How to Add Images to PDF files in Java (Tutorial)

If you are looking to add images to pdf in java you have a couple of options:

• Insert an image as an annotations
• Insert an image into the page content stream

This article explores the pros and cons of each method and how to perform them in Java.

Image Annotations

Using annotations to insert images allows for interactivity, which lets users click, move, or delete them. This may or may not be desirable based on your use case. Annotations also provide separation of concerns, which is ideal for markup, comments, or highlights. One of the main caveats with annotations is that they may be ignored by some printers or PDF viewers, resulting in different rendering experiences on different systems.

Direct Image Insertion in the Content Stream

Inserting an image directly into the page content stream allows for greater control and reliability over the output. All PDF viewers will render them consistently. This makes them the perfect choice if you have printing or archival requirements. With this approach there is no interactivity which is the exact opposite of image annotations and your use-case will often dictate if this is appropriate.

How to insert images into PDF files using Java

Thankfully, our PDF toolkit JPedal makes both of these approaches easy.

Annotations

WritableAnnotation[] annotations = new WritableAnnotation[1];

annotations[0] = new ImageAnnotation(page, x0, y0, x1, y1, bufferedImage);

AnnotationWriter.writeAnnotations(new File("input.pdf"), new File("outputFile.pdf"), annotations);

Direct Insertion

PdfManipulator pdf = new PdfManipulator();

pdf.loadDocument(new File("inputFile.pdf"));

pdf.addImage(page, bufferedImage, new float[] {x0, y0, x1, y1});

pdf.apply();

pdf.writeDocument(new File("outputFile.pdf"));

pdf.closeDocument();

Note you will need a library to read BufferedImages, we recommend JDeli which supports a wide range of formats, including HEIC and WEBP.

You can learn more about manipulating PDFs on our support site.

This guide showed you how you can add images to PDF in Java using a few lines of code. We have over 2 decades of experience working with PDF files, read our other articles to learn more about the PDF format.

//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractClippedImages.writeAllClippedImagesToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", "outputImageFormat", new String[] {"imageHeightAsFloat", "subDirectoryForHeight"});

final PdfManipulator pdf = new PdfManipulator();
pdf.loadDocument(new File("inputFile.pdf"));
pdf.addPage(1, PaperSize.A4_LANDSCAPE);
pdf.addText(1, "Hello World", 10, 10, BaseFont.HelveticaBold, 12, 1, 0.3f, 0.2f);
pdf.addImage(1, new BufferedImage(), new float[] {0, 0, 100, 100});
pdf.rotatePage(1, 90);
pdf.apply();
pdf.writeDocument(new File("outputFile.pdf"));

Viewer viewer = new Viewer();
viewer.setupViewer();
viewer.executeCommand(ViewerCommands.OPENFILE, "pdfFile.pdf");

//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractTextAsWordList.writeAllWordlistsToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", -1);

PdfMerge.mergeFiles(new File("inputFile1.pdf"), new File("inputFile2.pdf"), new File("outputFile.pdf"));

PdfManipulator.splitInHalf(new File("inputFile.pdf"), new File("outputFolder"), pageToSplitAt);

PrintPdfPages print = new PrintPdfPages("C:/pdfs/mypdf.pdf");

if (print.openPDFFile()) {
    print.printAllPages("Printer Name");
}

//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ExtractClippedImages.writeAllClippedImagesToDir("inputFileOrDirectory", "outputDir", "outputImageFormat", new String[] {"imageHeightAsFloat", "subDirectoryForHeight"});

//Convenience static method (see class for additional options)
ArrayList resultsForPages = FindTextInRectangle.findTextOnAllPages("/path/to/file.pdf", "textToFind");

java -jar jpedal.jar --inspect "inputFile.pdf"

PdfSigner.signPdf(
        "inputFile.pdf",
        "outputFile.pdf",
        "keystorePassword",
        "keystoreFile.p12",
        "signerName",
        "signerLocation",
        "signingReason",
        ACCESS_PERMISSION.P1
);