Drawing in a PDF file

Question

I would like to draw in a PDF file.

Example: Open the PDF file and get such drawing tools like circle, square, text etc... Using these tools will draw shapes on the PDF

Answer 1

Last year when I came upon the same problem I researched and after some tweaking and adjustments I managed to make it work. So here's a detailed explanation on how to set up and use my method.

I'm using a combination of two libraries:

• FPDF: (Free Portable Document Format) which allows to generate PDF files with PHP

• FPDI: (Free Portable Document Importer) which uses existing PDF and converts them to templates to used by FPDF

First, you'll need to download the two libraries: FPDF is found here in the download section and FPDI is on this page. You will be given two folders. Go ahead and add them to your project.

Here's my directory structure:

Let's go in index.php (or any other file for that matter) and edit a PDF file that we'll name sample.pdf. I had found some code from the official documentation but actually did some modifications to simplify it. You will see I have added the method nextPage() to the PDF class to make the navigation between pages easier.

fileIndex)) {

            $this->numPages = $this->setSourceFile($fullPathToFile);
            $this->fileIndex = $this->importPage(1);

        } $this->useTemplate($this->fileIndex, 0, 0,200);

    }

    function nextPage() {

        if($this->currentPage != 1) {
            $this->fileIndex = $this->importPage($this->currentPage);
        }
        $this->addPage();

        return ++$this->currentPage;
    }

}

// initiate PDF
$pdf = new PDF();

// go to first page
$pdf->nextPage();

// add content to current page
$pdf->SetFont("helvetica", "", 20);
$pdf->SetTextColor(220, 20, 60);
$pdf->Text(50, 20, "I should not be here!");

// move to next page and add content
$pdf->nextPage();

$pdf->SetFont("arial", "", 15);
$pdf->SetTextColor(65, 105, 225);
$pdf->Text(50, 20, "Me neither!!!");

//show the PDF in page
$pdf->Output();

The Output() method can receive different arguments: you can simply output the PDF file in a frame or you can force the download of the PDF file to the user's computer. Read here for more information on that.

DEMO!

FPDF's community has written several scripts one of which might interest you: it's the geometric figures FPDF plugin (id script69.php). It allows you to draw lines, rectangles, curves, ellipses, circles, polygon among others.

---

Here's a bonus for you:

Create a new file called draw.php and put the source code provided on here. I have provided the source code below (the first three lines are different than the original source code to make it work).

LineWidth;
            $this->SetLineWidth($width);
            $this->LineWidth = $width_prev;
        }
        if (isset($cap)) {
            $ca = array('butt' => 0, 'round'=> 1, 'square' => 2);
            if (isset($ca[$cap]))
                $this->_out($ca[$cap] . ' J');
        }
        if (isset($join)) {
            $ja = array('miter' => 0, 'round' => 1, 'bevel' => 2);
            if (isset($ja[$join]))
                $this->_out($ja[$join] . ' j');
        }
        if (isset($dash)) {
            $dash_string = '';
            if ($dash) {
                $tab = explode(',', $dash);
                $dash_string = '';
                foreach ($tab as $i => $v) {
                    if ($i > 0)
                        $dash_string .= ' ';
                    $dash_string .= sprintf('%.2F', $v);
                }
            }
            if (!isset($phase) || !$dash)
                $phase = 0;
            $this->_out(sprintf('[%s] %.2F d', $dash_string, $phase));
        }
        if (isset($color)) {
            list($r, $g, $b) = $color;
            $this->SetDrawColor($r, $g, $b);
        }
    }

    // Draws a line
    // Parameters:
    // - x1, y1: Start point
    // - x2, y2: End point
    // - style: Line style. Array like for SetLineStyle
    function Line($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2, $style = null) {
        if ($style)
            $this->SetLineStyle($style);
        parent::Line($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2);
    }

