The type initializer for 'CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument' threw an exception

Here is what worked for me:

If you are installing on a 64-bit machine, make sure the application properties under the Build tab have "Any CPU" as the platform target, and unselect the check box for "Prefer 32-bit" if you have the option. Crystal is very touchy about 32/64 bit assemblies, and makes some pretty counterintuitive assumptions which are very difficult to troubleshoot.

When a static constructor throws an exception, it is wrapped inside a TypeInitializationException. You need to check the exception object's InnerException property to see the actual exception.

In a staging / production environment (where you don't have Visual Studio installed), you'll need to either:

1. Trace/Log the exception and its InnerException (recursively): Add an event handler to the AppDomain.UnhandledException event, and put your logging/tracing code there. Use System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine for tracing, or a logger (log4net, ETW). DbgView (a Sysinternals tool) can be used to view the Debug.WriteLine trace.
2. Use a production debugger (such as WinDbg or NTSD) to diagnose the exception.
3. Use Visual Studio's Remote Debugging to diagnose the exception (enabling you to debug the code on the target computer from your own development computer).

I had similar message and after several searches online and doing all suggestions, nothing helped. Finally I found the solution. In my IIS server, under the application pool advance option, there is an option for "Enable 32-Bit Applications" - that was changed from false to true and after restarting IIS server, My program started generating pdf files.