Extracting text from PDF files is a common task for Java developers working on document processing, data extraction, search indexing, and automation. PDFs often contain text in two formats: digital text embedded in the file or scanned images of text. Extracting content from these requires different approaches.

This article explains how to extract text from both text-based PDFs and scanned (image-based) PDFs using Java, complete with detailed code examples and explanations. Whether you need to process reports, invoices, or scanned documents, this guide will help you get started quickly and efficiently.

Table of Contents

• Why Extract Text from PDFs in Java?
• Difference Between Text-Based and Scanned PDFs
• How to Extract Text from Text-Based PDFs in Java
  • Extract All Text from a PDF
  • Extract Text from a Page
  • Extract Text from a Page Area (Rectangular Region)
• How to Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Using Java & OCR
• Common Challenges and Best Practices for PDF Text Extraction
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

Why Extract Text from PDFs in Java?

PDF files are designed for consistent visual formatting across platforms. However, extracting the underlying text lets developers:

• Enable full-text search
• Automate form and invoice processing
• Feed text into AI models
• Convert content for analysis or reporting
• Repurpose documents into other formats (HTML, Markdown, CSV)

Difference Between Text-Based and Scanned PDFs

Before extracting text, it’s important to understand the PDF type because the extraction approach differs:

Text-Based PDFs

• Contain embedded, selectable text stored in the document structure
• Text can be extracted directly by parsing the PDF’s text objects
• Typically created by exporting from word processors, reports, or digital sources

Scanned PDFs

• Are images of pages, often created by scanning paper documents
• Do not contain embedded text—only images of text
• Require Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert images into machine-readable text

Knowing your PDF type determines the extraction method and tools you need.

How to Extract Text from Text-Based PDFs in Java

Text-based PDFs allow direct extraction of text content. With libraries like Spire.PDF for Java, you can extract text from an entire PDF, specific pages, or designated rectangular areas. This is useful for a variety of tasks, such as content indexing, document analysis, and data processing.

Key Features

• Extract text from full documents or individual pages
• Target specific rectangular regions within a page
• Preserve original layout
• Support for multi-language text extraction

Maven Dependency

To begin, add the following Maven dependency for Spire.PDF to your pom.xml:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>11.7.5</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Extract All Text from a PDF

If you want to convert an entire PDF to plain text, you can iterate through all the pages and use the extract method provided by the PdfTextExtractor class to retrieve text from each page in sequence. This method returns a string containing the textual content of the page and preserves the original layout, including spacing, line breaks, and paragraph structure as much as possible.

import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractOptions;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractor;


import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;

public class ExtractAllTextFromPDF {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        // Create a PdfDocument instance and load the PDF file
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();
        doc.loadFromFile("sample.pdf");

        // Create a StringBuilder to store extracted text from all pages
        StringBuilder fullText = new StringBuilder();

        // Loop through each page in the PDF
        for (int i = 0; i < doc.getPages().getCount(); i++) {
            // Get the current page
            PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().get(i);
            // Create a text extractor for the page
            PdfTextExtractor extractor = new PdfTextExtractor(page);
            // Extract text using default options
            String text = extractor.extract(new PdfTextExtractOptions());
            // Append extracted text and add spacing between pages
            fullText.append(text).append("\n\n\n\n");
        }

        // Write the extracted text to a .txt file
        try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("output.txt"))) {
            writer.write(fullText.toString());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            // Print any file I/O errors
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        // Close the PDF document to free resources
        doc.close();
    }
}

Note: You need to modify the PDF file path as needed.

Extract Text from a Page

When working with multi-page PDFs, you may only need to extract content from a specific page—for example, a summary, cover sheet, or signature page. In such cases, you can access the target page by its index and use the extract method from the PdfTextExtractor class to retrieve text from that individual page.

import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractOptions;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractor;

import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;

public class ExtractTextFromSelectedPage {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        // Create a PdfDocument instance and load the PDF file
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();
        doc.loadFromFile("sample.pdf");

        // Define the target page index (e.g., 0 for the first page)
        int pageIndex = 0;

        // Check if the specified page exists in the document
        if (pageIndex >= 0 && pageIndex < doc.getPages().getCount()) {
            // Get the specified page
            PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().get(pageIndex);
            // Create a text extractor for the page
            PdfTextExtractor extractor = new PdfTextExtractor(page);
            // Extract text from the page
            String text = extractor.extract(new PdfTextExtractOptions());

            // Write the extracted text to a .txt file
            try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("output.txt"))) {
                writer.write(text);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                // Print any file I/O errors
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        } else {
            System.out.println("Invalid page index.");
        }

        // Close the PDF document to free resources
        doc.close();
    }
}

Note: You need to change the page index according to your needs.