    // Draws a rectangle
    // Parameters:
    // - x, y: Top left corner
    // - w, h: Width and height
    // - style: Style of rectangle (draw and/or fill: D, F, DF, FD)
    // - border_style: Border style of rectangle. Array with some of this index
    //   . all: Line style of all borders. Array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . L: Line style of left border. null (no border) or array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . T: Line style of top border. null (no border) or array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . R: Line style of right border. null (no border) or array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . B: Line style of bottom border. null (no border) or array like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    function Rect($x, $y, $w, $h, $style = '', $border_style = null, $fill_color = null) {
        if (!(false === strpos($style, 'F')) && $fill_color) {
            list($r, $g, $b) = $fill_color;
            $this->SetFillColor($r, $g, $b);
        }
        switch ($style) {
            case 'F':
                $border_style = null;
                parent::Rect($x, $y, $w, $h, $style);
                break;
            case 'DF': case 'FD':
                if (!$border_style || isset($border_style['all'])) {
                    if (isset($border_style['all'])) {
                        $this->SetLineStyle($border_style['all']);
                        $border_style = null;
                    }
                } else
                    $style = 'F';
                parent::Rect($x, $y, $w, $h, $style);
                break;
            default:
                if (!$border_style || isset($border_style['all'])) {
                    if (isset($border_style['all']) && $border_style['all']) {
                        $this->SetLineStyle($border_style['all']);
                        $border_style = null;
                    }
                    parent::Rect($x, $y, $w, $h, $style);
                }
                break;
        }
        if ($border_style) {
            if (isset($border_style['L']) && $border_style['L'])
                $this->Line($x, $y, $x, $y + $h, $border_style['L']);
            if (isset($border_style['T']) && $border_style['T'])
                $this->Line($x, $y, $x + $w, $y, $border_style['T']);
            if (isset($border_style['R']) && $border_style['R'])
                $this->Line($x + $w, $y, $x + $w, $y + $h, $border_style['R']);
            if (isset($border_style['B']) && $border_style['B'])
                $this->Line($x, $y + $h, $x + $w, $y + $h, $border_style['B']);
        }
    }

    // Draws a Bézier curve (the Bézier curve is tangent to the line between the control points at either end of the curve)
    // Parameters:
    // - x0, y0: Start point
    // - x1, y1: Control point 1
    // - x2, y2: Control point 2
    // - x3, y3: End point
    // - style: Style of rectangule (draw and/or fill: D, F, DF, FD)
    // - line_style: Line style for curve. Array like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    function Curve($x0, $y0, $x1, $y1, $x2, $y2, $x3, $y3, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null) {
        if (!(false === strpos($style, 'F')) && $fill_color) {
            list($r, $g, $b) = $fill_color;
            $this->SetFillColor($r, $g, $b);
        }
        switch ($style) {
            case 'F':
                $op = 'f';
                $line_style = null;
                break;
            case 'FD': case 'DF':
                $op = 'B';
                break;
            default:
                $op = 'S';
                break;
        }
        if ($line_style)
            $this->SetLineStyle($line_style);

        $this->_Point($x0, $y0);
        $this->_Curve($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2, $x3, $y3);
        $this->_out($op);
    }

    // Draws an ellipse
    // Parameters:
    // - x0, y0: Center point
    // - rx, ry: Horizontal and vertical radius (if ry = 0, draws a circle)
    // - angle: Orientation angle (anti-clockwise)
    // - astart: Start angle
    // - afinish: Finish angle
    // - style: Style of ellipse (draw and/or fill: D, F, DF, FD, C (D + close))
    // - line_style: Line style for ellipse. Array like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    // - nSeg: Ellipse is made up of nSeg Bézier curves
    function Ellipse($x0, $y0, $rx, $ry = 0, $angle = 0, $astart = 0, $afinish = 360, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null, $nSeg = 8) {
        if ($rx) {
            if (!(false === strpos($style, 'F')) && $fill_color) {
                list($r, $g, $b) = $fill_color;
                $this->SetFillColor($r, $g, $b);
            }
            switch ($style) {
                case 'F':
                    $op = 'f';
                    $line_style = null;
                    break;
                case 'FD': case 'DF':
                    $op = 'B';
                    break;
                case 'C':
                    $op = 's'; // small 's' means closing the path as well
                    break;
                default:
                    $op = 'S';
                    break;
            }
            if ($line_style)
                $this->SetLineStyle($line_style);
            if (!$ry)
                $ry = $rx;
            $rx *= $this->k;
            $ry *= $this->k;
            if ($nSeg < 2)
                $nSeg = 2;

