Best Way to Generate PDFs in Java for Invoices

General Discussions
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1

What is the best way to generate a PDF file in Java?

I’m currently working on an invoice program for a local accounting company, and I need to generate a PDF file in Java. Since I’m completely new to PDF export (in any language), I was wondering if there are any good libraries or standard approaches for handling this in Java.

Are there any recommended libraries that make PDF generation easy? Also, what would be the best way to format and structure the content?

2

If you’re just starting with generating PDFs in Java, one of the most popular and powerful libraries is iText. It’s well-suited for creating well-structured PDFs, especially if you need to add elements like tables, text, and images. It’s very versatile and widely used in the industry. Here’s how you can get started with a basic example:

import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.*;
import com.itextpdf.layout.Document;
import com.itextpdf.layout.element.Paragraph;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

public class PDFGenerator {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException {
        String filePath = "invoice.pdf";
        PdfWriter writer = new PdfWriter(filePath);
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(writer);
        Document document = new Document(pdf);
        document.add(new Paragraph("Hello, this is your generated PDF!"));
        document.close();
        System.out.println("PDF created successfully!");
    }
}

:white_check_mark: Why choose iText? iText is feature-rich and allows you to structure complex documents easily. It’s a great fit for generating reports, invoices, or any document with text and images. It’s definitely a top choice for generating PDFs in java generate pdf.

3

If you’re looking for an open-source alternative, Apache PDFBox is a fantastic choice. It’s lightweight and offers flexibility when creating PDFs with simple text or graphics. Here’s a basic example:

import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.*;
import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDType1Font;
import java.io.IOException;

public class PDFBoxExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        PDDocument document = new PDDocument();
        PDPage page = new PDPage();
        document.addPage(page);

        PDPageContentStream contentStream = new PDPageContentStream(document, page);
        contentStream.setFont(PDType1Font.HELVETICA_BOLD, 16);
        contentStream.beginText();
        contentStream.newLineAtOffset(100, 700);
        contentStream.showText("Hello, this is a PDF created using PDFBox!");
        contentStream.endText();
        contentStream.close();

        document.save("output.pdf");
        document.close();
        System.out.println("PDF created using PDFBox!");
    }
}

:white_check_mark: Why choose PDFBox? It’s lightweight and perfect for simple PDF creation or editing. If you need a simple java generate pdf solution without the overhead of a large library, PDFBox is a solid open-source option.

4

If your project involves generating more complex reports—think tables, dynamic data, or charts—JasperReports is the go-to library. It’s ideal for enterprise-level reporting and gives you a lot of flexibility to generate well-formatted PDFs. You’ll typically design your report using XML templates in a tool like Jaspersoft Studio, and then generate it programmatically.

Here’s an example of how it works:

import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.*;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class JasperExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws JRException {
        String jasperTemplate = "invoice_template.jasper";
        Map<String, Object> parameters = new HashMap<>();
        parameters.put("CustomerName", "John Doe");

        JasperPrint jasperPrint = JasperFillManager.fillReport(jasperTemplate, parameters, new JREmptyDataSource());
        JasperExportManager.exportReportToPdfFile(jasperPrint, "invoice.pdf");

        System.out.println("PDF created using JasperReports!");
    }
}

:white_check_mark: Why choose JasperReports? JasperReports is perfect for generating highly structured and dynamic reports, including invoices. If you’re looking for something that’s scalable for enterprise-level needs, it’s a great fit for your java generate pdf requirements.