Extract Text from a Page Area (Rectangular Region)

To extract text from a specific area of a PDF page, first define the rectangular region using a Rectangle2D object, then use the setExtractArea method of the PdfTextExtractOptions class to limit extraction to that area. This helps isolate relevant content and exclude unrelated text outside the defined region.

import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractOptions;
import com.spire.pdf.texts.PdfTextExtractor;

import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;

public class ExtractTextFromSelectedPage {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        // Create a PdfDocument instance and load the PDF file
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();
        doc.loadFromFile("sample.pdf");

        // Define the target page index (0-based, 0 means first page)
        int pageIndex = 0;

        // Check if the specified page exists in the document
        if (pageIndex >= 0 && pageIndex < doc.getPages().getCount()) {
            // Get the specified page
            PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().get(pageIndex);

            // Define the rectangular region (x, y, width, height)
            // Coordinates are relative to the PDF page coordinate system in the top-left corner
            Rectangle2D region = new Rectangle2D.Float(100, 150, 300, 100);

            // Initialize a text extractor for the page
            PdfTextExtractor extractor = new PdfTextExtractor(page);

            // Create extraction options and set the region to extract text from
            PdfTextExtractOptions options = new PdfTextExtractOptions();
            options.setExtractArea(region);

            // Extract text from the defined rectangular area
            String text = extractor.extract(options);

            // Write the extracted text to a text file
            try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("output.txt"))) {
                writer.write(text);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                // Print any errors during file writing
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        } else {
            // Inform if the specified page index is invalid
            System.out.println("Invalid page index.");
        }

        // Close the PDF document to free resources
        doc.close();
    }
}

Tip: Coordinates are relative to the PDF page, with the origin (0,0) at the top-left corner. The X-axis increases to the right, and the Y-axis increases downward. Learn more about PDF coordinate positioning in our guide: Generate PDF Files in Java (Developer Tutorial).

How to Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Using Java & OCR

Scanned PDFs do not contain embedded, selectable text; instead, they store images of the document pages. To extract text from such PDFs, you need to:

• Convert each PDF page into an image using a PDF processing library (e.g., Spire.PDF).
• Use an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine (e.g., Spire.OCR) to recognize and convert text from these images into machine-readable format.

Maven Dependencies

Add the following repositories and dependencies to your pom.xml to include the required libraries in your Java project:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>11.7.5</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.ocr</artifactId>
        <version>1.9.22</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Download OCR Model

Spire.OCR for Java requires downloading a language model compatible with your operating system:

• Windows x64
• Linux x64
• macOS 10.15 and later

After downloading, extract the package to a directory accessible by your application. You'll reference its path in your code.

Java Code Example for OCR Text Extraction from Scanned PDF

The code below demonstrates how to extract text from scanned PDFs that contain only images. Each page is first converted into an image using saveAsImage(). Then, the OCR engine (OcrScanner) reads the image and extracts the text. The recognized text from all pages is saved to a .txt file.

import com.spire.ocr.ConfigureOptions;
import com.spire.ocr.OCRImageFormat;
import com.spire.ocr.OcrException;
import com.spire.ocr.OcrScanner;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;

import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.*;

public class ExtractTextFromScannedPDF {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, OcrException {
        // Load a scanned PDF
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();
        pdf.loadFromFile("sample.pdf");

        // Create a StringBuilder to store all extracted text
        StringBuilder allText = new StringBuilder();

        // Loop through each page
        for (int i = 0; i < pdf.getPages().getCount(); i++) {
            // Convert current page to image
            BufferedImage image = pdf.saveAsImage(i);

            // Convert image to input stream
            ByteArrayOutputStream os = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            ImageIO.write(image, "PNG", os);
            InputStream imageStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(os.toByteArray());

            // Configure OCR options
            OcrScanner scanner = new OcrScanner();
            ConfigureOptions options = new ConfigureOptions();
            // Set the language for OCR engine
            // Supported languages include: English, Chinese, Chinesetraditional, French, German, Japanese, and Korean.
            options.setLanguage("English");
            // Se the path to OCR model folder
            options.setModelPath("E:\\win-x64");
            scanner.ConfigureDependencies(options);

            // Perform OCR and collect text
            scanner.Scan(imageStream, OCRImageFormat.Png);
            String text = scanner.getText().toString();
            allText.append(text).append(System.lineSeparator()).append(System.lineSeparator());
        }

        // Save all extracted text to a .txt file
        try (FileWriter writer = new FileWriter("OCR_ExtractedText.txt")) {
            writer.write(allText.toString());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            System.out.println("Failed to save extracted text.");
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        // Close the PDF document to free resources
        pdf.close();
    }
}

Note: The model path should point to the folder that contains the OCR model and language data. Make sure the folder is accessible in your environment.

