Add, Replace or Remove Images in PDF with JavaScript in React

Add, Replace or Remove Images in PDF with JavaScript in React

2025-04-01 01:03:40 Written by  Koohji
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PDFs are versatile documents that often contain images to enhance their visual appeal and convey information. The ability to manipulate these images - adding new ones, replacing existing ones, or removing unwanted ones - is a valuable skill. In this article, you will learn how to add, replace, or delete images in a PDF document in React using Spire.PDF for JavaScript .

Install Spire.PDF for JavaScript

To get started with manipulating images in PDF in a React application, you can either download Spire.PDF for JavaScript from our website or install it via npm with the following command:

npm i spire.pdf

After that, copy the "Spire.Pdf.Base.js" and "Spire.Pdf.Base.wasm" files to the public folder of your project.

For more details, refer to the documentation: How to Integrate Spire.PDF for JavaScript in a React Project

Add an Image to a PDF Document in JavaScript

Spire.PDF for JavaScript provides the PdfPage.Canvas.DrawImage() method to add an image at a specified location on a PDF page. The main steps are as follows.

  • Load the input image into the Virtual File System (VFS).
  • Create a PdfDocument object with the wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create() method.
  • Add a page to the PDF document using the PdfDocument.Pages.Add() method.
  • Load the image using the wasmModule.PdfImage.FromFile() method.
  • Specify the size of the image.
  • Draw the image at a specified location on the page using the PdfPageBase.Canvas.DrawImage() method.
  • Save the PDF document using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • Trigger the download of the resulting document.
  • JavaScript
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

function App() {

  // State to hold the loaded WASM module
  const [wasmModule, setWasmModule] = useState(null);

  // useEffect hook to load the WASM module when the component mounts
  useEffect(() => {
    const loadWasm = async () => {
      try {

        // Access the Module and spirepdf from the global window object
        const { Module, spirepdf } = window;

        // Set the wasmModule state when the runtime is initialized
        Module.onRuntimeInitialized = () => {
          setWasmModule(spirepdf);
        };
      } catch (err) {

        // Log any errors that occur during loading
        console.error('Failed to load WASM module:', err);
      }
    };

    // Create a script element to load the WASM JavaScript file
    const script = document.createElement('script');
    script.src = `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/Spire.Pdf.Base.js`;
    script.onload = loadWasm;

    // Append the script to the document body
    document.body.appendChild(script);

    // Cleanup function to remove the script when the component unmounts
    return () => {
      document.body.removeChild(script);
    };
  }, []); 

  // Function to add images in PDF
  const AddPdfImage = async () => {
    if (wasmModule) {
      // Specify the input and output file paths
      const inputFileName = "JS.png";
      const outputFileName = "DrawImage.pdf";

      // Fetch the input file and add it to the VFS
      await wasmModule.FetchFileToVFS(inputFileName , '', `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/`);

      // Create a pdf instance
      let pdf = wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create();

      // Add a page
      let page = pdf.Pages.Add();

      // Load the image 
      let image = wasmModule.PdfImage.FromFile(inputFileName);
    
      // Calculate the scaled width and height of the image
      let width = image.Width * 0.6;
      let height = image.Height * 0.6;
    
      // Calculate the x-coordinate to center the image horizontally on the page
      let x = (page.Canvas.ClientSize.Width - width) / 2;
    
      // Draw the image at a specified location on the page
      page.Canvas.DrawImage({image:image, x:x, y: 60, width: width, height: height});

      // Save the result file
      pdf.SaveToFile({fileName: outputFileName});

      // Clean up resources
      pdf.Close();

      // Read the generated PDF file
      const modifiedFileArray = wasmModule.FS.readFile(outputFileName);

      // Create a Blob object from the PDF file
      const modifiedFile = new Blob([modifiedFileArray], { type: "application/pdf" });

      // Create a URL for the Blob
      const url = URL.createObjectURL(modifiedFile);

