Extract Vector Data from a PDF file using Java

Access vector data from a PDF document

Use GraphicsAbsorber to inspect vector graphic elements on a page and write their basic geometry to a text file.

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Create a GraphicsAbsorber and visit the target Page.
3. Iterate through the extracted GraphicElement objects.
4. Build the output text with element geometry and operator counts.
5. Write the extracted vector data to the output file.

public static void extractGraphicsElements(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) throws Exception {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        GraphicsAbsorber absorber = new GraphicsAbsorber();
        absorber.visit(document.getPages().get_Item(1));

        StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder();
        int index = 1;
        for (GraphicElement element : absorber.getElements()) {
            text.append("Element ").append(index)
                    .append(": Rectangle = ").append(element.getRectangle())
                    .append(", Position = ").append(element.getPosition())
                    .append(", Operators = ").append(element.getOperators().size())
                    .append("\n");
            index++;
        }
        Files.writeString(outputFile, text.toString());
    }
}

Save page vector graphics to SVG

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Get the target Page from the document.
3. Save the page vector graphics to the output SVG file.

public static void saveVectorGraphicsToSvg(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);
        page.trySaveVectorGraphics(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Save each extracted element to a separate SVG

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Create a GraphicsAbsorber and visit the target Page.
3. Create the output directory for the extracted subpaths.
4. Iterate through the extracted GraphicElement objects.
5. Save each element to a separate SVG file.

public static void extractSubpathsToSvgs(Path inputFile, Path outputDir) throws Exception {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        GraphicsAbsorber absorber = new GraphicsAbsorber();
        absorber.visit(document.getPages().get_Item(1));
        Path subpathsDir = outputDir.resolve("subpaths");
        Files.createDirectories(subpathsDir);

        int index = 1;
        for (GraphicElement element : absorber.getElements()) {
            element.saveToSvg(subpathsDir.resolve("subpath_" + index + ".svg").toString());
            index++;
        }
    }
}

Combine extracted elements into a single SVG

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Create a GraphicsAbsorber and visit the target Page.
3. Create the SVG wrapper content.
4. Iterate through the extracted GraphicElement objects and append each SVG fragment.
5. Write the combined SVG output to the target file.

public static void extractListOfElementsToSingleImage(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) throws Exception {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        GraphicsAbsorber absorber = new GraphicsAbsorber();
        absorber.visit(document.getPages().get_Item(1));

        StringBuilder svg = new StringBuilder();
        svg.append("<svg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">\n");
        for (GraphicElement element : absorber.getElements()) {
            svg.append(element.saveToSvg()).append("\n");
        }
        svg.append("</svg>\n");
        Files.writeString(outputFile, svg.toString());
    }
}

Extract a single vector element

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Create a GraphicsAbsorber and visit the target Page.
3. Get the target GraphicElement from the extracted elements collection.
4. Check whether the element is an XFormPlacement and select the nested element when needed.
5. Save the selected vector element to the output SVG file.

public static void extractSingleVectorElement(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        GraphicsAbsorber graphicsAbsorber = new GraphicsAbsorber();
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);
        graphicsAbsorber.visit(page);
        if (graphicsAbsorber.getElements().size() > 1) {
            GraphicElement xformPlacement = graphicsAbsorber.getElements().get_Item(1);
            if (xformPlacement instanceof XFormPlacement) {
                XFormPlacement placement = (XFormPlacement) xformPlacement;
                if (placement.getElements().size() > 2) {
                    placement.getElements().get_Item(2).saveToSvg(outputFile.toString());
                }
            } else {
                xformPlacement.saveToSvg(outputFile.toString());
            }
        }
    }
}