Generating Pdf Table Using Java + IText

Here in this article, I am going to show you how we can create a pdf file with a table using java and iText. IText is a library to read and write pdf files. If you want to learn about iText visit https://itextpdf.com/en/get-started .

See below image we are going to create a pdf file like this

First, see the code below that is generating the above table.

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import com.itextpdf.text.BaseColor;
import com.itextpdf.text.Document;
import com.itextpdf.text.DocumentException;
import com.itextpdf.text.Element;
import com.itextpdf.text.Font;
import com.itextpdf.text.Phrase;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfPCell;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfPTable;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.PdfWriter;

public class PdfGenerator {

public static void main( String[] args ) throws Exception
{
    manipulatePdf("C:\\");
    return;

}    

public static void manipulatePdf(String dest) throws Exception {
    Document doc = new Document();
    try {
        PdfWriter.getInstance(doc, new FileOutputStream("PdfTable.pdf"));
        doc.open();

        // Creates a table with four column. The first rows
        // will have cell 1 to cell 4.
        PdfPTable headerTable = new PdfPTable(1);
        headerTable.setSpacingBefore(40f);
        headerTable.setSpacingAfter(20f);
        headerTable.setWidthPercentage(100);
        PdfPTable assigneeTable = new PdfPTable(4);
        assigneeTable.setSpacingAfter(20f);
        assigneeTable.setWidthPercentage(100);
        PdfPTable table = new PdfPTable(3);
        table.setWidthPercentage(100);
        addRow(headerTable,1,"summary.....","");
        //addRow(assigneeTable,1);
        addAssigneeRow(assigneeTable);
        addRow(table,2,"Field 1:","aaa");
        addRow(table,2,"Field 2:","bbb");
        addRow(table,2,"Field 3:","ccc");
        addRow(table,2,"Field 4:","ddd");
        addRow(table,2,"Field 5:","eee");
        // Adds table to the doc
        doc.add(headerTable);
        doc.add(assigneeTable);
        doc.add(table);
    } catch (DocumentException | FileNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } finally {
        doc.close();
    }
}

public static void addRow(PdfPTable table,int columns,String title,String value) {
    // Creates another row that only have to columns.
    // The cell 5 and cell 6 width will span two columns
    // in width.
    BaseColor color = new BaseColor(240, 240, 240); // or red, green, blue, alpha
    Font boldFont = new Font(Font.FontFamily.HELVETICA , 10, Font.BOLD);
    Font normalFont = new Font(Font.FontFamily.HELVETICA , 11, Font.NORMAL);
    PdfPCell cell1 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(title,boldFont));
    cell1.setColspan(1);
    cell1.setPadding(5);
    cell1.setBackgroundColor(color);//240
    cell1.setVerticalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE);
    table.addCell(cell1);
    if(columns>1) {
        PdfPCell cell2 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase(value,normalFont));
        cell1.setBackgroundColor(color);
        cell2.setColspan(2);
        cell2.setPadding(5);
        cell2.setVerticalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE);
        table.addCell(cell2);

    }
    table.completeRow();
}

public static void addAssigneeRow(PdfPTable table) {
    // Creates another row that only have to columns.
    // The cell 5 and cell 6 width will span two columns
    // in width.
    BaseColor color = new BaseColor(240, 240, 240); // or red, green, blue, alpha
    Font boldFont = new Font(Font.FontFamily.HELVETICA , 10, Font.BOLD);
    Font normalFont = new Font(Font.FontFamily.HELVETICA , 11, Font.NORMAL);

    PdfPCell cell1 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Reporter:",boldFont));
    cell1.setColspan(1);
    cell1.setPadding(5);
    cell1.setVerticalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE);
    cell1.setBackgroundColor(color);//240
    table.addCell(cell1);

    PdfPCell cell2 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("User A",normalFont));
    cell1.setBackgroundColor(color);
    cell2.setPadding(5);
    table.addCell(cell2);

    PdfPCell cell3 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("Assignee:",boldFont));
    cell3.setPadding(5);
    cell3.setBackgroundColor(color);//240
    table.addCell(cell3);

    PdfPCell cell4 = new PdfPCell(new Phrase("User B",normalFont));
    cell4.setPadding(5);
    table.addCell(cell4);

    table.completeRow();
}
}

If you are using maven add below dependency.

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
    <artifactId>itextpdf</artifactId>
    <version>5.4.3</version>
</dependency>

Many methods are self-explanatory. Here is the description of some of the methods.

setSpacingAfter(20f) //This will add space after a table.

setWidthPercentage(100) // Using this methods table will take full page width.

setVerticalAlignment(Element.ALIGN_MIDDLE) // Within cell if you want text to be vertically aligned.

setPadding(5) //Within cell if you want padding .

Don’t forget to call table.completeRow() this will make sure that row is added into table.