Create PDF File in android

Last updated on March 13th, 2020 at 11:52 am

In this post i am going to explain you how to create PDF in your android application. This post is very use full for those who want to generate PDF in mobile directly without any help of external app. For this post i am using iText library you can download it from here and after download add this in your project.

Note: Please use iTextG library reaming part is save

iText provides support for most advanced PDF features such as PKI-based signatures, 40-bit and 128-bit encryption, color correction, Tagged PDF, PDF forms (AcroForms), PDF/X, color management via ICC profiles and barcodes.

Step 1: Create a new project and add iText library to your project. To add library to your project go to: project ⇒ app ⇒ libs (paste your library .jar inside it and right click on your .jar add as library).

Step 2. Add read/write permission in your AndroidManifest.xml

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

Step 3: Now open your activity_main.xml and paste bellow code

	<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	android:orientation="vertical"
	tools:context=".MainActivity">

	<Button
	android:id="@+id/button1"
	android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
	android:layout_below="@+id/textView1"

	android:text="Generate PDF" />

	<ListView
	android:id="@+id/list"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"></ListView>


	</LinearLayout>

view raw

pdf activity_main.xml

hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Step 4: In your MainActivity.java we have to create a method to generate PDF file. I create a new method createPDF() inside my MainActivity.java file this is the main method which is responsible to generate PDF. Now to generate PDF we need to create layout so we create layout using iText table and cell

Sample code to work with iText Lib

PdfPTable pt = new PdfPTable(3);
pt.setWidthPercentage(100);
float[] fl = new float[]{20, 45, 35};
pt.setWidths(fl);

After table is create we can add cell in it like this

PdfPCell cell = new PdfPCell();
cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
cell.addElement(new Paragraph("Trinity Tuts"));
cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
pt.addCell(cell); // Add cell to table

If you want to add image in your cell you can do it in this way

Drawable myImage = MainActivity.this.getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.trinity);
Bitmap bitmap = ((BitmapDrawable) myImage).getBitmap();
ByteArrayOutputStream stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, 100, stream);
byte[] bitmapdata = stream.toByteArray();

bgImage = Image.getInstance(bitmapdata);
bgImage.setAbsolutePosition(330f, 642f);
cell.addElement(bgImage);
pt.addCell(cell);

Complete code to generate PDF

public void createPDF() throws FileNotFoundException, DocumentException {
        
        //create document file
        Document doc = new Document();
        try {

            Log.e("PDFCreator", "PDF Path: " + path);
            SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("ddMMyyyy");
            file = new File(dir, "Trinity PDF" + sdf.format(Calendar.getInstance().getTime()) + ".pdf");
            FileOutputStream fOut = new FileOutputStream(file);
            PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.getInstance(doc, fOut);

            //open the document
            doc.open();
//create table
            PdfPTable pt = new PdfPTable(3);
            pt.setWidthPercentage(100);
            float[] fl = new float[]{20, 45, 35};
            pt.setWidths(fl);
            cell = new PdfPCell();
            cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
           
            //set drawable in cell
            Drawable myImage = MainActivity.this.getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.trinity);
            Bitmap bitmap = ((BitmapDrawable) myImage).getBitmap();
            ByteArrayOutputStream stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, 100, stream);
            byte[] bitmapdata = stream.toByteArray();
            try {
                bgImage = Image.getInstance(bitmapdata);
                bgImage.setAbsolutePosition(330f, 642f);
                cell.addElement(bgImage);
                pt.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.addElement(new Paragraph("Trinity Tuts"));

                cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
                cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
                pt.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Paragraph(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                pt.addCell(cell);

                PdfPTable pTable = new PdfPTable(1);
                pTable.setWidthPercentage(100);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(1);
                cell.addElement(pt);
                pTable.addCell(cell);
                PdfPTable table = new PdfPTable(6);

                float[] columnWidth = new float[]{6, 30, 30, 20, 20, 30};
                table.setWidths(columnWidth);


                cell = new PdfPCell();


                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor);
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.addElement(pTable);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(" "));
                cell.setColspan(6);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);

                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);

                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("#"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 1"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 2"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 3"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 4"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 5"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);

                //table.setHeaderRows(3);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);

                for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
                    table.addCell(String.valueOf(i));
                    table.addCell("Header 1 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 2 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 3 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 4 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 5 row " + i);

                }

                PdfPTable ftable = new PdfPTable(6);
                ftable.setWidthPercentage(100);
                float[] columnWidthaa = new float[]{30, 10, 30, 10, 30, 10};
                ftable.setWidths(columnWidthaa);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Total Nunber"));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Paragraph("Footer"));
                cell.setColspan(6);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.addElement(ftable);
                table.addCell(cell);
                doc.add(table);
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "created PDF", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            } catch (DocumentException de) {
                Log.e("PDFCreator", "DocumentException:" + de);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                Log.e("PDFCreator", "ioException:" + e);
            } finally {
                doc.close();
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

