How to create a PDF file in Syncfusion Flutter PDF Library?

Flutter PDF is a non-UI PDF library written natively in Dart for creating the PDF documents from scratch. Using this package, you can create a PDF document in the Flutter Mobile and Web platforms.

Steps to create a PDF document programmatically:

1. Create a new Flutter application project.

1. Open Visual Studio Code (After installing the Dart and Flutter extensions as stated in this setup editor page).
2. Click View -> Command Palette.

3. Type Flutter and choose Flutter: New Project.

4. Enter the project name and press the Enter button.
5. Now choose the location of the project.

2. Add the following code in your pubspec.yaml file to install the syncfusion® flutter pdf package in your application. It will be automatically downloaded from the pub once you trigger the flutter pub get a comment or Get packages option from the Visual studio code.

   dependencies:
     syncfusion_flutter_pdf: ^20.3.49
   

1. Import the following package in main.dart file.

   import 'package:syncfusion_flutter_pdf/pdf.dart';
   

3. Add the following code in the lib/main.dart file to create a simple button.

   @override
     Widget build(BuildContext context) {
       return Scaffold(
         appBar: AppBar(
           title: Text(widget.title),
         ),
         body: Center(
           child: Column(
             mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
             children: <Widget>[
                TextButton(
               child: Text(
                 'Generate PDF',
                 style: TextStyle(color: Colors.white),
               ),
               style: ButtonStyle(
                   backgroundColor: MaterialStateProperty.resolveWith(
                       (states) => Colors.blue)),
               onPressed: _createPDF,
             )
             ],
           ),
         ),
       );
     }
    
   

4. Add the following code to the _createPDF function to create PDF document programmatically.

   Future<void> _createPDF() async{
       //Create a PDF document.
       var document = PdfDocument();
    
       //Add page and draw text to the page.
       document.pages.add().graphics.drawString(
           'Hello World!', PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.helvetica, 18),
           brush: PdfSolidBrush(PdfColor(0, 0, 0)),
           bounds: Rect.fromLTWH(0, 0, 500, 30));
           
       //Save the document
       List<int> bytes = await document.save();
    
       // Dispose the document
       document.dispose();
    
       //Save the file and launch/download
       SaveFile.saveAndLaunchFile(bytes, 'output.pdf');
     }
    
   

5. Follow the below steps to launch the generated PDF file on desktop, mobile, and web platforms.

Web:

1. Add the web package as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file. Then, create a new Dart file named save_file_web.dart. Finally, add the following code to implement the file download functionality using the web package.

   import 'dart:convert';
   import 'package:web/web.dart' as web;

2. To enable file saving and initiate downloads in a Flutter web environment, use the following code within the saveAndLaunchFile method.

   // Function to save and launch a file for download in a web environment
   Future<void> saveAndLaunchFile(List<int> bytes, String fileName) async {
     final web.HTMLAnchorElement anchor =
         web.document.createElement('a') as web.HTMLAnchorElement
           ..href = "data:application/octet-stream;base64,${base64Encode(bytes)}"
           ..style.display = 'none'
           ..download = fileName;
   
   // Insert the new element into the DOM
   web.document.body!.appendChild(anchor);
   
   // Initiate the download
   anchor.click();
   // Clean up the DOM by removing the anchor element
   web.document.body!.removeChild(anchor);
   }

Desktop and Mobile:

3. Add the following dependencies in your pubspec.yaml file.

   open_file: ^3.2.1
   path_provider: ^2.0.11 #Open source library to launch the PDF file in mobile devices
   

4. Create a new dart file named save_file_mobile_and_desktop.dart under the lib folder and import the following packages in save_file_mobile_and_desktop.dart file.

   import 'dart:io';
   import 'package:open_file/open_file.dart';
   import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart';
   

5. Include the following code snippet in save_file_mobile_and_desktop.dart to open the PDF document in Desktop and Mobile.

   class SaveFile {
     static Future<void> saveAndLaunchFile(
         List<int> bytes, String fileName) async {
       //Get external storage directory
       Directory directory = await getApplicationSupportDirectory();
       //Get directory path
       String path = directory.path;
       //Create an empty file to write PDF data
       File file = File('$path/$fileName');
       //Write PDF data
       await file.writeAsBytes(bytes, flush: true);
       //Open the PDF document in mobile
       OpenFile.open('$path/$fileName');
     }
   }
    
   

6. Run the sample using the flutter run command. This creates a simple PDF document. After the application launches, you will get the PDF document as follows.

You can download the complete work sample from create_pdf_sample.zip.

Take a moment to peruse the documentation, where you can find other options like drawing right-to-left text, consuming TrueType fonts, Standards fonts, and CJK fonts. Also, the features like headers and footers, bookmarks, tables, hyperlink PDF documents, and more with code examples.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed learning about how to create a PDF file in Syncfusion® Flutter PDF Library.

You can refer to our
Flutter PDF feature tour  page to know about its other groundbreaking feature representations documentation and how to quickly get started for configuration specifications.  You can also explore our Flutter PDF example
to understand how to create and manipulate data.

For current customers, you can check out our components from the License and Downloads page. If you are new to Syncfusion®, you can try our 30-day free trial to check out our other controls.

If you have any queries or require clarifications, please let us know in the comments section below. You can also contact us through our support forums, Direct-Trac, or feedback portal. We are always happy to assist you!