iText - add content to existing PDF file

Question

I want to do the following with iText    1  parse an existing PDF file   2  add some data to it  on the existing single page of the document  such as a timestamp    3  write out the document  I just can t seem to figure out how to do this with iText  In pseudo code I would do this   Document document   reader read input   document add new Paragraph  my timestamp     writer write document  output     But for some reason iText s API is so dauntingly complicated that I can t wrap my head around it  The PdfReader actually holds the document model or something  rather than spitting out a document   and you need a PdfWriter to read pages from it    eh

User · Answer

This is the most complicated scenario I can imagine: I have a PDF file created with Ilustrator and modified with Acrobat to have AcroFields (AcroForm) that I'm going to fill with data with this Java code, the result of that PDF file with the data in the fields is modified adding a Document.

Actually in this case I'm dynamically generating a background that is added to a PDF that is also dynamically generated with a Document with an unknown amount of data or pages.

I'm using JBoss and this code is inside a JSP file (should work in any JSP webserver).

Note: if you are using IExplorer you must submit a HTTP form with POST method to be able to download the file. If not you are going to see the PDF code in the screen. This does not happen in Chrome or Firefox.

<%@ page import="java.io.*, com.lowagie.text.*, com.lowagie.text.pdf.*" %><%

response.setContentType("application/download");
response.setHeader("Content-disposition","attachment;filename=listaPrecios.pdf" );  

// -------- FIRST THE PDF WITH THE INFO ----------
String str = "";
// lots of words
for(int i = 0; i < 800; i++) str += "Hello" + i + " ";
// the document
Document doc = new Document( PageSize.A4, 25, 25, 200, 70 );
ByteArrayOutputStream streamDoc = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
PdfWriter.getInstance( doc, streamDoc );
// lets start filling with info
doc.open();
doc.add(new Paragraph(str));
doc.close();
// the beauty of this is the PDF will have all the pages it needs
PdfReader frente = new PdfReader(streamDoc.toByteArray());
PdfStamper stamperDoc = new PdfStamper( frente, response.getOutputStream());

// -------- THE BACKGROUND PDF FILE -------
// in JBoss the file has to be in webinf/classes to be readed this way
PdfReader fondo = new PdfReader("listaPrecios.pdf");
ByteArrayOutputStream streamFondo = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
PdfStamper stamperFondo = new PdfStamper( fondo, streamFondo);
// the acroform
AcroFields form = stamperFondo.getAcroFields();
// the fields 
form.setField("nombre","Avicultura");
form.setField("descripcion","Esto describe para que sirve la lista ");
stamperFondo.setFormFlattening(true);
stamperFondo.close();
// our background is ready
PdfReader fondoEstampado = new PdfReader( streamFondo.toByteArray() );

// ---- ADDING THE BACKGROUND TO EACH DATA PAGE ---------
PdfImportedPage pagina = stamperDoc.getImportedPage(fondoEstampado,1);
int n = frente.getNumberOfPages();
PdfContentByte background;
for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
    background = stamperDoc.getUnderContent(i);
    background.addTemplate(pagina, 0, 0);
}
// after this everithing will be written in response.getOutputStream()
stamperDoc.close(); 
%>

There is another solution much simpler, and solves your problem. It depends the amount of text you want to add.

// read the file
PdfReader fondo = new PdfReader("listaPrecios.pdf");
PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper( fondo, response.getOutputStream());
PdfContentByte content = stamper.getOverContent(1);
// add text
ColumnText ct = new ColumnText( content );
// this are the coordinates where you want to add text
// if the text does not fit inside it will be cropped
ct.setSimpleColumn(50,500,500,50);
ct.setText(new Phrase(str, titulo1));
ct.go();

