ITEXT is one of the most common libraries used to create pdf files. you can get the library from the maven repository. below is the latest version as of now.
<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.itextpdf/itextpdf -->
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>itextpdf</artifactId>
<version>5.5.13.4</version>
</dependency>
If you have fair knowledge in java, it is more than enough to create a use Itext and generate a PDF file.
you can create a java project, mostly a springboot project via https://start.spring.io/
Then you can add the maven dependency. Here i use maven, but you can use anything eg:gradle
In this example i have added
1. plain text
2. some Alignment with text
3. insert an image ( keep image in classpath)
package com.example.poc.pdf.itext.sample;
import com.itextpdf.text.*;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfWriter;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URISyntaxException;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.Arrays;
public class ExperienceLetter {
private static String FILE = "C:\\Project\\PoC\\docs\\Experience.pdf";
private static Font TO = new Font(Font.FontFamily.TIMES_ROMAN, 12,
Font.BOLD);
private static Font TO_DATA = new Font(Font.FontFamily.TIMES_ROMAN, 12);
private static Font TITLE = new Font(Font.FontFamily.TIMES_ROMAN, 12,
Font.BOLD | Font.UNDERLINE);
private static Font BODY = new Font(Font.FontFamily.TIMES_ROMAN, 11);
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
//create Doc
Document document = new Document();
// pdf file
PdfWriter.getInstance(document, new FileOutputStream(FILE));
//open doc
document.open();
// add each section
// add metadata
addMetaData(document);
//
addParaTo(document);
addTitle(document);
addBody(document, "EMPLYEE NAME", "DESIGNATION", "2022-01-01", "2024-02-01", 2);
addSignature(document);
// close doc
document.close();
} catch (DocumentException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
} catch (URISyntaxException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
} catch (IOException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
}
public static void addMetaData(Document document) {
document.addTitle("Sample Pdf");
document.addSubject("Using iText");
document.addKeywords("Java, PDF, iText");
document.addAuthor("Amal Prasad");
document.addCreator("Amal Prasad");
}
public static void addParaTo(Document document)
throws DocumentException {
Paragraph toPara = new Paragraph();
addEmptyLine(toPara, 1);
// Lets write a big header
toPara.add(new Paragraph("TO:", TO));
addEmptyLine(toPara, 1);
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Employee Name", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Employee ID:", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Address Line 1", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Address Line 2", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("City", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Country", TO_DATA));
document.add(toPara);
}
public static void addTitle(Document document)
throws DocumentException {
// create Para
Paragraph title = new Paragraph();
title.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_CENTER);
addEmptyLine(title, 2);
title.add(new Paragraph("TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN", TITLE));
title.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_CENTER);
//add para to doc
document.add(title);
}
public static void addBody(Document document, String employeeName, String designation, String workStartDate, String workEndDate, int yearsOfExperience)
throws DocumentException {
StringBuilder experience = new StringBuilder("This letter is to certify that ");
experience.append(employeeName);
experience.append(" has worked in our organisation as ");
experience.append(designation);
experience.append(".");
experience.append("He had started working here on dated ");
experience.append(workStartDate);
experience.append(" and worked till dated ");
experience.append(workEndDate);
experience.append(".");
experience.append("He had served the company for about ");
experience.append(yearsOfExperience);
experience.append(" years.");
// create Para
Paragraph body = new Paragraph();
addEmptyLine(body, 2);
body.add(new Paragraph(experience.toString(), BODY));
//add para to doc
document.add(body);
// create Para
Paragraph bodyPart2 = new Paragraph();
addEmptyLine(bodyPart2, 1);
StringBuilder expereincePart2 = new StringBuilder("Until the day he joined, he had been quite responsible.");
expereincePart2.append("To date, he has accumulated a diverse set of talents and job experiences");
expereincePart2.append("His mind blowing abilities include: Team work,Management skills and Analytical skills");
expereincePart2.append("");
bodyPart2.add(new Paragraph(expereincePart2.toString(), BODY));
document.add(bodyPart2);
Paragraph bodyPart3 = new Paragraph();
addEmptyLine(bodyPart3, 1);
StringBuilder expereincePart3 = new StringBuilder("We wish him all the best for his future endeavours.");
bodyPart3.add(new Paragraph(expereincePart3.toString(), BODY));
addEmptyLine(bodyPart3, 1);
document.add(bodyPart3);
}
public static void addEmptyLine(Paragraph paragraph, int number) {
for (int i = 0; i < number; i++) {
paragraph.add(new Paragraph(" "));
}
}
public static void addSignature(Document document) throws URISyntaxException, DocumentException, IOException {
String imagePath = "signature.jpg";
Path path = Paths.get(ClassLoader.getSystemResource(imagePath).toURI());
// System.out.println(path.toAbsolutePath());
// String classpath = System.getProperty("java.class.path");
// String[] classpathEntries = classpath.split(File.pathSeparator);
// System.out.println(Arrays.toString(classpathEntries));
Image signImage = Image.getInstance(path.toAbsolutePath().toString());
// signImage.setAlignment(Image.LEFT | Image.TEXTWRAP);
signImage.setAlignment(Image.ALIGN_CENTER);
// signImage.setBorder(Image.BOX);
// signImage.setBorderWidth(15);
signImage.scaleToFit(100, 100);
document.add(signImage);
//////
// create Para
Paragraph afterSignature = new Paragraph();
// addEmptyLine(afterSignature, 3);
afterSignature.add(new Paragraph("Authorized Signatory", BODY));
document.add(afterSignature);
}
}
Explaining the main functionalities
1. Create a Document
//create Doc
Document document = new Document();
2. Create PDF writer instance to write input to generating pdf.
// pdf file
PdfWriter.getInstance(document, new FileOutputStream(FILE));
3. As we have added writer, Now let's open doc.
//open doc
document.open();
4. Do the functionalities/ or operations you need.
eg: add Meta data for the pdf. This also not need. BUt you can add , if you need.
public static void addMetaData(Document document) {
document.addTitle("Sample Pdf");
document.addSubject("Using iText");
document.addKeywords("Java, PDF, iText");
document.addAuthor("Alex Crow");
document.addCreator("Alex Crow");
}
you can add Text as Paragraph. Below example will help. Here we create a Paragraph. add content as Paragraphs. After that add the Paragraph to the document, you already opened.
public static void addParaTo(Document document)
throws DocumentException {
Paragraph toPara = new Paragraph();
addEmptyLine(toPara, 1);
// Lets write a big header
toPara.add(new Paragraph("TO:", TO));
addEmptyLine(toPara, 1);
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Employee Name", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Employee ID:", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Address Line 1", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Address Line 2", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("City", TO_DATA));
toPara.add(new Paragraph("Country", TO_DATA));
document.add(toPara);
}
you can use below functionality to add some empty lines
public static void addEmptyLine(Paragraph paragraph, int number) {
for (int i = 0; i < number; i++) {
paragraph.add(new Paragraph(" "));
}
}
Add Image
public static void addSignature(Document document) throws URISyntaxException, DocumentException, IOException {
String imagePath = "signature.jpg";
Path path = Paths.get(ClassLoader.getSystemResource(imagePath).toURI());
Image signImage = Image.getInstance(path.toAbsolutePath().toString());
signImage.setAlignment(Image.ALIGN_CENTER);
signImage.scaleToFit(100, 100);
document.add(signImage);
}
Here we have added an image of an signature.
5. Finally Close the doc.
// close doc
document.close();
