When rendering HTML to PDF in .NET Framework applications, especially when rendering large HTML stored in memory variables, some developers may encounter unexpected crashes.
var html = File.ReadAllText("large.html");
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
Upon investigation, a common cause for this issue is the "Prefer 32-bit" setting in the project configuration. By default, this option is enabled, which compiles the application to run as a 32-bit process. However, 32-bit processes have memory limitations that can lead to instability or crashes in memory-intensive tasks.
To resolve this, simply uncheck the "Prefer 32-bit" option in your project settings and recompile the application. This will allow it to run as a 64-bit process, which can handle larger memory loads more efficiently.
Based on findings, disabling this setting eliminated the crash, improving both stability and performance during PDF generation.