Version en français : Tutorial-fr
Deutsche Version: Tutorial-de
Versión en español: Tutorial-es
हिंदी संस्करण: Tutorial-हिंदी
Versione in italiano: Tutorial-it
Versão em português: Tutorial-pt
Methods full documentation: fpdf.FPDF API doc
[TOC]
Let's start with the classic example:
{% include "../tutorial/tuto1.py" %}After including the library file, we create an FPDF object. The
FPDF constructor is used here with the default values:
pages are in A4 portrait and the measure unit is millimeter.
It could have been specified explicitly with:
pdf = FPDF(orientation="P", unit="mm", format="A4")It is possible to set the PDF in landscape mode (L) or to use other page formats
(such as Letter and Legal) and measure units (pt, cm, in).
There is no page for the moment, so we have to add one with add_page. The origin is at the upper-left corner and the current position is by default placed at 1 cm from the borders; the margins can be changed with set_margins.
Before we can print text, it is mandatory to select a font with set_font, otherwise the document would be invalid. We choose Helvetica bold 16:
pdf.set_font('helvetica', 'B', 16)We could have specified italics with I, underlined with U or a regular font
with an empty string (or any combination). Note that the font size is given in
points, not millimeters (or another user unit); it is the only exception.
The other built-in fonts are Times, Courier, Symbol and ZapfDingbats.
We can now print a cell with cell. A cell is a rectangular area, possibly framed, which contains some text. It is rendered at the current position. We specify its dimensions, its text (centered or aligned), if borders should be drawn, and where the current position moves after it (to the right, below or to the beginning of the next line). To add a frame, we would do this:
pdf.cell(40, 10, 'Hello World!', 1)To add a new cell next to it with centered text and go to the next line, we would do:
pdf.cell(60, 10, 'Powered by FPDF.', ln=1, align='C')Remark: the line break can also be done with ln. This method allows to specify in addition the height of the break.
Finally, the document is closed and saved under the provided file path using
output. Without any parameter provided, output()
returns the PDF bytearray buffer.
Here is a two page example with header, footer and logo:
{% include "../tutorial/tuto2.py" %}This example makes use of the header and footer methods to process page headers and footers. They are called automatically. They already exist in the FPDF class but do nothing, therefore we have to extend the class and override them.
The logo is printed with the image method by specifying its upper-left corner and its width. The height is calculated automatically to respect the image proportions.
To print the page number, a null value is passed as the cell width. It means
that the cell should extend up to the right margin of the page; it is handy to
center text. The current page number is returned by
the page_no method; as for
the total number of pages, it is obtained by means of the special value {nb}
which will be substituted on document closure (provided you first called
alias_nb_pages).
Note the use of the set_y method which allows to set
position at an absolute location in the page, starting from the top or the
bottom.
Another interesting feature is used here: the automatic page breaking. As soon
as a cell would cross a limit in the page (at 2 centimeters from the bottom by
default), a break is performed and the font restored. Although the header and
footer select their own font (helvetica), the body continues with Times.
This mechanism of automatic restoration also applies to colors and line width.
The limit which triggers page breaks can be set with
set_auto_page_break.
Let's continue with an example which prints justified paragraphs. It also illustrates the use of colors.
{% include "../tutorial/tuto3.py" %}The get_string_width method allows determining the length of a string in the current font, which is used here to calculate the position and the width of the frame surrounding the title. Then colors are set (via set_draw_color, set_fill_color and set_text_color) and the thickness of the line is set to 1 mm (against 0.2 by default) with set_line_width. Finally, we output the cell (the last parameter to true indicates that the background must be filled).
The method used to print the paragraphs is multi_cell. Each time a line reaches the right extremity of the cell or a carriage return character is met, a line break is issued and a new cell automatically created under the current one. Text is justified by default.
Two document properties are defined: the title (set_title) and the author (set_author). Properties can be viewed by two means. First is to open the document directly with Acrobat Reader, go to the File menu and choose the Document Properties option. The second, also available from the plug-in, is to right-click and select Document Properties.
This example is a variant of the previous one, showing how to lay the text across multiple columns.
{% include "../tutorial/tuto4.py" %}The key difference from the previous tutorial is the use of the accept_page_break and the set_col methods.
Using the accept_page_break method, once the cell crosses the bottom limit of the page, it will check the current column number. If it is less than 2 (we chose to divide the page in three columns) it will call the set_col method, increasing the column number and altering the position of the next column so the text may continue there.
Once the bottom limit of the third column is reached, the accept_page_break method will reset and go back to the first column and trigger a page break.
This tutorial will explain how to create tables easily.
The code will create three different tables to explain what can be achieved with some simple adjustments.
{% include "../tutorial/tuto5.py" %}Resulting PDF - Countries text
Since a table is just a collection of cells, it is natural to build one from them.
The first example is achieved in the most basic way possible: simple framed cells, all of the same size and left aligned. The result is rudimentary but very quick to obtain.
The second table brings some improvements: each column has its own width, titles are centered and figures right aligned. Moreover, horizontal lines have been removed. This is done by means of the border parameter of the Cell() method, which specifies which sides of the cell must be drawn. Here we want the left (L) and right (R) ones. Now only the problem of the horizontal line to finish the table remains. There are two possibilities to solv it: check for the last line in the loop, in which case we use LRB for the border parameter; or, as done here, add the line once the loop is over.
The third table is similar to the second one but uses colors. Fill, text and line colors are simply specified. Alternate coloring for rows is obtained by using alternatively transparent and filled cells.
This tutorial will explain several ways to insert links inside a pdf document, as well as adding links to external sources.
It will also show several ways we can use different text styles, (bold, italic, underline) within the same text.
{% include "../tutorial/tuto6.py" %}
The new method shown here to print text is write() . It is very similar to multi_cell() , the key differences being:
- The end of line is at the right margin and the next line begins at the left margin.
- The current position moves to the end of the text.
The method therefore allows us to write a chunk of text, alter the font style, and continue from the exact place we left off. On the other hand, its main drawback is that we cannot justify the text like we do with the multi_cell() method.
In the first page of the example, we used write() for this purpose. The beginning of the sentence is written in regular style text, then using the set_font() method, we switched to underline and finished the sentence.
To add an internal link pointing to the second page, we used the add_link() method, which creates a clickable area which we named "link" that directs to another place within the document. On the second page, we used set_link() to define the destination area for the link we just created.
To create the external link using an image, we used image() . The method has the option to pass a link as one of its arguments. The link can be both internal or external.
As an alternative, another option to change the font style and add links is to
use the write_html() method. It is an html parser, which allows adding text,
changing font style and adding links using html.