Java adds form fields to PDF

PDF form fields, also known as interactive fields, are primarily used to collect user information. Common form fields include radio buttons, checkboxes, list boxes, and combo boxes. This text will show you how to use Free Spire.PDF for Java to create PDF form fields in your Java program.

** Import JAR package ** ** Method 1: ** Download Free Spire.PDF for Java, unzip it, and in the lib folder Import the jar package as a dependency directly into your Java application.

** Method 2: ** Install the jar package from the Maven repository and configure the code in the pom.xml file as follows:

<repositories>
   <repository>
      <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
      <name>e-iceblue</name>
      <url>http://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
   </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
   <dependency>
      <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
      <artifactId>spire.pdf.free</artifactId>
      <version>2.6.3</version>
   </dependency>
</dependencies>

** Java code **

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.Point2D;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;

import com.spire.pdf.FileFormat;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.spire.pdf.PdfPageBase;
import com.spire.pdf.fields.*;
import com.spire.pdf.graphics.*;

public class AddFormFields {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        //Create a PdfDocument object
        PdfDocument doc = new PdfDocument();

        //Add page
        PdfPageBase page = doc.getPages().add();

        //Initialize position variables
        float baseX = 100;
        float baseY = 0;

        //Create a brush object
        PdfSolidBrush brush1 = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.BLUE));
        PdfSolidBrush brush2 = new PdfSolidBrush(new PdfRGBColor(Color.black));

        //Create TrueType fonts
        PdfTrueTypeFont font= new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("MS Mincho",Font.PLAIN,12),true);

        //Add checkbox
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Checkbox:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float rec1 = new java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 15, 15);
        PdfCheckBoxField checkBoxField = new PdfCheckBoxField(page, "CheckBox1");
        checkBoxField.setBounds(rec1);
        checkBoxField.setChecked(false);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 2", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 20, baseY));
        java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float rec2 = new java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float(baseX + 70, baseY, 15, 15);
        PdfCheckBoxField checkBoxField1 = new PdfCheckBoxField(page, "CheckBox2");
        checkBoxField1.setBounds(rec2);
        checkBoxField1.setChecked(false);
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 2", font,  brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX+90, baseY));
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(checkBoxField);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add list box
        page.getCanvas().drawString("list box:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float rec = new java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 50);
        PdfListBoxField listBoxField = new PdfListBoxField(page, "ListBox");
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 1", "item1"));
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 2", "item2"));
        listBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 3", "item3"));;
        listBoxField.setBounds(rec);
        listBoxField.setFont(font);
        listBoxField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(listBoxField);
        baseY += 60;

        //Add radio button
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Radio buttons:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        PdfRadioButtonListField radioButtonListField = new PdfRadioButtonListField(page, "Radio");
        PdfRadioButtonListItem radioItem1 = new PdfRadioButtonListItem("Item1");
        radioItem1.setBounds(new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 15, 15));
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 1", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 20, baseY));
        PdfRadioButtonListItem radioItem2 = new PdfRadioButtonListItem("Item2");
        radioItem2.setBounds(new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX + 70, baseY, 15, 15));
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Option 2", font, brush2, new Point2D.Float(baseX + 90, baseY));
        radioButtonListField.getItems().add(radioItem1);radioButtonListField.getItems().add(radioItem2);
        radioButtonListField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(radioButtonListField);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add combo box
        page.getCanvas().drawString("combo box:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float cmbBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 15);
        PdfComboBoxField comboBoxField = new PdfComboBoxField(page, "ComboBox");
        comboBoxField.setBounds(cmbBounds);
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 1", "item1"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 2", "itme2"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 3", "item3"));
        comboBoxField.getItems().add(new PdfListFieldItem("Item 4", "item4"));
        comboBoxField.setSelectedIndex(0);
        comboBoxField.setFont(font);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(comboBoxField);
        baseY += 25;

        //Add signature field
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Signature domain:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        PdfSignatureField sgnField= new PdfSignatureField(page,"sgnField");
        Rectangle2D.Float sgnBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 150, 80);
        sgnField.setBounds(sgnBounds);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(sgnField);
        baseY += 90;

        //Add button
        page.getCanvas().drawString("Submit button:", font, brush1, new Point2D.Float(0, baseY));
        Rectangle2D.Float btnBounds = new Rectangle2D.Float(baseX, baseY, 50, 15);
        PdfButtonField buttonField = new PdfButtonField(page, "Button");
        buttonField.setBounds(btnBounds);buttonField.setText("send");
        buttonField.setFont(font);
        doc.getForm().getFields().add(buttonField);

        //Save the document
        doc.saveToFile("AddFormField.pdf", FileFormat.PDF);
    }
}