Best Way to Generate PDFs in Java for Invoices

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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.