User · Answer

Document document   new Document        PdfWriter writer   PdfWriter getInstance document           new FileOutputStream  E  TextFieldForm pdf         document open         PdfPTable table   new PdfPTable 2       table getDefaultCell   setPadding 5f      Code 1     table setHorizontalAlignment Element ALIGN LEFT       PdfPCell cell                Code 2  add name TextField            table addCell  Name         TextField nameField   new TextField writer           new Rectangle 0 0 200 10    nameField        nameField setBackgroundColor Color WHITE       nameField setBorderColor Color BLACK       nameField setBorderWidth 1       nameField setBorderStyle PdfBorderDictionary STYLE SOLID       nameField setText          nameField setAlignment Element ALIGN LEFT       nameField setOptions TextField REQUIRED                      cell   new PdfPCell        cell setMinimumHeight 10       cell setCellEvent new FieldCell nameField getTextField             200  writer        table addCell cell           force upper case javascript     writer addJavaScript           var nameField   this getField  nameField                nameField setAction  Keystroke                forceUpperCase                               function forceUpperCase                if  event willCommit event change                event change toUpperCase                              Code 3  add empty row     table addCell          table addCell               Code 4  add age TextField     table addCell  Age        TextField ageComb   new TextField writer  new Rectangle 0           0  30  10    ageField        ageComb setBorderColor Color BLACK       ageComb setBorderWidth 1       ageComb setBorderStyle PdfBorderDictionary STYLE SOLID       ageComb setText  12        ageComb setAlignment Element ALIGN RIGHT       ageComb setMaxCharacterLength 2       ageComb setOptions TextField COMB            TextField DO NOT SCROLL       cell   new PdfPCell        cell setMinimumHeight 10       cell setCellEvent new FieldCell ageComb getTextField             30  writer        table addCell cell           validate age javascript     writer addJavaScript           var ageField   this getField  ageField                ageField setAction  Validate   checkAge                  function checkAge                if event value  lt  12               app alert  Warning  Applicant   s age can not              be younger than 12                 event value   12                                    add empty row     table addCell          table addCell               Code 5  add age TextField     table addCell  Comment        TextField comment   new TextField writer           new Rectangle 0  0 200  100    commentField        comment setBorderColor Color BLACK       comment setBorderWidth 1       comment setBorderStyle PdfBorderDictionary STYLE SOLID       comment setText          comment setOptions TextField MULTILINE            TextField DO NOT SCROLL       cell   new PdfPCell        cell setMinimumHeight 100       cell setCellEvent new FieldCell comment getTextField             200  writer        table addCell cell            check comment characters length javascript     writer addJavaScript           var commentField                this getField  commentField                commentField              setAction  Keystroke   checkLength                  function checkLength                if  event willCommit  amp  amp               event value length  gt  100               app alert  Warning  Comment can not              be more than 100 characters                 event change                                           add empty row     table addCell          table addCell               Code 6  add submit button         PushbuttonField submitBtn   new PushbuttonField writer              new Rectangle 0  0  35  15   submitPOST        submitBtn setBackgroundColor Color GRAY       submitBtn          setBorderStyle PdfBorderDictionary STYLE BEVELED       submitBtn setText  POST        submitBtn setOptions PushbuttonField          VISIBLE BUT DOES NOT PRINT       PdfFormField submitField   submitBtn getField        submitField setAction PdfAction      createSubmitForm    null  PdfAction SUBMIT HTML FORMAT         cell   new PdfPCell        cell setMinimumHeight 15       cell setCellEvent new FieldCell submitField  35  writer        table addCell cell             Code 7  add reset button     PushbuttonField resetBtn   new PushbuttonField writer              new Rectangle 0  0  35  15    reset        resetBtn setBackgroundColor Color GRAY       resetBtn setBorderStyle          PdfBorderDictionary STYLE BEVELED       resetBtn setText  RESET        resetBtn      setOptions          PushbuttonField VISIBLE BUT DOES NOT PRINT       PdfFormField resetField   resetBtn getField        resetField setAction PdfAction createResetForm null  0        cell   new PdfPCell        cell setMinimumHeight 15       cell setCellEvent new FieldCell resetField  35  writer        table addCell cell                document add table       document close        class FieldCell implements PdfPCellEvent       PdfFormField formField      PdfWriter writer      int width       public FieldCell PdfFormField formField  int width           PdfWriter writer           this formField   formField          this width   width          this writer   writer             public void cellLayout PdfPCell cell  Rectangle rect           PdfContentByte   canvas           try                 delete cell border             PdfContentByte cb   canvas PdfPTable                  LINECANVAS               cb reset                 formField setWidget                  new Rectangle rect left                         rect bottom                         rect left   width                       rect top                          PdfAnnotation                      HIGHLIGHT NONE                writer addAnnotation formField            catch Exception e               System out println e

User · Answer

Gutch s code is close  but it ll only work right if    There are no annotations  links  fields  etc   no Document Structure Marked Content  no bookmarks  no document-level script  etc  etc  etc    The page size happens to be A 4  decent odds  but it won t work on any ol  PDF you happen to come across  You don t mind losing all the original document metadata  producer  creation date  possibly author title keywords   and maybe the document ID   You can t copy the creation date and doc ID unless you do some pretty deep hackery on iText itself     The Approved Method is to do it the other way around   Open the existing document with a PdfStamper  and use the returned PdfContentByte from getOverContent   to write text  and whatever else you might need  directly to the page   No second document needed   And you can use a ColumnText to handle layout and such for you    no need to get down and dirty with beginText   setFontAndSize   drawText   drawText      endText

User · Answer

iText has more than one way of doing this  The PdfStamper class is one option  But I find the easiest method is to create a new PDF document then import individual pages from the existing document into the new PDF      Create output PDF Document document   new Document PageSize A4   PdfWriter writer   PdfWriter getInstance document  outputStream   document open    PdfContentByte cb   writer getDirectContent        Load existing PDF PdfReader reader   new PdfReader templateInputStream   PdfImportedPage page   writer getImportedPage reader  1        Copy first page of existing PDF into output PDF document newPage    cb addTemplate page  0  0       Add your new data   text here    for example    document add new Paragraph  my timestamp       document close      This will read in a PDF from templateInputStream and write it out to outputStream  These might be file streams or memory streams or whatever suits your application

[java] iText - add content to existing PDF file

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