Common Challenges and Best Practices for PDF Text Extraction

When extracting text from PDFs, developers often face several common challenges; the following table outlines these issues along with practical tips to help overcome them effectively.

Conclusion

Converting PDF files to text in Java enables efficient document processing, search, and automation. Spire.PDF for Java simplifies text extraction from digital PDFs, while Spire.OCR for Java provides a reliable solution for handling scanned and image-based PDFs. By combining these tools, developers can build robust, end-to-end PDF text extraction systems tailored to any business need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can I extract text from scanned PDFs in Java?

A1: Yes. You’ll need to convert each page to an image and then use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to recognize and extract the text from the image.

Q2: How can I tell if a PDF is scanned or text-based?

A2: Open the PDF and try selecting the text with your mouse. If you can select and copy text, it’s text-based. If not, it's likely a scanned image.

Q3: Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF in Java?

A3: Yes. If the password is known, the PDF can be decrypted before extracting text using a supported library like Spire.PDF.

Q4: Can I extract tables or structured data from PDFs using Java?

A4: Yes. Some Java PDF libraries support extracting tables or structured content by detecting text alignment, cell boundaries, or using region-based extraction. For more accurate results, tools that offer table recognition features - such as Spire.PDF for Java - can help simplify the process.

Drawing shapes such as rectangles, ellipses, and lines in a PDF document can enhance the visual effect of the document and help to highlight key points. While creating a report, presentation or thesis, if there are some concepts or data relationships that are difficult to express clearly in words, adding appropriate shapes can assist in the expression of information. In this article, you will learn how to draw shapes in a PDF document in Java using Spire.PDF for Java.

• Draw Lines in PDF in Java
• Draw Arcs and Pies in PDF in Java
• Draw Rectangles in PDF in Java
• Draw Ellipses in PDF in Java

Install Spire.PDF for Java

First of all, you're required to add the Spire.Pdf.jar file as a dependency in your Java program. The JAR file can be downloaded from this link. If you use Maven, you can easily import the JAR file in your application by adding the following code to your project's pom.xml file.

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>11.11.11</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Draw Lines in PDF in Java

Spire.PDF for Java provides the PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawLine(PdfPen pen, float x1, float y1, float x2, float y2) method to draw lines at specified locations on a PDF page. And by specifying different PDF pen styles, you can draw solid or dashed lines as needed. The following are the detailed steps.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Add a PDF page using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
• Save the current drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().save() method.
• Define the starting x, y coordinates and length of the line.
• Create a PdfPen object with specified color and thickness.
• Draw a solid line on the page using the pen through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawLine() method.
• Set the pen style to dashed, and then set the dashed line pattern.
• Draw a dashed line on the page using the pen with a dashed line style through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawLine() method.
• Restore the previous drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().restore() method.
• Save the result document using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;

import java.awt.*;

public class drawLine {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        // Add a Page
        PdfPageBase page = pdf.getPages().add();

        // Save the current graphics state
        PdfGraphicsState state = page.getCanvas().save();

        // Specify the starting X and y coordinates of the line
        float x = 100;
        float y = 70;

        // Specify the length of the line
        float width = 300;

        // Create a PDF pen with blue color and thickness of 2
        PdfPen pen = new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(Color.BLUE), 2f);

        // Draw a solid line on the page using the pen
        page.getCanvas().drawLine(pen, x, y, x + width, y);

        // Set the pen style to dashed
        pen.setDashStyle(PdfDashStyle.Dash);

        // Set the dashed line pattern
        pen.setDashPattern(new float[]{1, 4, 1});

        // Draw a dashed line on the page using the pen
        page.getCanvas().drawLine(pen, x, y+30, x + width, y+30);

        // Restore the previous saved graphics state
        page.getCanvas().restore(state);