      // Create an anchor element to trigger the download
      const a = document.createElement('a');
      a.href = url;
      a.download = outputFileName;
      document.body.appendChild(a);  
      a.click(); 
      document.body.removeChild(a); 
      URL.revokeObjectURL(url); 
    }
  };

  return (
    <div style={{ textAlign: 'center', height: '300px' }}>
      <h1>Add Images in PDF with JavaScript in React</h1>
      <button onClick={AddPdfImage} disabled={!wasmModule}>
        Process
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Run the code to launch the React app at localhost:3000. Once it's running, click the "Process" button to insert image in PDF:

Run the code to launch the React app at localhost:3000

Below is the result file:

Insert a picture to a specified location on a PDF page

Replace an Image in a PDF Document in JavaScript

To replace an image in PDF, you can load a new image and then replace the existing image with the new one through the PdfImageHelper.ReplaceImage() method. The main steps are as follows.

  • Load the input file and image into the Virtual File System (VFS).
  • Create a PdfDocument object with the wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create() method.
  • Load a PDF document using the PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Get a specific page through the PdfDocument.Pages.get_Item() method.
  • Load an image using PdfImage.FromFile() method.
  • Create a PdfImageHelper object with the wasmModule.PdfImageHelper.Create() method.
  • Get the image information on the page using the PdfImageHelper.GetImagesInfo() method.
  • Load the input image using the wasmModule.PdfImage.FromFile() method.
  • Replace an existing image in the page with the new image using the PdfImageHelper.ReplaceImage() method.
  • Save the PDF document using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • Trigger the download of the resulting document.
  • JavaScript
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

function App() {

  // State to hold the loaded WASM module
  const [wasmModule, setWasmModule] = useState(null);

  // useEffect hook to load the WASM module when the component mounts
  useEffect(() => {
    const loadWasm = async () => {
      try {

        // Access the Module and spirepdf from the global window object
        const { Module, spirepdf } = window;

        // Set the wasmModule state when the runtime is initialized
        Module.onRuntimeInitialized = () => {
          setWasmModule(spirepdf);
        };
      } catch (err) {

        // Log any errors that occur during loading
        console.error('Failed to load WASM module:', err);
      }
    };

    // Create a script element to load the WASM JavaScript file
    const script = document.createElement('script');
    script.src = `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/Spire.Pdf.Base.js`;
    script.onload = loadWasm;

    // Append the script to the document body
    document.body.appendChild(script);

    // Cleanup function to remove the script when the component unmounts
    return () => {
      document.body.removeChild(script);
    };
  }, []); 

  // Function to replace an image in PDF
  const ReplacePdfImage = async () => {
    if (wasmModule) {
      // Specify the input and output file paths
      const inputFileName = "DrawImage.pdf";
      const inputImageName = "coding1.jpg";
      const outputFileName = "ReplaceImage.pdf";

      // Fetch the input file and image and add them to the VFS
      await wasmModule.FetchFileToVFS(inputFileName , '', `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/`);
      await wasmModule.FetchFileToVFS(inputImageName , '', `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/`);

      // Create a pdf instance
      let pdf = wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create();
      
      // Load the PDF file
      pdf.LoadFromFile({fileName: inputFileName});

      // Get the first page
      let page = pdf.Pages.get_Item(0);

      // Create a PdfImageHelper instance 
      let helper = wasmModule.PdfImageHelper.Create();

      // Get the image information from the page
      let images = helper.GetImagesInfo(page);

      // Load a new image
      let newImage = wasmModule.PdfImage.FromFile(inputImageName);

      // Replace the first image on the page with the loaded image
      helper.ReplaceImage(images[0], newImage);

      // Save the result file
      pdf.SaveToFile({fileName: outputFileName});

      // Clean up resources
      pdf.Close();

      // Read the generated PDF file
      const modifiedFileArray = wasmModule.FS.readFile(outputFileName);

      // Create a Blob object from the PDF file
      const modifiedFile = new Blob([modifiedFileArray], { type: "application/pdf" });

      // Create a URL for the Blob
      const url = URL.createObjectURL(modifiedFile);

