iText - Persistence of pagestamp in PdfCopy

Question

I'm using iText 4.2.1 to generate my pdf reports. So basically I have a PDF template which contains a cover page, end page and a content page (that just contains an image header).

I'm using PdfCopy & PdfImportedPage to copy my template and PageStamp to add my content dynamically.

Need: I need to use the content page many times: as much as content pages in my report.

Problem: If I use pdfCopy.createPageStamp(importedPage) and ColumnText.showTextAligned to add some text the stamp persists over the next content pages. Thus my content page n°2 contains the text of the 1st one (added by PageStamp) and its own text (added by another PageStamp).

Here is an example of code:


    // Init
    Document doc = new Document();
    PdfCopy pdfCopy = new PdfCopy( doc, new FileOutputStream( new File("Result.pdf") ) );
    doc.open();
    PdfReader pdfReader = new PdfReader( "pdf-template.pdf" );

    // Page 1
    PdfImportedPage importedPage1= pdfCopy.getImportedPage(pdfReader, 2);
    String text1= "Text of the first page - 1";
    PageStamp stamp1 = pdfCopy.createPageStamp( importedPage1 );
    ColumnText.showTextAligned( stamp.getOverContent(), Element.ALIGN_CENTER,
                                new Phrase(text1), 400, 500, 0 );
    stamp.alterContents();
    pdfCopy.addPage(importedPage1);

    // Page 2
    PdfImportedPage importedPage2= pdfCopy.getImportedPage(pdfReader, 2);
    String text2 = "Text of the second page - 2";
    PageStamp stamp2 = pdfCopy.createPageStamp( importedPage2 );
    ColumnText.showTextAligned( stamp2.getOverContent(), Element.ALIGN_CENTER, 
                                new Phrase(text2), 200, 700, 0 );
    stamp2.alterContents();
    pdfCopy.addPage(importedPage2);

    // Closing
    doc.close();

--> In the 2nd page I will see my text1 and my text2

I tried using the same PdfImportedPage: same result.

I tried using the same PageStamp: same result.

I tried using a different PdfReader: it works but is this really the solution??

Thanks for your help.

There is no such thing as iText 4.2.1. Read about [this rogue version](http://itextpdf.com/maven-update-problem-with-itext-4.2.2) and you'll understand that nobody really knows what's inside iText 4.2.1. It's an unofficial version endorsed by no one. I don't think anyone will help you as long as you use a version older than iText 5. — Bruno Lowagie, Apr 14 '16 at 15:25
You should get support from the company that created that fork. Problem is, that company no longer exists. Or ask the developer who forked, ymasory. Problem is, they are probably not interested. — Amedee Van Gasse, Apr 14 '16 at 15:52

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 15 '16 at 12:00

@Bruno and @Amedee already commented on using a version 4.2.1, so I do not need to talk about that. The question you ask still is valid for the current iText version, though. Thus:

Problem: If I use pdfCopy.createPageStamp(importedPage) and ColumnText.showTextAligned to add some text the stamp persists over the next content pages. Thus my content page n°2 contains the text of the 1st one (added by PageStamp) and its own text (added by another PageStamp).

This is to be expected as it is the documented behavior. Have a look at the PdfCopy.createPageStamp JavaDocs:

/**
 * Create a page stamp. New content and annotations, including new fields, are allowed.
 * The fields added cannot have parents in another pages. This method modifies the PdfReader instance.<p>
 * The general usage to stamp something in a page is:
 * <p>
 * <pre>
 * PdfImportedPage page = copy.getImportedPage(reader, 1);
 * PdfCopy.PageStamp ps = copy.createPageStamp(page);
 * ps.addAnnotation(PdfAnnotation.createText(copy, new Rectangle(50, 180, 70, 200), "Hello", "No Thanks", true, "Comment"));
 * PdfContentByte under = ps.getUnderContent();
 * under.addImage(img);
 * PdfContentByte over = ps.getOverContent();
 * over.beginText();
 * over.setFontAndSize(bf, 18);
 * over.setTextMatrix(30, 30);
 * over.showText("total page " + totalPage);
 * over.endText();
 * ps.alterContents();
 * copy.addPage(page);
 * </pre>
 * @param iPage an imported page
 * @return the <CODE>PageStamp</CODE>
 */
public PageStamp createPageStamp(PdfImportedPage iPage)

(PdfCopy.java)

As it says in the second line: This method modifies the PdfReader instance.

Thus,

I tried using a different PdfReader: it works but is this really the solution??

This is one solution but depending on the source PDF quite a resource-intensive one. Another one is to use PdfCopy without PageStamps and apply your changes in a separate PdfStamper. Depending on your use case there are other ones...

PageStamps represent a very lightweight way to stamp while copying because they simply manipulate the PdfReader and do not have to build their own intermediary structures. In case of incompatible use cases,

Hello mkl. Thanks for your answer. Indeed yes most of my content is added dynamically (since I add charts, graphs, texts, ... to my report) so PageStamp seems to be useless. I'm trying to figure it out with PdfStamper... — Guillaume, Apr 19 '16 at 13:45
@GuillaumeB In that case please either accept my answer (click the tick at its upper left) or write up an own one and accept that. Leaving questions open while they actually already are resolved, is inappropriate on a Q&A site like stackoverflow. — mkl, Apr 19 '16 at 13:48
For now I haven't got any clear solution yet. So for me this question is still open... I'm working with PdfStamper to determine its possibilities. — Guillaume, Apr 19 '16 at 14:13
Thanks. Well, the question as you posted it here should be answered by now: `PdfCopy` with `PageStamps` simply is not appropriate for a use case in which the same page is copied multiple times from the same `PdfReader`, and alternatives have been named. Whether your original alternative of opening multiple `PdfReader` instances for the same source document or the alternative two-pass-approach is better, cannot really be said without in-depth understanding of your use case. E.g. if the source document is small and architecturally simple, multiple readers may be alright. — mkl, Apr 19 '16 at 16:05

iText - Persistence of pagestamp in PdfCopy

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