        // Save the PDF document
        pdf.saveToFile("DrawLines.pdf");

        // Close the document and release resources
        pdf.close();
        pdf.dispose();
    }
}

Draw Arcs and Pies in PDF in Java

To draw arcs or pies at the specified locations on a PDF page, you can use the PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawArc() and the PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawPie() methods. The following are the detailed steps.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Add a PDF page using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
• Save the current drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().save() method.
• Create a PdfPen object with specified color and thickness.
• Draw an arc on the page using the pen through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawArc()method.
• Draw a pie chart on the page using the pen through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawArc() method.
• Restore the previous drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().restore() method.
• Save the result document using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;

public class drawArcAndPie {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        // Add a Page
        PdfPageBase page = pdf.getPages().add();

        // Save the current graphics state
        PdfGraphicsState state = page.getCanvas().save();

        // Create a PDF pen with specified color and thickness of 2
        PdfPen pen = new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(new Color(139,0,0)), 2f);

        // Specify the start and sweep angles of the arc
        float startAngle = 90;
        float sweepAngle = 230;
        // Draw an arc on the page using the pen
        Rectangle2D.Float rect= new Rectangle2D.Float(30, 60, 120, 120);
        page.getCanvas().drawArc(pen, rect, startAngle, sweepAngle);

        // Specify the start and sweep angles of the pie chart
        float startAngle1 = 0;
        float sweepAngle1 = 330;
        // Draw a pie chart on the page using the pen
        Rectangle2D.Float rect2= new Rectangle2D.Float(200, 60, 120, 120);
        page.getCanvas().drawPie(pen, rect2, startAngle1, sweepAngle1);

        // Restore the previous saved graphics state
        page.getCanvas().restore(state);

        // Save the PDF document
        pdf.saveToFile("DrawArcAndPie.pdf");

        // Close the document and release resources
        pdf.close();
        pdf.dispose();
    }
}

Draw Rectangles in PDF in Java

Spire.PDF for Java provides the PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawRectangle() method to draw rectangular shapes on PDF pages. You can pass different parameters to the method to define the position, size and fill color of the rectangle. The following are the detailed steps.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Add a PDF page using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
• Save the current drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().save() method.
• Create a PdfPen object with specified color and thickness.
• Draw a rectangle on the page using the pen through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawRectangle() method.
• Create a PdfLinearGradientBrush object for linear gradient filling.
• Draw a filled rectangle using the linear gradient brush through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawRectangle() method.
• Restore the previous drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().restore() method.
• Save the result document using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;

public class drawRectangles {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        // Add a Page
        PdfPageBase page = pdf.getPages().add();

        // Save the current graphics state
        PdfGraphicsState state = page.getCanvas().save();

        // Create a PDF pen with specified color and thickness of 1.5
        PdfPen pen = new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(Color.magenta), 1.5f);

        // Draw a rectangle on the page using the pen
        page.getCanvas().drawRectangle(pen, new Rectangle(20, 60, 150, 90));

        // Create a linear gradient brush
        Rectangle2D.Float rect = new Rectangle2D.Float(220, 60, 150, 90);
        PdfLinearGradientBrush linearGradientBrush = new PdfLinearGradientBrush(rect,new PdfRGBColor(Color.white),new PdfRGBColor(Color.blue),PdfLinearGradientMode.Vertical);

        // Create a new PDF pen with specified color and thickness of 0.5
        PdfPen pen1 = new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(Color.black), 0.5f);

        // Draw a filled rectangle using the new pen and linear gradient brush
        page.getCanvas().drawRectangle(pen1, linearGradientBrush, rect);

        // Restore the previous graphics state
        page.getCanvas().restore(state);

        // Save the PDF document
        pdf.saveToFile("DrawRectangles.pdf");

        // Close the document and release resources
        pdf.close();
        pdf.dispose();
    }
}

Draw Ellipses in PDF in Java

The PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawEllipse() method allows for drawing ellipses on a PDF page. You can use either a PDF pen or a fill brush to draw ellipses in different styles. The following are the detailed steps.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Add a PDF page using PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.
• Save the current drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().save() method.
• Create a PdfPen object with specified color and thickness.
• Draw an ellipse on the page using the pen through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawEllipse() method.
• Create a PdfSolidBrush object.
• Draw a filled ellipse using the brush through PdfPageBase.getCanvas().drawEllipse() method.
• Restore the previous drawing state using PdfPageBase.getCanvas().restore() method.
• Save the result document using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;

import java.awt.*;

public class drawEllipses {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        // Add a Page
        PdfPageBase page = pdf.getPages().add();

