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javapdfbox

adding sticky Notes to pdf using pdfbox

I am trying to add sticky notes to an existing pdf using pdfbox.


PDRectangle position = new PDRectangle();
System.out.println(textPosition.getXDirAdj());
position.setUpperRightX(textPosition.getX());
position.setUpperRightY(ph - textPosition.getY());

PDAnnotationTextMarkup polygonMarkup = new PDAnnotationTextMarkup(PDAnnotationMarkup.SUB_TYPE_POLYGON);
polygonMarkup.setContents("text");
polygonMarkup.setRectangle(position);
polygonMarkup.setLocked(true);
polygonMarkup.setReadOnly(true);

annotations.add(polygonMarkup);
page.setAnnotations(annotations);

this code is working fine, but it doesn't create a sticky Note which is my primary concern.

any leads are appreciated.

Solution

  • As Quoted by @mkl 

    According to the PDF specification, 'a text annotation represents a “sticky note” attached to a point in the PDF document.' Thus, neither the class PDAnnotationTextMarkup nor the subtype SUB_TYPE_POLYGON appears to match your requirements. Instead, you should use the PDAnnotationText class. As an aside, PDAnnotationTextMarkup is documented (JavaDocs) to be the abstract class that represents a text markup annotation. While it is not actually declared abstract, that characterization should make clear that it probably does not work without further ado.

    so I used the below code and it worked like magic for me

    PDRectangle position = new PDRectangle();
position.setUpperRightX(textPosition.getX());
position.setUpperRightY(ph - textPosition.getY());

position.setLowerLeftX(textPosition.getX()-4);
position.setLowerLeftY(ph - textPosition.getY());
PDGamma colourBlue = new PDGamma();
colourBlue.setB(1);

PDAnnotationText text = new PDAnnotationText();
text.setContents(commentNameWithComments.get(word));
text.setRectangle(position);
text.setOpen(true);
text.setConstantOpacity(50f);

assert annotations != null;
annotations.add(text);
page1.setAnnotations(annotations);
replaceText(word);

    it might be useful for future devs :-)