Creating a complex PDF

The Hello, World example showed simple steps to create a PDF document using Python and Aspose.PDF. In this article, we will take a look at creating a more complex document with Aspose.PDF for Python. As an example, we’ll take a document from a fictitious company that operates passenger ferry services. Our document will contain a image, two text fragments (header and paragraph), and a table.

If we create a document from scratch we need to follow certain steps:

1. Instantiate a Document object. In this step we will create an empty PDF document with some metadata but without pages.
2. Add a Page to the document object. So, now our document will have one page.
3. Add a Image to the Page.
4. Create a TextFragment for header. For the header we will use Arial font with font size 24pt and center alignment.
5. Add header to the page paragraphs.
6. Create a TextFragment for description. For the description we will use Arial font with font size 24pt and center alignment.
7. Add (description) to the page Paragraphs.
8. Create and Style Table. Set column width, borders, padding, and font.
9. Add (table) to the page paragraphs.
10. Save a document “Complex.pdf”.

from datetime import timedelta
import aspose.pdf as ap

def run_complex(self):

    # Initialize document object
    document = ap.Document()
    # Add page
    page = document.pages.add()

    # Add image
    imageFileName = self.data_dir + "logo.png"
    page.add_image(imageFileName, ap.Rectangle(20, 730, 120, 830, True))

    # Add Header
    header = ap.text.TextFragment("New ferry routes in Fall 2029")
    header.text_state.font = ap.text.FontRepository.find_font("Arial")
    header.text_state.font_size = 24
    header.horizontal_alignment = ap.HorizontalAlignment.CENTER
    header.position = ap.text.Position(130, 720)
    page.paragraphs.add(header)

    # Add description
    descriptionText = "Visitors must buy tickets online and tickets are limited to 5,000 per day. \
    Ferry service is operating at half capacity and on a reduced schedule. Expect lineups."
    description = ap.text.TextFragment(descriptionText)
    description.text_state.font = ap.text.FontRepository.find_font(
        "Times New Roman"
    )
    description.text_state.font_size = 14
    description.horizontal_alignment = ap.HorizontalAlignment.LEFT
    page.paragraphs.add(description)

    # Add table
    table = ap.Table()

    table.column_widths = "200"
    table.border = ap.BorderInfo(
        ap.BorderSide.BOX, 1.0, ap.Color.dark_slate_gray
    )
    table.default_cell_border = ap.BorderInfo(
        ap.BorderSide.BOX, 0.5, ap.Color.black
    )
    table.default_cell_padding = ap.MarginInfo(4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5)
    table.margin.bottom = 10
    table.default_cell_text_state.font = ap.text.FontRepository.find_font(
        "Helvetica"
    )

    headerRow = table.rows.add()
    headerRow.cells.add("Departs City")
    headerRow.cells.add("Departs Island")

    i = 0
    while i < headerRow.cells.count:
        headerRow.cells[i].background_color = ap.Color.gray
        headerRow.cells[i].default_cell_text_state.foreground_color = (
            ap.Color.white_smoke
        )
        i += 1

    time = timedelta(hours=6, minutes=0)
    incTime = timedelta(hours=0, minutes=30)

    i = 0
    while i < 10:
        dataRow = table.rows.add()
        dataRow.cells.add(str(time))
        time = time.__add__(incTime)
        dataRow.cells.add(str(time))
        i += 1

    page.paragraphs.add(table)

    document.save(self.data_dir + "Complex.pdf")