How do I use the Paragraph class of iText 8?

The Paragraph class in iText 8 is a fundamental building block in the creation of a PDF document. It is used to add and format texts in your document.

Here’s a simple code snippet that demonstrates how to use Paragraph:

package org.kodejava.itext;

import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.layout.Document;
import com.itextpdf.layout.element.Paragraph;

public class ParagraphExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        PdfWriter writer = new PdfWriter("paragraph.pdf");
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(writer);

        try (Document document = new Document(pdf)) {
            Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph("Hello, World!");
            document.add(paragraph);
        }
    }
}

In this example, a new Paragraph object is created with the text “Hello, World!” which is then added to the Document.

The Paragraph class also provides numerous methods to fine-tune the appearance of the text:

package org.kodejava.itext;

import com.itextpdf.io.font.constants.StandardFonts;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.font.PdfFontFactory;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.layout.Document;
import com.itextpdf.layout.element.Paragraph;
import com.itextpdf.layout.properties.TextAlignment;

public class ParagraphSettingExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        PdfWriter writer = new PdfWriter("paragraph-setting.pdf");
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(writer);

        try (Document document = new Document(pdf)) {
            Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph("Hello, World!")
                    .setFont(PdfFontFactory.createFont(StandardFonts.TIMES_ROMAN))
                    .setFontSize(12)
                    .setBold()
                    .setItalic()
                    .setTextAlignment(TextAlignment.JUSTIFIED);

            document.add(paragraph);
        }
    }
}

In this snippet:

  • setFont() is used to set the desired font.
  • setFontSize() adjusts the text size.
  • setBold() and setItalic() can be called to apply bold and italics styles to the text.
  • setTextAlignment() can be used to align text left, right, centered, or justified.

It’s worth highlighting that the Paragraph also supports adding chunks, images, lists, and even other paragraphs, offering a wide variety of ways to customize the content and layout of your PDF documents.

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
    <artifactId>itext-core</artifactId>
    <version>8.0.4</version>
    <type>pom</type>
</dependency>

Maven Central