            $astart = deg2rad((float) $astart);
            $afinish = deg2rad((float) $afinish);
            $totalAngle = $afinish - $astart;

            $dt = $totalAngle/$nSeg;
            $dtm = $dt/3;

            $x0 *= $this->k;
            $y0 = ($this->h - $y0) * $this->k;
            if ($angle != 0) {
                $a = -deg2rad((float) $angle);
                $this->_out(sprintf('q %.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F cm', cos($a), -1 * sin($a), sin($a), cos($a), $x0, $y0));
                $x0 = 0;
                $y0 = 0;
            }

            $t1 = $astart;
            $a0 = $x0 + ($rx * cos($t1));
            $b0 = $y0 + ($ry * sin($t1));
            $c0 = -$rx * sin($t1);
            $d0 = $ry * cos($t1);
            $this->_Point($a0 / $this->k, $this->h - ($b0 / $this->k));
            for ($i = 1; $i <= $nSeg; $i++) {
                // Draw this bit of the total curve
                $t1 = ($i * $dt) + $astart;
                $a1 = $x0 + ($rx * cos($t1));
                $b1 = $y0 + ($ry * sin($t1));
                $c1 = -$rx * sin($t1);
                $d1 = $ry * cos($t1);
                $this->_Curve(($a0 + ($c0 * $dtm)) / $this->k,
                            $this->h - (($b0 + ($d0 * $dtm)) / $this->k),
                            ($a1 - ($c1 * $dtm)) / $this->k,
                            $this->h - (($b1 - ($d1 * $dtm)) / $this->k),
                            $a1 / $this->k,
                            $this->h - ($b1 / $this->k));
                $a0 = $a1;
                $b0 = $b1;
                $c0 = $c1;
                $d0 = $d1;
            }
            $this->_out($op);
            if ($angle !=0)
                $this->_out('Q');
        }
    }

    // Draws a circle
    // Parameters:
    // - x0, y0: Center point
    // - r: Radius
    // - astart: Start angle
    // - afinish: Finish angle
    // - style: Style of circle (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD, C (D + close))
    // - line_style: Line style for circle. Array like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    // - nSeg: Ellipse is made up of nSeg Bézier curves
    function Circle($x0, $y0, $r, $astart = 0, $afinish = 360, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null, $nSeg = 8) {
        $this->Ellipse($x0, $y0, $r, 0, 0, $astart, $afinish, $style, $line_style, $fill_color, $nSeg);
    }

