements are loaded before rendering.

Why is rendering dynamic web content to PDF challenging?

Rendering dynamic web content to PDF is challenging because it involves capturing the dynamic and interactive visual content generated by various web technologies and converting it into a static format suitable for a PDF document.

How do I configure IronPDF for WebGL rendering?

For effective WebGL rendering, set the SingleProcess property to true and ChromeGpuMode to Hardware. Apply a delay with the RenderDelay method to ensure all elements are fully loaded before rendering.

Can WebGL be rendered in a Docker environment using IronPDF?

No, it is currently not possible to render WebGL in a Docker setup using IronPDF. Docker containers are typically headless and lack the necessary GPU access for WebGL rendering.

What is the purpose of applying a delay before rendering in IronPDF?

The RenderDelay setting in IronPDF is used to apply a delay before rendering a webpage to a PDF. This ensures that all elements are fully loaded and properly displayed before the capture is made.

Where can I download the IronPDF C# library?

You can download the IronPDF C# library from NuGet at https://www.nuget.org/packages/IronPdf/.

How does the GPU mode setting affect rendering in IronPDF?

The ChromeGpuMode property in IronPDF should be set to Hardware to allow WebGL to utilize hardware GPU rendering, enabling effective capture and rendering of 3D graphics.

How does IronPDF support .NET 10 for rendering WebGL and HTML-to-PDF tasks?

IronPDF is fully compatible with .NET 10, meaning you can use all of its WebGL rendering features—such as setting SingleProcess, ChromeGpuMode to Hardware, and applying render delays—seamlessly within .NET 10 projects. It supports HTML-to-PDF, URL rendering, and the full suite of rendering options under the .NET 10 runtime.

Chaknith Bin
Chaknith Bin
  Chat with engineering team now
Software Engineer
Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.
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