Generating PDF Templates with iText in Java: A Step‑by‑Step Tutorial

This guide explains how to produce a fillable PDF template starting from a Word document, converting it to PDF, and adding various form fields (text, option, image) using a PDF editor such as Foxit or Adobe Acrobat.

After the visual template is ready, the article shows how to import the PDF into a Java project, add the required iText dependencies, and write code that populates the fields and inserts signature and seal images.

Dependency configuration (Maven):

<!-- pdf -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
  <artifactId>itextpdf</artifactId>
  <version>5.5.13.2</version>
</dependency>
<!-- Chinese fonts -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
  <artifactId>itext-asian</artifactId>
  <version>5.2.0</version>
</dependency>
<!-- HTML/XML to PDF -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.itextpdf.tool</groupId>
  <artifactId>xmlworker</artifactId>
  <version>5.5.11</version>
</dependency>

Core Java implementation (simplified):

package com.tencent.qcloud.roomservice.webrtc.utils;

import com.alibaba.fastjson.JSONObject;
import com.itextpdf.text.Image;
import com.itextpdf.text.Rectangle;
import com.itextpdf.text.pdf.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Map;

public class PdfTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        FillTemplate(
            "C:\\test\\申请表.pdf",
            "C:\\test\\新申请表.pdf",
            "杜小七",
            "辽宁大连",
            "跑步",
            "Yes","Yes","Yes",
            "C:\\test\\电子签名.png",
            "C:\\test\\公章.png"
        );
    }

    public static void FillTemplate(String sourcesPath, String targetPath,
                                    String name, String address, String hobby,
                                    String select_1, String select_2, String select_3,
                                    String signPath, String gongzhangPath) {
        JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject();
        jsonObject.put("name", name);
        jsonObject.put("address", address);
        jsonObject.put("hobby", hobby);
        jsonObject.put("select_1", select_1);
        jsonObject.put("select_2", select_2);
        jsonObject.put("select_3", select_3);
        PdfReader reader = null;
        PdfStamper stamp = null;
        try {
            reader = new PdfReader(sourcesPath);
            stamp = new PdfStamper(reader, new FileOutputStream(targetPath));
            AcroFields form = stamp.getAcroFields();
            BaseFont song = BaseFont.createFont("STSong-Light", "UniGB-UCS2-H", BaseFont.NOT_EMBEDDED);
            for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : jsonObject.entrySet()) {
                String key = entry.getKey();
                String value = entry.getValue().toString();
                if (key.startsWith("select")) {
                    form.setField(key, value, true);
                } else {
                    form.setFieldProperty(key, "textfont", song, null);
                    form.setField(key, value);
                }
            }
            insertImage(form, stamp, "sign", signPath);
            insertImage(form, stamp, "gongzhang", gongzhangPath);
            stamp.setFormFlattening(true);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } finally {
            try { if (stamp != null) stamp.close(); } catch (Exception ignored) {}
            try { if (reader != null) reader.close(); } catch (Exception ignored) {}
        }
    }

    public static boolean insertImage(AcroFields form, PdfStamper stamper,
                                      String fieldName, String imagePath) {
        try {
            int pageNo = form.getFieldPositions(fieldName).get(0).page;
            Rectangle rect = form.getFieldPositions(fieldName).get(0).position;
            Image img = Image.getInstance(imagePath);
            PdfContentByte over = stamper.getOverContent(pageNo);
            img.scaleToFit(rect.getWidth(), rect.getHeight());
            img.setAbsolutePosition(rect.getLeft(), rect.getBottom());
            over.addImage(img);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
}

The article concludes with a screenshot of the test execution and a reminder to follow the public account for more architecture‑related content.