1. IronPDF
  2. How-Tos
  3. Backgrounds & Foregrounds

How to Add Background and Overlay Foreground on PDFs in Java

by Mehr Muhammad Hamza

Adding a background to a PDF allows you to insert an image or another PDF document behind the content of an existing PDF, enhancing it with elements like letterheads, watermarks, or design features. Overlaying a foreground lets you place additional content on top of the PDF, such as annotations, stamps, or signatures.

IronPDF for Java provides easy methods to achieve both. You can use a rendered or existing PDF as a background or foreground overlay, with the flexibility to apply changes to all pages or specific ones. In this guide, we'll demonstrate how to add backgrounds and overlay foregrounds using IronPDF in Java.

How to Add Background and Overlay Foreground on PDFs in Java

  1. Install the Java library for adding backgrounds and foregrounds
  2. Import the target PDF
  3. Render or import the background or foreground
  4. Use the addBackgroundPdf method to add the background
  5. Use the addForegroundPdf method to add the foreground

Add Background to a PDF

To add a background to an existing or newly rendered PDF, use the addBackgroundPdf method. This example shows how to import a PDF, render a background, and apply the background to the PDF.

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

License.setLicenseKey("IRONPDF-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01");

// Load the PDF file
PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("sample.pdf"));

// Load the background PDF
PdfDocument background = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf("<body style='background-color: cyan;'></body>");

// Add the background to all pages
pdf.addBackgroundPdf(background);

// Save the modified PDF
pdf.saveAs(Paths.get("addBackground.pdf"));
JAVA

Output PDF

The output PDF file generated is as:

Add Background to Specific Pages

With the same addBackgroundPdf method, you can also add a background to any selected pages. This is useful for applying custom designs, such as a cover page or specific branding layout. The PageSelection class is required and contains several useful methods, such as allPages, singlePage, pageRange, and more.

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;

// Load the PDF file
PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("sample.pdf"));

// Load the background PDF
PdfDocument background = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("background.pdf"));

// Add background only to the first page of the target PDF
// The second parameter (0) refers to the first page of the background PDF
pdf.addBackgroundPdf(background, 0, PageSelection.firstPage());

// Save the modified PDF
pdf.saveAs(Paths.get("addBackgroundToSpecificPage.pdf"));
JAVA

The backgroundPdfPageIndex parameter specifies which page of the background PDF to use as the background page. This parameter uses a zero-based index to indicate the page to copy from the background/foreground PDF, with the default set to 0.

Add Foreground to a PDF

The addForegroundPdf method can be used to overlay content on top of the existing pages in a PDF. This is useful for adding elements like watermarks or other visual indicators. Similar to the background section, we will render the foreground and apply it to the PDF document.

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;

License.setLicenseKey("IRONPDF-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01");

// Load the PDF file
PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("sample.pdf"));

// Create the foreground PDF using HTML content
PdfDocument foreground = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf("<h1 style='transform: rotate(-45deg); opacity: 0.5;'>Foreground Example</h1>");

// Add the foreground to all pages
pdf.addForegroundPdf(foreground);

// Save the modified PDF
pdf.saveAs(Paths.get("overlayForeground.pdf"));
JAVA

Output

The output PDF file is as:

Add Foreground to Specific Pages

You can overlay the foreground on a specific range of pages using the PageSelection.pageRange method. Here’s how you can apply the foreground to pages 2 through 8.

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;

// Load the PDF file
PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("sample.pdf"));

// Create the foreground PDF using HTML content
PdfDocument foreground = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf("<h1 style='transform: rotate(-45deg); opacity: 0.5;'>Foreground Example</h1>");

// Add the foreground to a specific page range (from page 2 to page 8)
pdf.addForegroundPdf(foreground, PageSelection.pageRange(2, 8));

// Save the modified PDF
pdf.saveAs(Paths.get("overlayForeground.pdf"));
JAVA

Explore the PageSelection class

When working with foregrounds and backgrounds, IronPDF offers flexible ways to specify the pages on which they should be applied using the methods in PageSelection class. Here are the options:

  • firstPage(): Applies the change to the first page of the PDF.
  • lastPage(): Applies the change to the last page of the PDF.
  • singlePage(int index): Targets a specific page based on its index (starting from 0).
  • pageRange(int startIndex, int endIndex): Targets a range of pages from startIndex to endIndex (inclusive).
  • pageRange(List<int> pageList): Applies changes to a list of specific pages, allowing for non-sequential page selections.