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USING IRONPDF FOR JAVA

Java Library PDF Generation (Full Code Example)

Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
Updated:

This article will explore the IronPDF library, a great tool for creating PDFs in Java.

IronPDF: Java PDF Library

IronPDF is a popular Java PDF library that allows developers to easily create PDF documents, PDF forms, digitally sign PDF files, and more. With IronPDF, you can use existing PDF documents as templates to generate new PDF files, store PDF data in databases for future use, convert PDFs into other formats like HTML, and even merge multiple PDFs into one.

IronPDF allows users to add text annotations to PDFs to personalize the files they create. Furthermore, with IronPDF, you can include security settings, such as passwords or watermarks, within your PDFs. It helps to integrate PDF functionalities into Java programs. IronPDF is an extremely versatile and powerful tool for generating PDFs quickly and securely. Let's see how IronPDF can be used to create PDF files.

Generate PDF files using IronPDF

IronPDF is an invaluable tool for creating PDF files. It has all the features you need to quickly convert documents, webpages, and images into stable, secure PDFs that can be shared easily. Let's install IronPDF in this demo program.

Install IronPDF Java PDF library

To install IronPDF Java in a Maven project, you can add the following dependencies to your project's pom.xml file:

<dependencies>
    <!-- Add IronPDF dependency -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
        <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR-VERSION-HERE</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Add SLF4J logging dependency -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR-VERSION-HERE</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
<dependencies>
    <!-- Add IronPDF dependency -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
        <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR-VERSION-HERE</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Add SLF4J logging dependency -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR-VERSION-HERE</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
XML

This will add the IronPDF for Java library and the SLF4J logger that it uses. It is recommended to use the latest version of IronPDF for Java. Once you have added the dependencies, you can run mvn install to install the dependencies in your local repository, and your project will be ready to use IronPDF for Java.

Java Code for Creating PDF documents

This code is written in Java and uses the IronPDF library to convert HTML to a PDF document.

// Import statement for IronPDF Java  
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Apply your license key
        License.setLicenseKey("YOUR-LICENSE-KEY");

        // Set a log path to store log files generated by IronPDF
        Settings.setLogPath(Paths.get("C:/tmp/IronPdfEngine.log"));

        // Define the HTML content to convert into a PDF
        String html = "<!DOCTYPE html>\r\n"
                + "<html>\r\n"
                + "  <head>\r\n"
                + "    <link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Popin&display=swap' rel='stylesheet'>\r\n"
                + "    <style>\r\n"
                + "      /* Add CSS styles for the invoice here */\r\n"
                + "      body {\r\n"
                + "        font-family: 'Popin', cursive;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice {\r\n"
                + "        width: 80%;\r\n"
                + "        margin: 0 auto;\r\n"
                + "        border: 1px solid #ccc;\r\n"
                + "        padding: 20px;\r\n"
                + "        background-color: #f5f5f5;\r\n"
                + "        color: #333;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice h1 {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: center;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice .invoice-info {\r\n"
                + "        display: flex;\r\n"
                + "        justify-content: space-between;\r\n"
                + "        margin-bottom: 20px;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice .invoice-info div {\r\n"
                + "        width: 45%;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table {\r\n"
                + "        width: 100%;\r\n"
                + "        border-collapse: collapse;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table th, .invoice table td {\r\n"
                + "        border: 1px solid #ccc;\r\n"
                + "        padding: 10px;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table th {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: left;\r\n"
                + "        background-color: #f5f5f5;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table td {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: right;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table td.total {\r\n"
                + "        font-weight: bold;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "    </style>\r\n"
                + "  </head>\r\n"
                + "  <body>\r\n"
                + "    <div class=\"invoice\">\r\n"
                + "      <h1>Invoice</h1>\r\n"
                + "      <div class=\"invoice-info\">\r\n"
                + "        <div>\r\n"
                + "          <p><strong>From:</strong></p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>Your Company Name</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>123 Main St</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>City, State ZIP</p>\r\n"
                + "        </div>\r\n"
                + "        <div>\r\n"
                + "          <p><strong>To:</strong></p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>Customer Name</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>456 Park Ave</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>City, State ZIP</p>\r\n"
                + "        </div>\r\n"
                + "      </div>\r\n"
                + "      <table>\r\n"
                + "        <thead>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Product</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Quantity</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Price</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Total</th>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "        </thead>\r\n"
                + "        <tbody>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td>Product 1</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>1</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td>Product 2</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>2</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$5.00</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td colspan=\"3\" class=\"total\">Total:</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td class=\"total\">$20.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "        </tbody>\r\n"
                + "      </table>\r\n"
                + "    </div>\r\n"
                + "  </body>\r\n"
                + "</html>";

