Get Started — PDF Document API for Java

• Aug 26, 2026
• 3 minutes to read

This tutorial uses the PDF Document API for Java to create a PDF document, add content, create annotations, and save the document.

Create a PDF Document

Note

Add the devexpress-docs-pdf dependency to use the DevExpress PDF Document API.

Refer to the following help topic for additional information: Add DevExpress API Libraries to a Project.

Use the PdfDocument class to create a new PDF document. Add pages to the document with the PdfDocument.getPages().add() method.

The following code snippet creates a PDF document with an A4 page:

import com.devexpress.docs.pdf.*;
import com.devexpress.system.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.drawing.printing.*;

public class CreatePdfDocument {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        try (PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument()) {
            Page page = document.getPages().add(DXPaperKind.A4);
        }
    }
}

Add Text Content

Use text fragments to add text to a PDF page. The following code snippet adds a title and a paragraph:

TextFragment title = new TextFragment();
title.setText("Quarterly Sales Report");
title.setLocation(new PointF(50, 770));
title.setFontSize(24);

page.addFragment(title);

ParagraphFragment paragraph = new ParagraphFragment();
paragraph.setText("This report summarizes sales data for Q1 2026.");
paragraph.setLocation(new PointF(50, 730));
paragraph.setWidth(300);
page.addFragment(paragraph);

Add Images

Use image fragments to add images to a PDF page.

byte[] imageData = Files.readAllBytes(Path.of("images/devexpress-logo.png"));

DXImage image = DXImage.fromStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(imageData));
page.addImageFragment(image, 100, 500);

You can add images from files, streams, or other image sources.

Add Annotations

Use annotation classes to add interactive elements and markup to PDF pages.

The following code snippet adds a text annotation:

TextAnnotation annotation = new TextAnnotation(new RectangleF(50, 500, 200, 100));
annotation.setTitle("Brian Zetc");
annotation.setContent("Review this section.");

page.getAnnotations().add(annotation);

The PDF Document API supports various annotation types, including:

• Text annotations
• Markup annotation
• Link annotations
• Drawing annotations
• Highlight annotations
• Stamp annotations

Refer to the following help topic for additional information: PDF Document Annotations.

Save a PDF Document

Use the PdfDocument.save() method to save a document as a PDF file.

try(WritableByteChannel channel =
        FileChannel.open(
            Path.of("Result.pdf"),
            StandardOpenOption.CREATE,
            StandardOpenOption.WRITE,
            StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING)) {
    document.save(channel);
}

The following image illustrates the result:

Tutorial Source Code

Expand this section to see the complete source code for the tutorial.

Create a PDF Document

package pdf;

import com.devexpress.docs.pdf.*;
import com.devexpress.drawing.DXImage;
import com.devexpress.system.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.drawing.printing.*;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.channels.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        byte[] imageData = Files.readAllBytes(Path.of("images/devexpress-logo.png"));
        try (PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
             DXImage image = DXImage.fromStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(imageData))) {
            Page page = document.getPages().add(DXPaperKind.A4);

            TextFragment title = new TextFragment();
            title.setText("Quarterly Sales Report");
            title.setLocation(new PointF(50, 770));
            title.setFontSize(24);

            page.addFragment(title);

            ParagraphFragment paragraph = new ParagraphFragment();
            paragraph.setText("This report summarizes sales data for Q1 2026.");
            paragraph.setLocation(new PointF(50, 730));
            paragraph.setWidth(300);
            page.addFragment(paragraph);

            page.addImageFragment(image, 500, 730);

            TextAnnotation annotation = new TextAnnotation(new RectangleF(50, 500, 200, 100));
            annotation.setTitle("Brian Zetc");
            annotation.setContent("Review this section.");

            page.getAnnotations().add(annotation);

            try(WritableByteChannel channel =
                    FileChannel.open(
                        Path.of("Result.pdf"),
                        StandardOpenOption.CREATE,
                        StandardOpenOption.WRITE,
                        StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING)) {
                document.save(channel);
            }
        }
    }
}

Next Steps

• Create PDF Documents
• Manage PDF Pages
• Work with Annotations
• Load PDF Documents
• Save PDF Documents
• Export PDF Pages to Images