iText in Action: Creating and Manipulating PDF

"any developer that is making serious use of iText would be a fool not to buy this book."
-- Dave Gilbert, jfree.org

"Thorough and complete ... will be a long running, valuable resource for iText and PDF."
-- Alan Dennis, Software Architect, MyFamily.com

"One of the best technical books I have ever read! Great work!"
-- Oliver Zeigermann, Technical Trainer, CoreMedia AG

"I wholeheartedly recommend it."
-- Doug James, eReporting Team Lead, Benefitfocus.com, Inc.

"Impressive! It provides depth without all the noise."
-- Justin Lee, President, Antwerkz Inc.

"Valuable to any developer using PDF."
-- Stuart Caborn, Consultant, Thoughtworks

Say you need a tool to add dynamic or interactive features to a PDF file and you decide to search on Google for "Java PDF." What do you think you'd find? Why, at the top of the page you'd find "iText," of course. A leading tool for programmatic creation and manipulation of PDF documents, iText is an open source Java library developed and maintained by Bruno Lowagie, the author of this book, with the help of many contributors.

While at the entry level iText is easy to learn, developers find they soon need its more advanced features. Written by the master himself, iText in Action now offers an introduction and a practical guide to the subject--you will gain a sound understanding of the Portable Document Format and how to do interesting and useful things with PDF using iText.

iText in Action introduces iText and lowers the learning curve to its advanced features. Its numerous, valuable examples unlock many of the secrets hidden in Adobe's PDF Reference. The examples are in Java but they can be easily adapted to .NET using one of iText's .NET ports: iTextSharp (C#) or iText.NET (J#).

 

Table of Contents

preface xix
acknowledgments xxi
about this book xxiii

Part 1 Introduction   1

1 iText: when and why   3

1.1 The history of iText 5

1.2 iText: first contact 10

1.3 An almost-true story 14

1.4 Summary 29

2 PDF engine jump-start   30

2.1 Generating a PDF document in five steps 31

2.2 Manipulating existing PDF files 48

2.3 Creating PDF in multiple passes 68

2.4 Summary 72

3 PDF: why and when   73

3.1 A document history 74

3.2 Types of PDF 79

3.3 PDF version history 85

3.4 Summary 95

Part 2 Basic building blocks   97

4 Composing text elements   99

4.1 Wrapping Strings in text elements 100

4.2 Adding extra functionality to text elements 105

4.3 Chunk characteristics 111

4.4 Chunks and space distribution 118

4.5 Anchors revisited 122

4.6 Generic Chunk functionality 125

4.7 Making a flyer (part 1) 129

4.8 Summary 134

5 Inserting images   135

5.1 Standard image types 136

5.2 Working with java.awt.Image 140

5.3 Byte arrays with image data 143

5.4 Setting image properties 147

5.5 Making a flyer (part 2) 158

5.6 Summary 161

6 Constructing tables   162

6.1 Tables in PDF: PdfPTable 163

6.2 Alternatives to PdfPTable 186

6.3 Composing a study guide (part 1) 189

6.4 Summary 192

7 Constructing columns   193

7.1 Retrieving the current vertical position 194

7.2 Adding text to ColumnText 197

7.3 Composing ColumnText with other building blocks 206

7.4 Automatic columns with MultiColumnText 211

7.5 Composing a study guide (part 2) 216

7.6 Summary 219

Part 3 PDF text and graphics   221

8 Choosing the right font   223

8.1 Defining a font 224

8.2 Introducing base fonts 231

8.3 Composite fonts 248

8.4 Summary 255

9 Using fonts   257

9.1 Other writing directions 258

9.2 Sending a message of peace (part 1) 262

9.3 Advanced typography 264

9.4 Automating font creation and selection 271

9.5 Sending a message of peace (part 2) 279

9.6 Summary 282

10 Constructing and painting paths   283

10.1 Path construction and painting operators 284

10.2 Working with iText烞 direct content 294

10.3 Graphics state operators 303

10.4 Changing the coordinate system 313

10.5 Drawing a map of a city (part 1) 321

10.6 Summary 324

11 Adding color and text   325

11.1 Adding color to PDF files 326

11.2 The transparent imaging model 335

11.3 Clipping content 341

11.4 PDF烞 text state 344

11.5 The map of Foobar (part 2) 353

11.6 Summary 355

12 Drawing to Java Graphics2D   356

12.1 Obtaining a Java.awt.Graphics2D instance 357

12.2 Two-dimensional graphics in the real world 368

12.3 PDF烞 optional content 374

12.4 Enhancing the map of Foobar 385

12.5 Summary 392

Part 4 Interactive PDF   393

13 Browsing a PDF document   395

13.1 Changing viewer preferences 396

13.2 Visualizing thumbnails 401

13.3 Adding page transitions 405

13.4 Adding bookmarks 407

13.5 Introducing actions 415

13.6 Enhancing the course catalog 421

13.7 Summary 424

14 Automating PDF creation   425

14.1 Creating a page 426

14.2 Common page event functionality 432

14.3 Alternative XML solutions 445

14.4 Enhancing the course catalog (part 2) 461

14.5 Summary 463

15 Creating annotations and fields   464

15.1 Introducing annotations 465

15.2 Creating an AcroForm 475

15.3 Submitting a form 488

15.4 Comparing HTML and PDF forms 498

15.5 Summary 500

16 Filling and signing AcroForms