Markup Annotations using Java

Markup annotation workflows in this section focus on note-style comments, caret markers, and grouped replace-review scenarios.

Add a text annotation

Use this example when you need to place a sticky-note style text annotation with popup metadata on a page.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create a TextAnnotation and configure its title, contents, icon, and popup.
  3. Add the annotation to the page and save the document.
public static void textAnnotationAdd(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        TextAnnotation textAnnotation = new TextAnnotation(
                document.getPages().get_Item(1),
                new Rectangle(299.988, 613.664, 428.708, 680.769, true));
        textAnnotation.setTitle("Aspose User");
        textAnnotation.setSubject("Sticky Note");
        textAnnotation.setContents("This is a text annotation added by Aspose.PDF for Java");
        textAnnotation.setFlags(AnnotationFlags.Print);
        textAnnotation.setColor(Color.getBlue());
        textAnnotation.setIcon(TextIcon.Help);

        PopupAnnotation popup = new PopupAnnotation(
                document.getPages().get_Item(1),
                new Rectangle(428.708, 613.664, 528.708, 713.664, true));
        popup.setOpen(true);
        textAnnotation.setPopup(popup);

        document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations().add(textAnnotation, false);
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Get text annotations

This example scans the page and prints the rectangle of each text annotation.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Iterate through the annotations on the page.
  3. Filter annotations by AnnotationType.Text and print their rectangles.
public static void textAnnotationGet(Path inputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        for (Annotation annotation : document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations()) {
            if (annotation.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Text) {
                System.out.println(annotation.getRect());
            }
        }
    }
}

Delete text annotations

Use this approach when existing text annotations should be removed from the document.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Collect annotations of type AnnotationType.Text.
  3. Delete the collected annotations and save the output file.
public static void textAnnotationDelete(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        List<Annotation> toDelete = new ArrayList<>();
        for (Annotation annotation : document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations()) {
            if (annotation.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Text) {
                toDelete.add(annotation);
            }
        }
        for (Annotation annotation : toDelete) {
            document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations().delete(annotation);
        }
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add a caret annotation

Use this example when you need to mark inserted text with a caret-style review annotation.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create a CaretAnnotation and configure its popup and appearance.
  3. Add the annotation to the page and save the document.
public static void caretAnnotationsAdd(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);

        CaretAnnotation caretAnnotation = new CaretAnnotation(
                page,
                new Rectangle(299.988, 713.664, 308.708, 720.769, true));
        caretAnnotation.setTitle("Aspose User");
        caretAnnotation.setSubject("Inserted text 1");
        caretAnnotation.setFlags(AnnotationFlags.Print);
        caretAnnotation.setColor(Color.getBlue());
        caretAnnotation.setPopup(new PopupAnnotation(
                page,
                new Rectangle(310, 713, 410, 730, true)));
        page.getAnnotations().add(caretAnnotation);

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Get caret annotations

This example reads existing caret annotations and prints their locations.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Iterate through the page annotations.
  3. Filter annotations by AnnotationType.Caret and print their rectangles.
public static void caretAnnotationsGet(Path inputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);
        for (Annotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
            if (annot.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Caret) {
                System.out.println(annot.getRect());
            }
        }
    }
}

Delete caret annotations

Use this approach when caret annotations should be removed from the page.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Collect annotations whose type is AnnotationType.Caret.
  3. Delete the collected annotations and save the output document.
public static void caretAnnotationsDelete(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);

        List<Annotation> caretAnnotations = new ArrayList<>();
        for (Annotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
            if (annot.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Caret) {
                caretAnnotations.add(annot);
            }
        }
        for (Annotation annot : caretAnnotations) {
            page.getAnnotations().delete(annot);
        }
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add grouped replace annotations

This example combines a caret annotation with a strikeout annotation to represent a replace-style review comment.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create the caret annotation and the related StrikeOutAnnotation.
  3. Link the annotations through setInReplyTo and setReplyType, then save the document.
public static void replaceAnnotationsAdd(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);

        CaretAnnotation caretAnnotation = new CaretAnnotation(
                page,
                new Rectangle(361.246, 727.908, 370.081, 735.107, true));
        caretAnnotation.setFlags(AnnotationFlags.Print);
        caretAnnotation.setSubject("Inserted text 2");
        caretAnnotation.setTitle("Aspose User");
        caretAnnotation.setColor(Color.getBlue());
        caretAnnotation.setPopup(new PopupAnnotation(
                page,
                new Rectangle(310, 713, 410, 730, true)));

        StrikeOutAnnotation strikeoutAnnotation = new StrikeOutAnnotation(
                page,
                new Rectangle(318.407, 727.826, 368.916, 740.098, true));
        strikeoutAnnotation.setColor(Color.getBlue());
        strikeoutAnnotation.setQuadPoints(new Point[]{
                new Point(321.66, 739.416),
                new Point(365.664, 739.416),
                new Point(321.66, 728.508),
                new Point(365.664, 728.508)
        });
        strikeoutAnnotation.setSubject("Cross-out");
        strikeoutAnnotation.setInReplyTo(caretAnnotation);
        strikeoutAnnotation.setReplyType(ReplyType.Group);

        page.getAnnotations().add(caretAnnotation);
        page.getAnnotations().add(strikeoutAnnotation);

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Get grouped replace annotations

This example detects strikeout annotations that participate in a grouped replace workflow.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Iterate through the page annotations and select strikeout annotations.
  3. Check the reply relationship and print the rectangle of matching annotations.
public static void replaceAnnotationsGet(Path inputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);
        for (Annotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
            if (annot.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.StrikeOut) {
                StrikeOutAnnotation sa = (StrikeOutAnnotation) annot;
                if (sa.getInReplyTo() != null && sa.getReplyType() == ReplyType.Group) {
                    System.out.println("Replace annotation rect: " + sa.getRect());
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Delete grouped replace annotations

Use this approach when replace-review strikeout annotations should be removed from the page.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Collect strikeout annotations that represent the replace markup.
  3. Delete the collected annotations and save the updated document.
public static void replaceAnnotationsDelete(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);

        List<StrikeOutAnnotation> replaceAnnotations = new ArrayList<>();
        for (Annotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
            if (annot.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.StrikeOut) {
                replaceAnnotations.add((StrikeOutAnnotation) annot);
            }
        }
        for (StrikeOutAnnotation annot : replaceAnnotations) {
            page.getAnnotations().delete(annot);
        }
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}
Shape Annotations via Java Media Annotations in PDF