        // Convert HTML to PDF document
        PdfDocument myPdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(html);

        // Save the PDF document to a specified path
        myPdf.saveAs(Paths.get("C://HTMLtoPDF.pdf"));
    }
}
// Import statement for IronPDF Java  
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Apply your license key
        License.setLicenseKey("YOUR-LICENSE-KEY");

        // Set a log path to store log files generated by IronPDF
        Settings.setLogPath(Paths.get("C:/tmp/IronPdfEngine.log"));

        // Define the HTML content to convert into a PDF
        String html = "<!DOCTYPE html>\r\n"
                + "<html>\r\n"
                + "  <head>\r\n"
                + "    <link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Popin&display=swap' rel='stylesheet'>\r\n"
                + "    <style>\r\n"
                + "      /* Add CSS styles for the invoice here */\r\n"
                + "      body {\r\n"
                + "        font-family: 'Popin', cursive;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice {\r\n"
                + "        width: 80%;\r\n"
                + "        margin: 0 auto;\r\n"
                + "        border: 1px solid #ccc;\r\n"
                + "        padding: 20px;\r\n"
                + "        background-color: #f5f5f5;\r\n"
                + "        color: #333;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice h1 {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: center;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice .invoice-info {\r\n"
                + "        display: flex;\r\n"
                + "        justify-content: space-between;\r\n"
                + "        margin-bottom: 20px;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice .invoice-info div {\r\n"
                + "        width: 45%;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table {\r\n"
                + "        width: 100%;\r\n"
                + "        border-collapse: collapse;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table th, .invoice table td {\r\n"
                + "        border: 1px solid #ccc;\r\n"
                + "        padding: 10px;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table th {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: left;\r\n"
                + "        background-color: #f5f5f5;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table td {\r\n"
                + "        text-align: right;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "      .invoice table td.total {\r\n"
                + "        font-weight: bold;\r\n"
                + "      }\r\n"
                + "    </style>\r\n"
                + "  </head>\r\n"
                + "  <body>\r\n"
                + "    <div class=\"invoice\">\r\n"
                + "      <h1>Invoice</h1>\r\n"
                + "      <div class=\"invoice-info\">\r\n"
                + "        <div>\r\n"
                + "          <p><strong>From:</strong></p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>Your Company Name</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>123 Main St</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>City, State ZIP</p>\r\n"
                + "        </div>\r\n"
                + "        <div>\r\n"
                + "          <p><strong>To:</strong></p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>Customer Name</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>456 Park Ave</p>\r\n"
                + "          <p>City, State ZIP</p>\r\n"
                + "        </div>\r\n"
                + "      </div>\r\n"
                + "      <table>\r\n"
                + "        <thead>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Product</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Quantity</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Price</th>\r\n"
                + "            <th>Total</th>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "        </thead>\r\n"
                + "        <tbody>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td>Product 1</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>1</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td>Product 2</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>2</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$5.00</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td>$10.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "          <tr>\r\n"
                + "            <td colspan=\"3\" class=\"total\">Total:</td>\r\n"
                + "            <td class=\"total\">$20.00</td>\r\n"
                + "          </tr>\r\n"
                + "        </tbody>\r\n"
                + "      </table>\r\n"
                + "    </div>\r\n"
                + "  </body>\r\n"
                + "</html>";

        // Convert HTML to PDF document
        PdfDocument myPdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(html);

        // Save the PDF document to a specified path
        myPdf.saveAs(Paths.get("C://HTMLtoPDF.pdf"));
    }
}
JAVA
  • The first step is to apply a license key using the setLicenseKey method. The key is passed as a string argument; in this case, "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY" should be replaced with the actual license key.
  • The next step is to set a log path using the setLogPath method. This is where the log file for the IronPDF engine will be saved. In this case, it is set to "C:/tmp/IronPdfEngine.log".
  • The main method is defined, and a PdfDocument object is created by calling the renderHtmlAsPdf method, passing in a string of HTML as the argument. This will convert the HTML to a PDF and store it in the myPdf object.
  • The final step is to save the myPdf object to a file using the saveAs method. The file location is passed as an argument in the form of a Paths object, in this case, "HTMLtoPDF.pdf".