    // Draws a polygon
    // Parameters:
    // - p: Points. Array with values x0, y0, x1, y1,..., x(np-1), y(np - 1)
    // - style: Style of polygon (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD)
    // - line_style: Line style. Array with one of this index
    //   . all: Line style of all lines. Array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . 0..np-1: Line style of each line. Item is 0 (not line) or like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    function Polygon($p, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null) {
        $np = count($p) / 2;
        if (!(false === strpos($style, 'F')) && $fill_color) {
            list($r, $g, $b) = $fill_color;
            $this->SetFillColor($r, $g, $b);
        }
        switch ($style) {
            case 'F':
                $line_style = null;
                $op = 'f';
                break;
            case 'FD': case 'DF':
                $op = 'B';
                break;
            default:
                $op = 'S';
                break;
        }
        $draw = true;
        if ($line_style)
            if (isset($line_style['all']))
                $this->SetLineStyle($line_style['all']);
            else { // 0 .. (np - 1), op = {B, S}
                $draw = false;
                if ('B' == $op) {
                    $op = 'f';
                    $this->_Point($p[0], $p[1]);
                    for ($i = 2; $i < ($np * 2); $i = $i + 2)
                        $this->_Line($p[$i], $p[$i + 1]);
                    $this->_Line($p[0], $p[1]);
                    $this->_out($op);
                }
                $p[$np * 2] = $p[0];
                $p[($np * 2) + 1] = $p[1];
                for ($i = 0; $i < $np; $i++)
                    if (!empty($line_style[$i]))
                        $this->Line($p[$i * 2], $p[($i * 2) + 1], $p[($i * 2) + 2], $p[($i * 2) + 3], $line_style[$i]);
            }

        if ($draw) {
            $this->_Point($p[0], $p[1]);
            for ($i = 2; $i < ($np * 2); $i = $i + 2)
                $this->_Line($p[$i], $p[$i + 1]);
            $this->_Line($p[0], $p[1]);
            $this->_out($op);
        }
    }

    // Draws a regular polygon
    // Parameters:
    // - x0, y0: Center point
    // - r: Radius of circumscribed circle
    // - ns: Number of sides
    // - angle: Orientation angle (anti-clockwise)
    // - circle: Draw circumscribed circle or not
    // - style: Style of polygon (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD)
    // - line_style: Line style. Array with one of this index
    //   . all: Line style of all lines. Array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . 0..ns-1: Line style of each line. Item is 0 (not line) or like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    // - circle_style: Style of circumscribed circle (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD) (if draw)
    // - circle_line_style: Line style for circumscribed circle. Array like for SetLineStyle (if draw)
    // - circle_fill_color: Fill color for circumscribed circle. Array with components (red, green, blue) (if draw fill circle)
    function RegularPolygon($x0, $y0, $r, $ns, $angle = 0, $circle = false, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null, $circle_style = '', $circle_line_style = null, $circle_fill_color = null) {
        if ($ns < 3)
            $ns = 3;
        if ($circle)
            $this->Circle($x0, $y0, $r, 0, 360, $circle_style, $circle_line_style, $circle_fill_color);
        $p = null;
        for ($i = 0; $i < $ns; $i++) {
            $a = $angle + ($i * 360 / $ns);
            $a_rad = deg2rad((float) $a);
            $p[] = $x0 + ($r * sin($a_rad));
            $p[] = $y0 + ($r * cos($a_rad));
        }
        $this->Polygon($p, $style, $line_style, $fill_color);
    }

    // Draws a star polygon
    // Parameters:
    // - x0, y0: Center point
    // - r: Radius of circumscribed circle
    // - nv: Number of vertices
    // - ng: Number of gaps (ng % nv = 1 => regular polygon)
    // - angle: Orientation angle (anti-clockwise)
    // - circle: Draw circumscribed circle or not
    // - style: Style of polygon (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD)
    // - line_style: Line style. Array with one of this index
    //   . all: Line style of all lines. Array like for SetLineStyle
    //   . 0..n-1: Line style of each line. Item is 0 (not line) or like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    // - circle_style: Style of circumscribed circle (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD) (if draw)
    // - circle_line_style: Line style for circumscribed circle. Array like for SetLineStyle (if draw)
    // - circle_fill_color: Fill color for circumscribed circle. Array with components (red, green, blue) (if draw fill circle)
    function StarPolygon($x0, $y0, $r, $nv, $ng, $angle = 0, $circle = false, $style = '', $line_style = null, $fill_color = null, $circle_style = '', $circle_line_style = null, $circle_fill_color = null) {
        if ($nv < 2)
            $nv = 2;
        if ($circle)
            $this->Circle($x0, $y0, $r, 0, 360, $circle_style, $circle_line_style, $circle_fill_color);
        $p2 = null;
        $visited = null;
        for ($i = 0; $i < $nv; $i++) {
            $a = $angle + ($i * 360 / $nv);
            $a_rad = deg2rad((float) $a);
            $p2[] = $x0 + ($r * sin($a_rad));
            $p2[] = $y0 + ($r * cos($a_rad));
            $visited[] = false;
        }
        $p = null;
        $i = 0;
        do {
            $p[] = $p2[$i * 2];
            $p[] = $p2[($i * 2) + 1];
            $visited[$i] = true;
            $i += $ng;
            $i %= $nv;
        } while (!$visited[$i]);
        $this->Polygon($p, $style, $line_style, $fill_color);
    }