        // Save the current graphics state
        PdfGraphicsState state = page.getCanvas().save();

        // Create a PDF pen with specified color and thickness
        PdfPen pen = new PdfPen(new PdfRGBColor(new Color(95, 158, 160)), 1f);
        // Draw an ellipse on the page using the pen
        page.getCanvas().drawEllipse(pen, 30, 60, 150, 100);

        // Create a brush with specified color for filling
        PdfBrush brush = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(new Color(95, 158, 160)));
        // Draw a filled ellipse using the brush
        page.getCanvas().drawEllipse(brush, 220, 60, 150, 100);

        // Restore the previous graphics state
        page.getCanvas().restore(state);

        // Save the PDF document
        pdf.saveToFile("DrawEllipses.pdf");

        // Close the document and release resources
        pdf.close();
        pdf.dispose();
    }
}

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

Knowing the number of pages in a PDF helps you understand the length of the document, which is especially useful in scenarios where a large number of PDF documents need to be processed, such as office work, academic research, or legal document management. By getting the PDF page count, you can estimate the time required to process the document, thus rationalizing tasks and increasing efficiency. In this article, you will learn how to get the number of pages in a PDF file in Java using Spire.PDF for Java.

Install Spire.PDF for Java

First of all, you're required to add the Spire.Pdf.jar file as a dependency in your Java program. The JAR file can be downloaded from this link. If you use Maven, you can easily import the JAR file in your application by adding the following code to your project's pom.xml file.

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>11.11.11</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Count the Number of Pages in a PDF File in Java

The PdfDocument.getPages().getCount() method provided by Spire.PDF for Java allows to quickly count the number of pages in a PDF file without opening it. The following are the detailed steps.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a sample PDF file using PdfDocument.loadFromFile() method.
• Count the number of pages in the PDF file using PdfDocument.getPages().getCount() method.
• Print out the result.

import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;

public class CountPdfPages {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Create a PdfDocument instance
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();

        //Load a PDF file
       pdf.loadFromFile("contract.pdf");

        //Count the number of pages in the PDF file
        int pageCount = pdf.getPages().getCount();

        //Output the result
        System.out.print("The number of pages in the PDF is: " + pageCount);
    }
}

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

A fillable PDF form is useful for collecting data from users. Being able to create interactive and fillable PDF forms is important since PDF has become one of the most popular file formats in business. This article demonstrates how to create, fill, or remove fillable form fields in PDF using Spire.PDF for Java.

• Create Fillable Form Fields in a PDF Document
• Fill Form Fields in an Existing PDF Document
• Delete a Particular Field or All Fields in an Existing PDF Document

Spire.PDF for Java offers a series of useful classes under the com.spire.pdf.fields namespace, allowing programmers to create and edit various types of form fields including text box, check box, combo box, list box, and radio button. The table below lists some of the core classes involved in this tutorial.

Install Spire.PDF for Java

First, you're required to add the Spire.Pdf.jar file as a dependency in your Java program. The JAR file can be downloaded from this link. If you use Maven, you can easily import the JAR file in your application by adding the following code to your project's pom.xml file.

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
        <name>e-iceblue</name>
        <url>https://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.pdf</artifactId>
        <version>11.11.11</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Create Fillable Form Fields in a PDF Document in Java

To create a field, initialize an instance of the corresponding class. Specify its size and position in the document using setBounds() method, and then add it to PDF using PdfForm.getFields().add() method. The following are the steps to create various types of form fields in a PDF document using Spire.PDF for Java.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Add a page using PdfDocuemnt.getPages().add() method.
• Create a PdfTextBoxField object, set the properties of the field including Bounds, Font and Text, and then add it to the document using PdFormfFieldCollection.add() method.
• Repeat the step 3 to add check box, combo box, list box, radio button, signature field and button to the document.
• Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.FileFormat;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.actions.PdfSubmitAction;
import com.spire.pdf.fields.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;
import com.spire.pdf.packages.sprcfn;

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Point2D;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;

public class CreateFillableFormFields {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        //Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

        //Add a page
        PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().add();

        //Initialize x and y coordinates
        float baseX = 100;
        float baseY = 30;

        //Create two brush objects
        PdfSolidBrush brush1 = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.blue));
        PdfSolidBrush brush2 = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.black));

