ITextSharp insert text to an existing pdf

The title sums it all.

I want to add a text to an existing PDF file using iTextSharp, however i can’t find how to do it anywhere in the web…

PS: I cannot use PDF forms.

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

I found a way to do it (dont know if it is the best but it works)

string oldFile = "oldFile.pdf";
string newFile = "newFile.pdf";

// open the reader
PdfReader reader = new PdfReader(oldFile);
Rectangle size = reader.GetPageSizeWithRotation(1);
Document document = new Document(size);

// open the writer
FileStream fs = new FileStream(newFile, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(document, fs);
document.Open();

// the pdf content
PdfContentByte cb = writer.DirectContent;

// select the font properties
BaseFont bf = BaseFont.CreateFont(BaseFont.HELVETICA, BaseFont.CP1252,BaseFont.NOT_EMBEDDED);
cb.SetColorFill(BaseColor.DARK_GRAY);
cb.SetFontAndSize(bf, 8);

// write the text in the pdf content
cb.BeginText();
string text = "Some random blablablabla...";
// put the alignment and coordinates here
cb.ShowTextAligned(1, text, 520, 640, 0);
cb.EndText();
cb.BeginText();
text = "Other random blabla...";
// put the alignment and coordinates here
cb.ShowTextAligned(2, text, 100, 200, 0);
cb.EndText();

// create the new page and add it to the pdf
PdfImportedPage page = writer.GetImportedPage(reader, 1);
cb.AddTemplate(page, 0, 0);

// close the streams and voilá the file should be changed :)
document.Close();
fs.Close();
writer.Close();
reader.Close();

I hope this can be usefull for someone =) (and post here any errors)

Method 2

In addition to the excellent answers above, the following shows how to add text to each page of a multi-page document:

 using (var reader = new PdfReader(@"C:Input.pdf"))
 {
    using (var fileStream = new FileStream(@"C:Output.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))
    {
       var document = new Document(reader.GetPageSizeWithRotation(1));
       var writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(document, fileStream);

       document.Open();

       for (var i = 1; i <= reader.NumberOfPages; i++)
       {
          document.NewPage();

          var baseFont = BaseFont.CreateFont(BaseFont.HELVETICA_BOLD, BaseFont.CP1252, BaseFont.NOT_EMBEDDED);
          var importedPage = writer.GetImportedPage(reader, i);

          var contentByte = writer.DirectContent;
          contentByte.BeginText();
          contentByte.SetFontAndSize(baseFont, 12);

          var multiLineString = "Hello,rnWorld!".Split('n');

          foreach (var line in multiLineString)
          {
             contentByte.ShowTextAligned(PdfContentByte.ALIGN_LEFT, line, 200, 200, 0);
          }

          contentByte.EndText();
          contentByte.AddTemplate(importedPage, 0, 0);
       }

       document.Close();
       writer.Close();
    }
 }

Method 3

Here is a method that uses stamper and absolute coordinates showed in the different PDF clients (Adobe, FoxIt and etc. )

public static void AddTextToPdf(string inputPdfPath, string outputPdfPath, string textToAdd, System.Drawing.Point point)
    {
        //variables
        string pathin = inputPdfPath;
        string pathout = outputPdfPath;

        //create PdfReader object to read from the existing document
        using (PdfReader reader = new PdfReader(pathin))
        //create PdfStamper object to write to get the pages from reader 
        using (PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper(reader, new FileStream(pathout, FileMode.Create)))
        {
            //select two pages from the original document
            reader.SelectPages("1-2");

            //gettins the page size in order to substract from the iTextSharp coordinates
            var pageSize = reader.GetPageSize(1);

            // PdfContentByte from stamper to add content to the pages over the original content
            PdfContentByte pbover = stamper.GetOverContent(1);

            //add content to the page using ColumnText
            Font font = new Font();
            font.Size = 45;

            //setting up the X and Y coordinates of the document
            int x = point.X;
            int y = point.Y;

            y = (int) (pageSize.Height - y);

            ColumnText.ShowTextAligned(pbover, Element.ALIGN_CENTER, new Phrase(textToAdd, font), x, y, 0);
        }
    }

Method 4

This worked for me and includes using OutputStream:

PdfReader reader = new PdfReader(new RandomAccessFileOrArray(Request.MapPath("Template.pdf")), null);
    Rectangle size = reader.GetPageSizeWithRotation(1);
    using (Stream outStream = Response.OutputStream)
    {
        Document document = new Document(size);
        PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.GetInstance(document, outStream);

        document.Open();
        try
        {
            PdfContentByte cb = writer.DirectContent;

            cb.BeginText();
            try
            {
                cb.SetFontAndSize(BaseFont.CreateFont(), 12);
                cb.SetTextMatrix(110, 110);
                cb.ShowText("aaa");
            }
            finally
            {
                cb.EndText();
            }

                PdfImportedPage page = writer.GetImportedPage(reader, 1);
                cb.AddTemplate(page, 0, 0);

        }
        finally
        {
            document.Close();
            writer.Close();
            reader.Close();
        }
    }

Method 5

Here is a method To print over images:
taken from here.
Use a different layer for your text you’re putting over the images, and also make sure to use the GetOverContent() method.

            string oldFile = "FileWithImages.pdf";
            string watermarkedFile = "Layers.pdf";
            // Creating watermark on a separate layer
            // Creating iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfReader object to read the Existing PDF Document
            PdfReader reader1 = new PdfReader(oldFile);
            using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(watermarkedFile, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None))
            // Creating iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfStamper object to write Data from iTextSharp.text.pdf.PdfReader object to FileStream object
            using (PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper(reader1, fs))
            {
                // Getting total number of pages of the Existing Document
                int pageCount = reader1.NumberOfPages;

                // Create New Layer for Watermark
                PdfLayer layer = new PdfLayer("Layer", stamper.Writer);
                // Loop through each Page
                for (int i = 1; i <= pageCount; i++)
                {
                    // Getting the Page Size
                    Rectangle rect = reader1.GetPageSize(i);

                    // Get the ContentByte object
                    PdfContentByte cb = stamper.GetOverContent(i);

                    // Tell the cb that the next commands should be "bound" to this new layer
                    cb.BeginLayer(layer);
                    
                    BaseFont bf = BaseFont.CreateFont(BaseFont.HELVETICA, BaseFont.CP1252, BaseFont.NOT_EMBEDDED);
                    cb.SetColorFill(BaseColor.RED);
                    cb.SetFontAndSize(bf, 100);

                    cb.BeginText();
                    cb.ShowTextAligned(PdfContentByte.ALIGN_CENTER, "Some random blablablabla...", rect.Width / 2, rect.Height / 2, - 90);
                    cb.EndText();

                    // Close the layer
                    cb.EndLayer();
                }
            }

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0