Stilo combines visual editing, report generation, and features for barcodes, QR codes, and labels—all with zero licensing costs and a strong focus on performance.

What Stilo Offers

1. HTML-oriented WYSIWYG editing with clean and controllable output.
2. Native Blazor integration to use the editor as a component within .NET applications.
3. Reporting features to create structured documents without relying on external services.
4. Integrated barcode and QR code support within the editor.
5. Label tools designed for printing and inventory management.
6. MIT License allowing use, modification, and distribution without license fees.

Architecture and Repository Status

The repository does not contain the full source code; it contains the complete source code for the demo and links for free installation in your projects via NuGet.

At the moment, the project is in its early stages but already functional for anyone wishing to explore and integrate it. The architecture is designed to be modular and easily extensible within Blazor projects.

You can request a license file to unlock all features; it is completely FREE. The license was introduced solely to limit use in corporate contexts and to monitor installations.

Accessibility as a Primary Requirement

Awareness and gaps in common projects

Many projects neglect accessibility in their early stages, treating it as an afterthought rather than a fundamental requirement. This leads to interfaces that work for the majority but exclude people with disabilities.

1. Magnifying glass and Text-to-Speech (TTS) for easier content reading.

Lente ingradimento e TTS per la lettura facilitata dei contenuti

Practical Use Cases

1. CMS and admin panels: Page and content editing with HTML output.
2. Business report generation: Exports and layouts without paid dependencies.
3. Labeling and logistics systems: Label printing with barcodes and QR codes.
4. Email or document template editor integrated into internal applications.

Editing di un pdf molto complesso

Native PDF and Word Editor

Detailed Description

1. Goal: To provide an editor that not only produces clean HTML but also allows creating, editing, and exporting professional documents in PDF and Word formats without resorting to external services or paid libraries.

Key Features

1. Direct creation and editing of Word documents: Generation of .docx documents from the editor's content, supporting styles, headers, tables, inline images, and advanced formatting.
2. Native PDF export: Server-side or client-side PDF conversion with control over layout, margins, pagination, headers, footers, embedded font management, and print optimization.
3. WYSIWYG print preview: Faithful rendering of the final document before export, featuring page layout, orientation, and scaling options.
4. Image and resource management: Image insertion and optimization, print quality control, and the ability to embed barcodes/QR codes directly into documents.
5. Advanced typography control: Management of styles, paragraphs, numbered and bulleted lists, spacing, and kerning for professional results.
6. Compatibility and interoperability: Word documents compatible with MS Word; PDFs compliant with printing and archiving standards.
7. Performance and scalability: Optimized conversions to ensure a smooth user experience, with the capability to run heavy background operations or deploy on dedicated servers.

Practical Benefits

1. Zero licensing fees for using and distributing the editing and conversion engine.
2. Fewer external dependencies, simplifying deployment and maintenance.
3. Greater control over the final output compared to solutions that only export raw HTML.
4. Adaptability to enterprise scenarios: Invoicing, reporting, technical documentation, contracts, and marketing materials.

Editing of Highly Complex PDFs (Stilo.Reports)

Stilo.Reports is the reporting module of Stilo based on Microsoft's RDLC format, redesigned and adapted for the Blazor ecosystem. It was born to fill a gap: finding a comprehensive, advanced component with an integrated Designer and Viewer that you can add to a project without being overwhelmed by licensing costs or slow, bloated libraries.

Why Stilo.Reports?

1. RDLC as a standard: RDLC is an established format for corporate reporting; Stilo.Reports brings it to Blazor while maintaining compatibility and flexibility.
2. Integrated Designer: A visual editor to build report layouts, define datasets, fields, tables, charts, and page sections without leaving the development environment.
3. Native Viewer: WYSIWYG preview directly in Blazor, complete with page navigation, zoom, text search, exporting, and printing.
4. Zero licensing fees: Designed to be used and distributed freely (in development environments) alongside Stilo, avoiding commercial dependencies that bloat the project.
5. Performance and lightweight design: Optimized implementation to prevent slowdowns in web apps, featuring progressive rendering and the ability to run heavy server-side operations.

Key Features

1. Visual drag-and-drop designer to create RDLC reports: headers, footers, body, tables, matrixes, charts, and subreports.
2. Flexible data binding: Support for JSON datasets, .NET objects, API calls, and dynamic sources.
3. Integrated Blazor Viewer: Client-side rendering with server-side fallback for complex documents.
4. Multiple export formats: PDF, Word, HTML, and images, with control over layout, pagination, and print quality.
5. Templates and merge fields: Define reusable templates and dynamic fields for automated document generation.
6. Barcode and QR code support: Direct generation and placement within reports.
7. Extensibility: APIs to add new renderers, exporters, or custom controls.

Architecture and Integration

1. Modular Blazor component: Stilo.Reports integrates as a NuGet package or source project, exposing Razor components for both the Designer and Viewer.
2. Hybrid rendering: Client-side rendering for lightweight documents; server-side or background rendering for complex reports or large datasets.
3. Export pipeline: Controlled RDLC-to-PDF/Word conversion managing fonts, images, and external resources, with caching and job queue support for asynchronous operations.
4. Security and isolation: Sandboxed template execution to prevent unauthorized code execution; data access control and export logging.
5. Easy integration: Examples and helpers to connect Stilo.Reports to authentication services, storage (S3, Azure Blob), and enterprise printing systems.

Stilo Report Designer

Real-World Use Cases

1. Financial reporting: Balance sheets, monthly reports, and dashboards exportable to PDF/Word for internal distribution.
2. Invoices and commercial documents: Dynamic templates with merge fields to generate print-ready documents.
3. Labeling and logistics: Label layouts with barcodes/QR codes optimized for thermal printers.
4. Technical documentation: Generation of manuals and product sheets with index, table of contents, and bookmarks compatible with Word/PDF.
5. Business workflows: Integration into approval processes with automated export and email distribution or archiving.

Report Viewer

Tangible Benefits

1. Cost reduction by eliminating commercial licenses for reporting engines.
2. Complete control over the generation workflow and the final output.
3. Better developer experience thanks to the integrated Designer and ready-to-use examples.
4. Greater reliability compared to solutions that cobble together disparate, low-performance libraries.

Stilo Won't Just Be on Microsoft Environments

Strategic Vision

Stilo is envisioned as an infrastructure-standalone platform, meaning it may not be exclusively tied to the Microsoft ecosystem in the future.

The idea is to offer modular and adaptable web components that can be integrated into any project, regardless of the cloud or backend stack chosen. However, since this is currently a weekend passion project and not designed to generate revenue, it currently exists on a couple of sheets of paper.

Architecture and Distribution

1. Modularity: The components (editor, Designer, Viewer, Stilo.Reports, PDF/Word export engines, accessibility modules) will be designed as reusable packages (e.g., NuGet, npm packages, or Web Components) to facilitate adoption in .NET, Node, Java, or any other environment.
2. Flexible Deployment: Support for on-premise, VM/container (Docker, Kubernetes), and cloud provider (Azure, AWS, GCP) deployments. Cloud APIs eliminate technical dependencies on a strictly Microsoft architecture.

Discover Stilo on GitHub, and try the integrated Stilo Editor, Stilo Report Designer, and Stilo Report Viewer: https://github.com/francescopaolopassaro/Stilo