      // Create an anchor element to trigger the download
      const a = document.createElement('a');
      a.href = url;
      a.download = outputFileName;
      document.body.appendChild(a);  
      a.click(); 
      document.body.removeChild(a); 
      URL.revokeObjectURL(url); 
    }
  };

  return (
    <div style={{ textAlign: 'center', height: '300px' }}>
      <h1>Replace an Image in PDF with JavaScript in React</h1>
      <button onClick={ReplacePdfImage} disabled={!wasmModule}>
        Process
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Replace a specified existing image with a new image in PDF

Remove an Image from a PDF Document in JavaScript

The PdfImageHelper class also provides the DeleteImage() method to remove a specific image from a PDF page. The main steps are as follows.

  • Load the input file into the Virtual File System (VFS).
  • Create a PdfDocument object with the wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create() method.
  • Load a PDF document using the PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Get a specific page using the PdfDocument.Pages.get_Item() method.
  • Create a PdfImageHelper object with the wasmModule.PdfImageHelper.Create() method.
  • Get the image information on the page using the PdfImageHelper.GetImagesInfo() method.
  • Delete a specified image on the page using the PdfImageHelper.DeleteImage() method.
  • Save the PDF document using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • Trigger the download of the resulting document.
  • JavaScript
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

function App() {

  // State to hold the loaded WASM module
  const [wasmModule, setWasmModule] = useState(null);

  // useEffect hook to load the WASM module when the component mounts
  useEffect(() => {
    const loadWasm = async () => {
      try {

        // Access the Module and spirepdf from the global window object
        const { Module, spirepdf } = window;

        // Set the wasmModule state when the runtime is initialized
        Module.onRuntimeInitialized = () => {
          setWasmModule(spirepdf);
        };
      } catch (err) {

        // Log any errors that occur during loading
        console.error('Failed to load WASM module:', err);
      }
    };

    // Create a script element to load the WASM JavaScript file
    const script = document.createElement('script');
    script.src = `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/Spire.Pdf.Base.js`;
    script.onload = loadWasm;

    // Append the script to the document body
    document.body.appendChild(script);

    // Cleanup function to remove the script when the component unmounts
    return () => {
      document.body.removeChild(script);
    };
  }, []); 

  // Function to remove images in PDF
  const DeletePdfImage = async () => {
    if (wasmModule) {
      // Specify the input and output file paths
      const inputFileName  = "DrawImage.pdf";
      const outputFileName = "DeleteImage.pdf";

      // Fetch the input file and add it to the VFS
      await wasmModule.FetchFileToVFS(inputFileName , '', `${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/`);

      // Create a pdf instance
      let pdf = wasmModule.PdfDocument.Create();
      
      // Load the PDF file
      pdf.LoadFromFile({fileName: inputFileName});

      // Get the first page
      let page = pdf.Pages.get_Item(0);

      // Create a PdfImageHelper instance 
      let helper = wasmModule.PdfImageHelper.Create();

      // Get the image information from the page
      let images = helper.GetImagesInfo(page);

      // Delete the first image on the page
      helper.DeleteImage({imageInfo: images[0]});

      // Save the result file
      pdf.SaveToFile({fileName: outputFileName});

      // Clean up resources
      pdf.Close();

      // Read the generated PDF file
      const modifiedFileArray = wasmModule.FS.readFile(outputFileName);

      // Create a Blob object from the PDF file
      const modifiedFile = new Blob([modifiedFileArray], { type: "application/pdf" });

      // Create a URL for the Blob
      const url = URL.createObjectURL(modifiedFile);

      // Create an anchor element to trigger the download
      const a = document.createElement('a');
      a.href = url;
      a.download = outputFileName;
      document.body.appendChild(a);  
      a.click(); 
      document.body.removeChild(a); 
      URL.revokeObjectURL(url); 
    }
  };

  return (
    <div style={{ textAlign: 'center', height: '300px' }}>
      <h1>Remove an Image from PDF with JavaScript in React</h1>
      <button onClick={DeletePdfImage} disabled={!wasmModule}>
        Process
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Get a Free License

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Additional Info

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Last modified on Tuesday, 08 April 2025 01:11