        //Create a font
        PdfFont font = new PdfFont(PdfFontFamily.Times_Roman, 12f, PdfFontStyle.Regular);

        //Add a textbox
        page.getCanvas().drawString("TextBox:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float tbxBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 15);
        PdfTextBoxField textBox = new PdfTextBoxField(page, "textbox");
        textBox.setBounds(tbxBounds);
        textBox.setText("Hello World");
        textBox.setFont(font);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(textBox);
        baseY += 25;

        //add two checkboxes
        page.getCanvas().drawString("CheckBox:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float checkboxBound1 = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 15, 15);
        PdfCheckBoxField checkBoxField1 = new PdfCheckBoxField(page, "checkbox1");
        checkBoxField1.setBounds(checkboxBound1);
        checkBoxField1.setChecked(false);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 1", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 20, baseY));

        Rectangle2D.Float checkboxBound2 = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX + 70, baseY, 15, 15);
        PdfCheckBoxField checkBoxField2 = new PdfCheckBoxField(page, "checkbox2");
        checkBoxField2.setBounds(checkboxBound2);
        checkBoxField2.setChecked(false);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 2", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 90, baseY));
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(checkBoxField1);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(checkBoxField2);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add a listbox
        page.getCanvas().drawString("ListBox:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float listboxBound = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 50);
        PdfListBoxField listBoxField = new PdfListBoxField(page, "listbox");
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 1", "item1"));
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 2", "item2"));
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 3", "item3")); ;
        listBoxField.setBounds(listboxBound);
        listBoxField.setFont(font);
        listBoxField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(listBoxField);
        baseY += 60;

        //Add two radio buttons
        page.getCanvas().drawString("RadioButton:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        PdfRadioButtonListField radioButtonListField = new PdfRadioButtonListField(page, "radio");
        PdfRadioButtonListItem radioItem1 = new PdfRadioButtonListItem("option1");
        Rectangle2D.Float radioBound1 = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 15, 15);
        radioItem1.setBounds(radioBound1);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 1", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 20, baseY));

        PdfRadioButtonListItem radioItem2 = new PdfRadioButtonListItem("option2");
        Rectangle2D.Float radioBound2 = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX + 70, baseY, 15, 15);
        radioItem2.setBounds(radioBound2);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 2", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 90, baseY));
        radioButtonListField.getItems().add(radioItem1);
        radioButtonListField.getItems().add(radioItem2);
        radioButtonListField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(radioButtonListField);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add a combobox
        page.getCanvas().drawString("ComboBox:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float cmbBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 15);
        PdfComboBoxField comboBoxField = new PdfComboBoxField(page, "combobox");
        comboBoxField.setBounds(cmbBounds);
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 1", "item1"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 2", "itme2"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 3", "item3"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 4", "item4"));
        comboBoxField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        comboBoxField.setFont(font);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(comboBoxField);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add a signature field
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Signature Field:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        PdfSignatureField sgnField = new PdfSignatureField(page, "sgnField");
        Rectangle2D.Float sgnBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 80);
        sgnField.setBounds(sgnBounds);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(sgnField);
        baseY += 90;

        //Add a button
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Button:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(10, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float btnBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 50, 15);
        PdfButtonField buttonField = new PdfButtonField(page, "button");
        buttonField.setBounds(btnBounds);
        buttonField.setText("Submit");
        buttonField.setFont(font);
        PdfSubmitAction submitAction = new PdfSubmitAction("https://www.e-iceblue.com/getformvalues.php");
        buttonField.getActions().setMouseDown(submitAction);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(buttonField);

        //Save to file
        doc.saveToFile("FillableForm.pdf", FileFormat.PDF);
    }
}

Fill Form Fields in an Existing PDF Document in Java

In order to fill out a form, we must first get all the form fields from the PDF document, determine the type of a certain field, and then input a value or select a value from a predefined list. The following are the steps to fill form fields in an existing PDF document using Spire.PDF for Java.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a sample PDF document using PdfDocument.loadFromFile() method.
• Get the form from the document through PdfDocument.getForm() method.
• Get the form field widget collection through PdfFormWidget.getFieldsWidget() method.
• Loop through the field widget collection to get a specific PdfField.
• Determine if the PdfField is a certain field type such as text box. If yes, set the text of the text box using PdfTextBoxFieldWidget.setText() method.
• Repeat the sixth step to fill radio button, check box, combo box, and list box with values.
• Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.FileFormat;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.fields.PdfField;
import com.spire.pdf.widget.*;

public class FillFormFields {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

