swingtopdf

Java Swing to True Vector PDF

swingtopdf converts any Java Swing component tree into genuine vector PDF output. Text remains selectable, graphics stay sharp at any zoom level, and the output is a fraction of the size of rasterized alternatives. Built on Apache PDFBox.

Features

• True vector output -- text, shapes, and lines render as PDF drawing operations, not images
• 20+ component handlers -- JTable, JTree, JList, JTabbedPane, JTextPane, JEditorPane, and more, each with specialized rendering
• Vector component handlers -- register custom Graphics2D renderers for components like JFreeChart so their output is vector PDF (selectable text, sharp shapes) instead of rasterised bitmaps
• AcroForm interactive fields -- export JTextField, JCheckBox, JRadioButton, JComboBox, JTextArea, and JPasswordField as fillable PDF form fields
• Rich text and HTML -- JTextPane and JEditorPane content renders with formatting preserved
• Two export modes -- DATA_REPORT exports all data (full scroll content, all tabs) with auto-pagination; UI_SNAPSHOT captures only what is visible on screen
• Pagination -- automatic page breaks with configurable margins, headers, footers, and page-number tokens ({page}, {pages})
• Header/footer styling -- configurable alignment, font size, text color, background color, and band height
• PDF bookmarks -- auto-generated from JTabbedPane tabs
• Keep-together -- mark any component with SwingPdfExporter.KEEP_TOGETHER to prevent it from splitting across pages
• Font embedding -- TTF and OTF fonts embedded directly in the PDF with a pluggable FontResolver
• Image deduplication -- identical images are embedded once and referenced multiple times
• PDF metadata -- title, author, subject, and keywords
• Java module system -- fully modular (com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf), exports only the public API

Requirements

• Java 17 or later
• Apache PDFBox 3.x (transitive dependency)

Maven

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.seaglassfoundry</groupId>
    <artifactId>swingtopdf</artifactId>
    <version>1.1.0</version>
</dependency>

Quick Start

import com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf.SwingPdfExporter;
import com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf.api.PageSize;
import com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf.api.Orientation;

SwingPdfExporter.from(myPanel)
    .pageSize(PageSize.A4)
    .orientation(Orientation.PORTRAIT)
    .margins(36, 36, 36, 36)
    .title("My Report")
    .export(Path.of("report.pdf"));

To render a custom-painted component as vector PDF:

SwingPdfExporter.from(chartPanel)
    .pageSize(PageSize.A4)
    .registerHandler(ChartPanel.class, (comp, g2, bounds) -> {
        ((ChartPanel) comp).getChart().draw(g2, bounds);
    })
    .export(Path.of("chart.pdf"));

To enable fillable form fields:

SwingPdfExporter.from(myForm)
    .pageSize(PageSize.LETTER)
    .enableAcroForm()
    .export(Path.of("form.pdf"));

JVM Flags

swingtopdf uses --add-opens to access Swing internals for accurate rendering. Add these flags when running your application:

--add-opens java.desktop/javax.swing=com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf
--add-opens java.desktop/java.awt=com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf
--add-opens java.desktop/sun.font=com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf

If you are not using the Java module system (classpath mode), replace com.seaglassfoundry.swingtopdf with ALL-UNNAMED.

License

swingtopdf is dual-licensed:

• AGPL-3.0 -- free for open-source projects. If you use swingtopdf in your project, your project must also be released under the AGPL-3.0. See LICENSE for the full text.
• Commercial license -- a one-time, perpetual license for use in closed-source or proprietary products. No royalties, no recurring fees, scoped per major version. See LICENSE-COMMERCIAL.md for details.

Building a commercial product? Purchase a commercial license at seaglassfoundry.com.

Documentation

For the full manual -- export modes, pagination, headers/footers, AcroForm fields, font embedding, component reference, and more -- see the Documentation.

Links

• Website: seaglassfoundry.com
• Documentation: docs/index.md
• Commercial licensing: seaglassfoundry.com
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Contact: rich@seaglassfoundry.com