How to View PDF File in Java

Setting Up the Maven Project

First, set up a Maven project and add the necessary dependencies for IronPDF and the SLF4J logger. Add the following code to your project's pom.xml file:

<!-- Add IronPDF and SLF4J dependencies to your Maven project -->
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
        <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR_VERSION_HERE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR_VERSION_HERE</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

<!-- Add IronPDF and SLF4J dependencies to your Maven project -->
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
        <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR_VERSION_HERE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>YOUR_VERSION_HERE</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Creating a Java Class to View PDF Files

Next, create a Java class to use IronPDF for reading and extracting text from a PDF file. Use the following code as a template:

import java.awt.print.PrinterException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.License;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;

public class App {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, PrinterException {
        // Set the IronPDF license key
        License.setLicenseKey("Your-License-Key");

        // Load the PDF file
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(Paths.get("C:\\dotnet.pdf"));

        // Extract text from the PDF file
        String text = pdf.extractAllText();

        // Display the extracted text
        System.out.println("Text extracted from the PDF: " + text);
    }
}

import java.awt.print.PrinterException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.License;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;

public class App {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, PrinterException {
        // Set the IronPDF license key
        License.setLicenseKey("Your-License-Key");

        // Load the PDF file
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(Paths.get("C:\\dotnet.pdf"));

        // Extract text from the PDF file
        String text = pdf.extractAllText();

        // Display the extracted text
        System.out.println("Text extracted from the PDF: " + text);
    }
}

Let's break down the code to understand it better:

Import statements: Import the necessary classes and packages to work with IronPDF and handle exceptions. The java.nio.file.Paths class works with file paths, while the java.awt.print.PrinterException and java.io.IOException handle exceptions that may occur during the PDF processing.

Setting the IronPDF license key: Before using IronPDF, set the license key. Replace "Your-License-Key" with your IronPDF license key to enable the library features.

License.setLicenseKey("Your-License-Key");

License.setLicenseKey("Your-License-Key");

Loading the PDF file: Create a PdfDocument object by providing the PDF file path. Use Paths.get to create a Path object pointing to the "C:\dotnet.pdf" file.

PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(Paths.get("C:\\dotnet.pdf"));

PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(Paths.get("C:\\dotnet.pdf"));

Extracting text from the PDF file: Once loaded, use the [extractAllText](/java/object-reference/api/com/ironsoftware/ironpdf/PdfDocument.html#extractAllText()) method to extract all text from the PDF.

String text = pdf.extractAllText();

String text = pdf.extractAllText();

Displaying the Extracted Text: Print the extracted text to the console for viewing.

System.out.println("Text extracted from the PDF: " + text);

System.out.println("Text extracted from the PDF: " + text);

IronPDF extracts the text from the PDF file as shown in the extracted text section.

The extracted texts