PDF Drawer

A simple tool that can be used to add drawings (i.e., rectangles, lines and circles) and texts to existing PDF files.

Installation

Clone this repository by typing

git clone https://ad-git.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/ck1028/pdf-drawer.git
cd pdf-drawer

To use the tool, you can either directly use bin/pdf-drawer-0.1.jar or build the JAR-file on your own by typing:

mvn install

Usage

The basic usage of the JAR file is as follows:

java -jar bin/pdf-drawer-0.1.jar -i <input-PDF> -o <output-PDF> -j <instructions-file>

where

• <input-PDF> is the path to the PDF file to which the drawings should be added,
• <output-PDF> is the path to the file to which the PDF with the added drawings should be stored,
• <instructions-file> is the path to a TSV file containing instructions (one per line) that define which drawings should be added to which position in the PDF. The syntax of an instruction depends on the type of drawing you want to add to the PDF:

  • Rectangle: The syntax for adding a rectangle to the PDF is as follows (the first line is a comment line providing the names of the fields of the instruction and doesn't belong to any instruction):

    # type pageNum minX minY maxX maxY borderWidth borderColor borderOpacity fillingColor fillingOpacity
    R 1 87.4 65.6 198.0 654.8 5 red 1 blue 0.5

    • The type stands for the type of drawing you want to add. Allowed values are: R, RECT and RECTANGLE (and the lowercase equivalents). Required.
    • The page number defines the page to which you want to add the rectangle (Note: the page numbers are 1-based). Required.
    • minX, minY are the x/y-coordinates of the lower left corner of the rectangle you want to add. Required.
    • maxX, maxY are the x/y-coordinates of the upper right corner of the rectangle you want to add. Required.
    • The border width is the width of the border of the rectangle. Optional, default: 1.
    • The border color is the color of the border of the rectangle. You can use human-readable color names (e.g., black, red, green, etc.); an RGB color specification in the form rgb(R,G,B) (with the three values R, G and B in the range [0, 255]); or the keyword random to use a random color. Optional; default: black.
    • The border opacity is the opacity of the border of the rectangle, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.
    • The filling color is the color of the filling of the rectangle. Optional; default: not set (= no filling).
    • The filling opacity the opacity of the filling of the rectangle, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.

    The first 6 fields are required, all other fields are optional and can be omitted (instead, the provided default values are used).

  • Line: The syntax for adding a line to the PDF is as follows (again, the first line is a comment line providing the names of the fields of the instruction and doesn't belong to any instruction):

    # type pageNum x0 y0 x1 y1 width color opacity
    L 1 87.4 65.6 198.0 654.8 5 red 1

    • The type stands for the type of drawing you want to add. Allowed values are: L and LINE (and the lowercase equivalents). Required.
    • The page number defines the page to which you want to add the line (Note: the page numbers are 1-based). Required.
    • x0, y0 are the x/y-coordinates of the start point of the line you want to add. Required.
    • x1, y1 are the x/y-coordinates of the end point of the line you want to add. Required.
    • The width is the width of the line. Optional, default: 1.
    • The color is the color of the line. You can use human-readable color names (e.g., black, red, green, etc.); an RGB color specification in the form rgb(R,G,B) (with the three values R, G and B in the range [0, 255]); or the keyword random to use a random color. Optional; default: black.
    • The opacity is the opacity of the line, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.

    The first 6 fields are required, all other fields are optional and can be omitted (instead, the provided default values are used).

  • Circle: The syntax for adding a circle to the PDF is as follows (again, the first line is a comment line and doesn't belong to any instruction):

    # type pageNum x y radius borderWidth borderColor borderOpacity fillingColor fillingOpacity
    C 3 287.4 265.6 5.0 2 red 1 black 0.5

    • The type stands for the type of drawing you want to add. Allowed values are: C, and CIRCLE (and the lowercase equivalents). Required.
    • The page number defines the page to which you want to add the circle (Note: the page numbers are 1-based). Required.
    • x, y are the x/y-coordinates of midpoint of the circle. Required.
    • radius is the radius of the circle. Required.
    • The border width is the width of the border of the circle. Optional, default: 1.
    • The border color is the color of the border of the circle. You can use the same syntax as described for the border color of a rectangle above.. Optional; default: black.
    • The border opacity is the opacity of the border of the circle, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.
    • The filling color is the color of the filling of the circle. Optional; default: not set (= no filling).
    • The filling opacity the opacity of the filling of the circle, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.

    The first 5 fields are required, all other fields are optional and can be omitted (instead, the provided default values are used).

  • Text: The syntax for adding text to the PDF is as follows (again, the first line is a comment line and doesn't belong to any instruction):

    # type pageNum x y text font fontsize color opacity
    T 3 287.4 265.6 Hello World helvetica 12 red 1

    • The type stands for the type of drawing you want to add. Allowed values are: T, and TEXT (and the lowercase equivalents). Required.
    • The page number defines the page to which you want to add the text (Note: the page numbers are 1-based). Required.
    • x, y, are the x/y-coordinates of the lower left of the first character of the text you want to add. Required.
    • text is the text you want to add. Required.
    • The font is the font you want to use. Allowed fonts are: "times-roman", "helvetica", "courier", "symbol" and "zapfdingbats". Optional, default: helvetica.
    • The fontsize is the size of the text, in pt. Optional; default: 12.
    • The color is the color of the text, with the same syntax as described above. Optional; default: black.
    • The opacity the opacity of the text, given as a value between 0 and 1 (where 0 means invisible and 1 means totally visible). Optional; default: 1.

    The first 5 fields are required, all other fields are optional and can be omitted (instead, the provided default values are used).

    In all optionals field you can also use "-", standing for a "null value" and meaning that no value should be applied to the respective drawing in the respective field. For example, you can use "-" for the filling of a rectangle to specify that the rectangle should not have any filling.

    For an example instruction file, see src/test/resources/example-instructions-1.tsv