Complete MainActivity.java

package com.example;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.itextpdf.text.BaseColor;
import com.itextpdf.text.Document;
import com.itextpdf.text.DocumentException;
import com.itextpdf.text.Image;
import com.itextpdf.text.Paragraph;
import com.itextpdf.text.Phrase;
import com.itextpdf.text.Rectangle;
import com.itextpdf.text.html.WebColors;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfPCell;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfPTable;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfWriter;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Calendar;


public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    private Button b;
    private PdfPCell cell;
    private String textAnswer;
    private Image bgImage;
    ListView list;
    private String path;
    private File dir;
    private File file;

    //use to set background color
    BaseColor myColor = WebColors.getRGBColor("#9E9E9E");
    BaseColor myColor1 = WebColors.getRGBColor("#757575");

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        b = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button1);
        list = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.list);

        //creating new file path
        path = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getAbsolutePath() + "/Trinity/PDF Files";
        dir = new File(path);
        if (!dir.exists()) {
            dir.mkdirs();
        }
        b.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                try {
                    createPDF();
                } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                } catch (DocumentException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
//getting files from directory and display in listview
        try {

            ArrayList<String> FilesInFolder = GetFiles("/sdcard/Trinity/PDF Files");
            if (FilesInFolder.size() != 0)
                list.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
                        android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, FilesInFolder));

            list.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
                public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View v, int position, long id) {
                    // Clicking on items
                }
            });
        } catch (NullPointerException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }


    public ArrayList<String> GetFiles(String DirectoryPath) {
        ArrayList<String> MyFiles = new ArrayList<String>();
        File f = new File(DirectoryPath);

        f.mkdirs();
        File[] files = f.listFiles();
        if (files.length == 0)
            return null;
        else {
            for (int i = 0; i < files.length; i++)
                MyFiles.add(files[i].getName());
        }

        return MyFiles;
    }


    public void createPDF() throws FileNotFoundException, DocumentException {

        //create document file
        Document doc = new Document();
        try {

            Log.e("PDFCreator", "PDF Path: " + path);
            SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("ddMMyyyy");
            file = new File(dir, "Trinity PDF" + sdf.format(Calendar.getInstance().getTime()) + ".pdf");
            FileOutputStream fOut = new FileOutputStream(file);
            PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.getInstance(doc, fOut);

            //open the document
            doc.open();
//create table
            PdfPTable pt = new PdfPTable(3);
            pt.setWidthPercentage(100);
            float[] fl = new float[]{20, 45, 35};
            pt.setWidths(fl);
            cell = new PdfPCell();
            cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);

            //set drawable in cell
            Drawable myImage = MainActivity.this.getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.trinity);
            Bitmap bitmap = ((BitmapDrawable) myImage).getBitmap();
            ByteArrayOutputStream stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, 100, stream);
            byte[] bitmapdata = stream.toByteArray();
            try {
                bgImage = Image.getInstance(bitmapdata);
                bgImage.setAbsolutePosition(330f, 642f);
                cell.addElement(bgImage);
                pt.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.addElement(new Paragraph("Trinity Tuts"));

                cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
                cell.addElement(new Paragraph(""));
                pt.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Paragraph(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                pt.addCell(cell);

                PdfPTable pTable = new PdfPTable(1);
                pTable.setWidthPercentage(100);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(1);
                cell.addElement(pt);
                pTable.addCell(cell);
                PdfPTable table = new PdfPTable(6);

                float[] columnWidth = new float[]{6, 30, 30, 20, 20, 30};
                table.setWidths(columnWidth);


                cell = new PdfPCell();


                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor);
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.addElement(pTable);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(" "));
                cell.setColspan(6);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);

                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);

                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("#"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 1"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 2"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 3"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 4"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Header 5"));
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                table.addCell(cell);

                //table.setHeaderRows(3);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);

                for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
                    table.addCell(String.valueOf(i));
                    table.addCell("Header 1 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 2 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 3 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 4 row " + i);
                    table.addCell("Header 5 row " + i);

                }

                PdfPTable ftable = new PdfPTable(6);
                ftable.setWidthPercentage(100);
                float[] columnWidthaa = new float[]{30, 10, 30, 10, 30, 10};
                ftable.setWidths(columnWidthaa);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Total Nunber"));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(""));
                cell.setBorder(Rectangle.NO_BORDER);
                cell.setBackgroundColor(myColor1);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell(new Paragraph("Footer"));
                cell.setColspan(6);
                ftable.addCell(cell);
                cell = new PdfPCell();
                cell.setColspan(6);
                cell.addElement(ftable);
                table.addCell(cell);
                doc.add(table);
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "created PDF", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            } catch (DocumentException de) {
                Log.e("PDFCreator", "DocumentException:" + de);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                Log.e("PDFCreator", "ioException:" + e);
            } finally {
                doc.close();
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Hope this will help u 🙂

Create PDF File in android

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