        //Load a template containing forms
        doc.loadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\FormsTemplate.pdf");

        //Get the form from the document
        PdfFormWidget form = (PdfFormWidget)doc.getForm();

        //Get the form widget collection
        PdfFormFieldWidgetCollection formWidgetCollection = form.getFieldsWidget();

        //Loop through the widgets
        for (int i = 0; i < formWidgetCollection.getCount(); i++)
        {
            //Get a specific field
            PdfField field = formWidgetCollection.get(i);

            //Determine if the field is a text box
            if (field instanceof PdfTextBoxFieldWidget)
            {
                if (field.getName().equals("name"))
                {
                    //Set the text of text box
                    PdfTextBoxFieldWidget textBoxField = (PdfTextBoxFieldWidget)field;
                    textBoxField.setText("Kaila Smith");
                }
            }

            //Determine if the field is a radio button
            if (field instanceof PdfRadioButtonListFieldWidget)
            {
                if (field.getName().equals("gender"))
                {
                    //Set the selected index of radio button
                    PdfRadioButtonListFieldWidget radioButtonListField = (PdfRadioButtonListFieldWidget)field;
                    radioButtonListField.setSelectedIndex(1);
                }
            }

            //Determine if the field is a combo box
            if (field instanceof PdfComboBoxWidgetFieldWidget)
            {
                if (field.getName().equals("country"))
                {
                    //Set the selected index of combo box
                    PdfComboBoxWidgetFieldWidget comboBoxField = (PdfComboBoxWidgetFieldWidget)field;
                    comboBoxField.setSelectedIndex(0);
                }
            }

            //Determine if the field is a check box
            if (field instanceof PdfCheckBoxWidgetFieldWidget)
            {
                //Set the "Checked" status of check box
                PdfCheckBoxWidgetFieldWidget checkBoxField = (PdfCheckBoxWidgetFieldWidget)field;
                switch (checkBoxField.getName())
                {
                    case "travel":
                    case "movie":
                        checkBoxField.setChecked(true);
                        break;
                }
            }

            //Determine if the field is a list box
            if (field instanceof PdfListBoxWidgetFieldWidget)
            {
                if (field.getName().equals("degree"))
                {
                    //Set the selected index of list box
                    PdfListBoxWidgetFieldWidget listBox = (PdfListBoxWidgetFieldWidget)field;
                    listBox.setSelectedIndex(1);
                }
            }
        }

        //Save to file
        doc.saveToFile("FillFormFields.pdf", FileFormat.PDF);
    }
}

Delete a Particular Field or All Fields in an Existing PDF Document in Java

A form field in a PDF document can be accessed by its index or name and removed by PdfFieldCollection.remove() method. The following are the steps to remove a particular field or all fields from an existing PDF document using Sprie.PDF for Java.

• Create a PdfDocument object.
• Load a sample PDF document using PdfDocument.loadFromFile() method.
• Get the form from the document using PdfDocument.getForm() method.
• Get the form field widget collection using PdfFormWidget.getFieldsWidget() method.
• Loop through the widget collection to get a specific PdfField. Remove the field one by one using PdfFieldCollection.remove() method.
• To remove a certain form field, get it from the document using PdfFormFieldWidgetCollection.get() method and then call the PdfFieldCollection.remove() method.
• Save the document to a PDF file using PdfDocument.saveToFile() method.

import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.fields.PdfField;
import com.spire.pdf.widget.PdfFormFieldWidgetCollection;
import com.spire.pdf.widget.PdfFormWidget;

public class DeleteFormFields {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

        //Load a PDF file
        doc.loadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\FormsTemplate.pdf");

        //Get the form from the document
        PdfFormWidget form= (PdfFormWidget)doc.getForm();

        //Get form widgets from the form
         PdfFormFieldWidgetCollection widgets = form.getFieldsWidget();

        //Loop through the widgets
        for (int i = widgets.getCount() - 1; i >= 0; i--)
        {
            //Get a specific field
            PdfField field = (PdfField)widgets.getList().get(i) ;

            //Remove the field
            widgets.remove(field);
        }

        //Get a specific field by its name
        //PdfField field = widgets.get("name");
        //Remove the field
        //widgets.remove(field);

        //Save to file
        doc.saveToFile("DeleteAllFields.pdf");
    }
}

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