    // Draws a rounded rectangle
    // Parameters:
    // - x, y: Top left corner
    // - w, h: Width and height
    // - r: Radius of the rounded corners
    // - round_corner: Draws rounded corner or not. String with a 0 (not rounded i-corner) or 1 (rounded i-corner) in i-position. Positions are, in order and begin to 0: top left, top right, bottom right and bottom left
    // - style: Style of rectangle (draw and/or fill) (D, F, DF, FD)
    // - border_style: Border style of rectangle. Array like for SetLineStyle
    // - fill_color: Fill color. Array with components (red, green, blue)
    function RoundedRect($x, $y, $w, $h, $r, $round_corner = '1111', $style = '', $border_style = null, $fill_color = null) {
        if ('0000' == $round_corner) // Not rounded
            $this->Rect($x, $y, $w, $h, $style, $border_style, $fill_color);
        else { // Rounded
            if (!(false === strpos($style, 'F')) && $fill_color) {
                list($red, $g, $b) = $fill_color;
                $this->SetFillColor($red, $g, $b);
            }
            switch ($style) {
                case 'F':
                    $border_style = null;
                    $op = 'f';
                    break;
                case 'FD': case 'DF':
                    $op = 'B';
                    break;
                default:
                    $op = 'S';
                    break;
            }
            if ($border_style)
                $this->SetLineStyle($border_style);

            $MyArc = 4 / 3 * (sqrt(2) - 1);

            $this->_Point($x + $r, $y);
            $xc = $x + $w - $r;
            $yc = $y + $r;
            $this->_Line($xc, $y);
            if ($round_corner[0])
                $this->_Curve($xc + ($r * $MyArc), $yc - $r, $xc + $r, $yc - ($r * $MyArc), $xc + $r, $yc);
            else
                $this->_Line($x + $w, $y);

            $xc = $x + $w - $r ;
            $yc = $y + $h - $r;
            $this->_Line($x + $w, $yc);

            if ($round_corner[1])
                $this->_Curve($xc + $r, $yc + ($r * $MyArc), $xc + ($r * $MyArc), $yc + $r, $xc, $yc + $r);
            else
                $this->_Line($x + $w, $y + $h);

            $xc = $x + $r;
            $yc = $y + $h - $r;
            $this->_Line($xc, $y + $h);
            if ($round_corner[2])
                $this->_Curve($xc - ($r * $MyArc), $yc + $r, $xc - $r, $yc + ($r * $MyArc), $xc - $r, $yc);
            else
                $this->_Line($x, $y + $h);

            $xc = $x + $r;
            $yc = $y + $r;
            $this->_Line($x, $yc);
            if ($round_corner[3])
                $this->_Curve($xc - $r, $yc - ($r * $MyArc), $xc - ($r * $MyArc), $yc - $r, $xc, $yc - $r);
            else {
                $this->_Line($x, $y);
                $this->_Line($x + $r, $y);
            }
            $this->_out($op);
        }
    }

    /* PRIVATE METHODS */

    // Sets a draw point
    // Parameters:
    // - x, y: Point
    function _Point($x, $y) {
        $this->_out(sprintf('%.2F %.2F m', $x * $this->k, ($this->h - $y) * $this->k));
    }