Here you can see the output of the above program where a PDF file is created using the IronPDF Java PDF library.

Java Library PDF Generation (Full Code Example), Figure 1: The output PDF file from an HTML string The output PDF file from an HTML string

Create PDF file from URL

IronPDF can render web pages into PDFs from a variety of sources, including local networks and external servers.

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class UrlToPdfExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Apply your license key
        License.setLicenseKey("YOUR-LICENSE-KEY");

        // Set a log path to store log files generated by IronPDF
        Settings.setLogPath(Paths.get("C:/tmp/IronPdfEngine.log"));

        // Convert a webpage to a PDF by specifying the URL
        PdfDocument myPdf = PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com");

        // Save the PdfDocument to a file
        myPdf.saveAs(Paths.get("url.pdf"));
    }
}
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class UrlToPdfExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Apply your license key
        License.setLicenseKey("YOUR-LICENSE-KEY");

        // Set a log path to store log files generated by IronPDF
        Settings.setLogPath(Paths.get("C:/tmp/IronPdfEngine.log"));

        // Convert a webpage to a PDF by specifying the URL
        PdfDocument myPdf = PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf("https://ironpdf.com");

        // Save the PdfDocument to a file
        myPdf.saveAs(Paths.get("url.pdf"));
    }
}
JAVA
  • The PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf method is specifically designed for this purpose and accepts a string containing the URL of the web page to be converted. The method retrieves the HTML content of the web page and transforms it into a PDF document. IronPDF preserves the appearance of all web components while making interactive features (links, form fields, etc.) functional.

The results are below:

Java Library PDF Generation (Full Code Example), Figure 2: The output PDF file from a URL The output PDF file from a URL

Summary

In conclusion, IronPDF is a valuable Java library with many features for creating and manipulating PDF files. Whether you need to digitally sign a PDF document, fill out PDF forms, or perform other tasks, IronPDF makes it easy to do so with minimal coding.

With its free trial available and flexible pricing options starting at $749, IronPDF is a cost-effective solution for developers looking to add PDF functionality to their projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I create a PDF document in Java?

Using IronPDF, you can create a PDF document in Java by utilizing its comprehensive API to generate new PDFs from scratch or by converting existing documents into PDF format.

What is the process to convert HTML to PDF in Java?

To convert HTML to PDF in Java, IronPDF provides the renderHtmlAsPdf method, which allows you to input an HTML string and receive a PDF document as output.

How do I convert a webpage URL into a PDF in a Java application?

IronPDF allows converting a webpage URL into a PDF using the renderUrlAsPdf method. This method retrieves the HTML content from the URL and converts it into a PDF document.

Can I digitally sign PDF documents using a Java library?

Yes, IronPDF provides the capability to digitally sign PDF documents, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the document.

How can I add security features to a PDF using Java?

IronPDF offers security features such as password protection and watermarks, which can be applied to PDFs to enhance their security.

What steps are involved in installing a PDF library in a Maven project?

To install IronPDF in a Maven project, you need to add the IronPDF dependency and the SLF4J logging dependency to your pom.xml file, and then execute the mvn install command.

How can I manipulate existing PDF files using Java?

IronPDF allows you to manipulate existing PDF files by providing methods to edit text, merge documents, add annotations, and apply digital signatures.

Is there a way to test IronPDF's features before purchasing?

Yes, IronPDF offers a free trial that allows developers to test its features before making a purchase decision.

What are the benefits of using a PDF library in Java?

Using a PDF library like IronPDF in Java streamlines the process of creating, editing, and converting PDFs, reducing the need for extensive coding and improving efficiency.

How can I merge multiple PDF files into one using Java?

IronPDF includes functionality to merge multiple PDF files into a single document, making it easy to consolidate multiple PDFs into one file.

Darrius Serrant
Darrius Serrant
  Chat with engineering team now
Full Stack Software Engineer (WebOps)

Darrius Serrant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami and works as a Full Stack WebOps Marketing Engineer at Iron Software. Drawn to coding from a young age, he saw computing as both mysterious and accessible, making it the perfect medium for creativity ...Read More

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