    // Draws a line from last draw point
    // Parameters:
    // - x, y: End point
    function _Line($x, $y) {
        $this->_out(sprintf('%.2F %.2F l', $x * $this->k, ($this->h - $y) * $this->k));
    }

    // Draws a Bézier curve from last draw point
    // Parameters:
    // - x1, y1: Control point 1
    // - x2, y2: Control point 2
    // - x3, y3: End point
    function _Curve($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2, $x3, $y3) {
        $this->_out(sprintf('%.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F %.2F c', $x1 * $this->k, ($this->h - $y1) * $this->k, $x2 * $this->k, ($this->h - $y2) * $this->k, $x3 * $this->k, ($this->h - $y3) * $this->k));
    }

}

?>

Don't forget to add require_once('FPDF/fpdf.php'); and require_once('FPDI/fpdi.php'); at the top of the page assuming you have this directory structure:

Then with code in index.php instead of extending the class FPDI we can directly extend PDF_Draw. This way the code we add earlier still work but now we can use new methods like Line(), Curve(), Rect() etc...

Here is the full index.php code:

nextPage();

// add content to current page
$pdf->SetFont("helvetica", "", 20);
$pdf->SetTextColor(220, 20, 60);
$pdf->Text(50, 20, "I should not be here!");

// move to next page and add content
$pdf->nextPage();

$pdf->SetFont("arial", "", 15);

$style = array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => '10,20,5,10', 'phase' => 10, 'color' => array(255, 0, 0));
$style2 = array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(255, 0, 0));
$style3 = array('width' => 1, 'cap' => 'round', 'join' => 'round', 'dash' => '2,10', 'color' => array(255, 0, 0));
$style4 = array('L' => 0,
                'T' => array('width' => 0.25, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => '20,10', 'phase' => 10, 'color' => array(100, 100, 255)),
                'R' => array('width' => 0.50, 'cap' => 'round', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(50, 50, 127)),
                'B' => array('width' => 0.75, 'cap' => 'square', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => '30,10,5,10'));
$style5 = array('width' => 0.25, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(0, 0, 0));
$style6 = array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => '10,10', 'color' => array(0, 255, 0));
$style7 = array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(200, 200, 0));

// Line
$pdf->Text(5, 7, 'Line');
$pdf->Line(5, 10, 80, 30, $style);

// Rect
$pdf->Text(100, 7, 'Rectangle');
$pdf->Rect(100, 10, 40, 20, 'DF', $style4, array(220, 220, 200));

// Curve
$pdf->Text(5, 37, 'Curve');
$pdf->Curve(5, 40, 30, 55, 70, 45, 60, 75, null, $style6);

// Circle and ellipse
$pdf->Text(5, 82, 'Circle and ellipse');
$pdf->SetLineStyle($style5);
$pdf->Circle(25,105,20);

// Polygon
$pdf->Text(5, 132, 'Polygon');
$pdf->SetLineStyle(array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(0, 0, 0)));
$pdf->Polygon(array(5,135,45,135,15,165));

// Regular polygon
$pdf->Text(5, 172, 'Regular polygon');
$pdf->SetLineStyle($style5);
$pdf->RegularPolygon(20, 190, 15, 6, 0, 1, 'F');

// Star polygon
$pdf->Text(5, 212, 'Star polygon');
$pdf->SetLineStyle($style5);
$pdf->StarPolygon(20, 230, 15, 20, 3, 0, 1, 'F');

// Rounded rectangle
$pdf->Text(5, 252, 'Rounded rectangle');
$pdf->SetLineStyle(array('width' => 0.5, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(0, 0, 0)));
$pdf->RoundedRect(5, 255, 40, 30, 3.50, '1111', 'DF');

$pdf->SetTextColor(65, 105, 225);
$pdf->Text(50, 20, "Me neither!!!");

//show the PDF in page
$pdf->Output();

DEMO!