Tutorial
After including the library file, we create an FPDF object. The FPDF constructor is used here with the default values: pages are in A4 portrait and the measure unit is millimeter. It could have been specified explicitly with:
It is possible to use landscape ( L ), other page formats (such as Letter and Legal ) and measure units ( pt , cm , in ).
There is no page for the moment, so we have to add one with add_page. The origin is at the upper-left corner and the current position is by default placed at 1 cm from the borders; the margins can be changed with set_margins.
Before we can print text, it is mandatory to select a font with set_font, otherwise the document would be invalid. We choose Arial bold 16:
We could have specified italics with I , underlined with U or a regular font with an empty string (or any combination). Note that the font size is given in points, not millimeters (or another user unit); it is the only exception. The other standard fonts are Times , Courier , Symbol and ZapfDingbats .
We can now print a cell with cell. A cell is a rectangular area, possibly framed, which contains some text. It is output at the current position. We specify its dimensions, its text (centered or aligned), if borders should be drawn, and where the current position moves after it (to the right, below or to the beginning of the next line). To add a frame, we would do this:
pdf.cell(40, 10, 'Hello World!', 1) To add a new cell next to it with centered text and go to the next line, we would do:
pdf.cell(60, 10, 'Powered by FPDF.', 0, 1, 'C') Remark: the line break can also be done with ln. This method allows to specify in addition the height of the break.
Finally, the document is closed and sent to the browser with output. We could have saved it in a file by passing the desired file name.
Caution: in case when the PDF is sent to the browser, nothing else must be output, not before nor after (the least space or carriage return matters). If you send some data before, you will get the error message: «Some data has already been output to browser, can’t send PDF file». If you send after, your browser may display a blank page.
Header, footer, page break and image
Here is a two page example with header, footer and logo:
from fpdf import FPDF class PDF(FPDF): def header(self): # Logo self.image('logo_pb.png', 10, 8, 33) # Arial bold 15 self.set_font('Arial', 'B', 15) # Move to the right self.cell(80) # Title self.cell(30, 10, 'Title', 1, 0, 'C') # Line break self.ln(20) # Page footer def footer(self): # Position at 1.5 cm from bottom self.set_y(-15) # Arial italic 8 self.set_font('Arial', 'I', 8) # Page number self.cell(0, 10, 'Page ' + str(self.page_no()) + '/', 0, 0, 'C') # Instantiation of inherited class pdf = PDF() pdf.alias_nb_pages() pdf.add_page() pdf.set_font('Times', '', 12) for i in range(1, 41): pdf.cell(0, 10, 'Printing line number ' + str(i), 0, 1) pdf.output('tuto2.pdf', 'F') This example makes use of the header and footer methods to process page headers and footers. They are called automatically. They already exist in the FPDF class but do nothing, therefore we have to extend the class and override them.
The logo is printed with the image method by specifying its upper-left corner and its width. The height is calculated automatically to respect the image proportions.
To print the page number, a null value is passed as the cell width. It means that the cell should extend up to the right margin of the page; it is handy to center text. The current page number is returned by the page_no method; as for the total number of pages, it is obtained by means of the special value which will be substituted on document closure (provided you first called alias_nb_pages). Note the use of the set_y method which allows to set position at an absolute location in the page, starting from the top or the bottom.
Another interesting feature is used here: the automatic page breaking. As soon as a cell would cross a limit in the page (at 2 centimeters from the bottom by default), a break is performed and the font restored. Although the header and footer select their own font ( Arial ), the body continues with Times . This mechanism of automatic restoration also applies to colors and line width. The limit which triggers page breaks can be set with set_auto_page_break.
Line breaks and colors
Let’s continue with an example which prints justified paragraphs. It also illustrates the use of colors.
from fpdf import FPDF title = '20000 Leagues Under the Seas' class PDF(FPDF): def header(self): # Arial bold 15 self.set_font('Arial', 'B', 15) # Calculate width of title and position w = self.get_string_width(title) + 6 self.set_x((210 - w) / 2) # Colors of frame, background and text self.set_draw_color(0, 80, 180) self.set_fill_color(230, 230, 0) self.set_text_color(220, 50, 50) # Thickness of frame (1 mm) self.set_line_width(1) # Title self.cell(w, 9, title, 1, 1, 'C', 1) # Line break self.ln(10) def footer(self): # Position at 1.5 cm from bottom self.set_y(-15) # Arial italic 8 self.set_font('Arial', 'I', 8) # Text color in gray self.set_text_color(128) # Page number self.cell(0, 10, 'Page ' + str(self.page_no()), 0, 0, 'C') def chapter_title(self, num, label): # Arial 12 self.set_font('Arial', '', 12) # Background color self.set_fill_color(200, 220, 255) # Title self.cell(0, 6, 'Chapter %d : %s' % (num, label), 0, 1, 'L', 1) # Line break self.ln(4) def chapter_body(self, name): # Read text file with open(name, 'rb') as fh: txt = fh.read().decode('latin-1') # Times 12 self.set_font('Times', '', 12) # Output justified text self.multi_cell(0, 5, txt) # Line break self.ln() # Mention in italics self.set_font('', 'I') self.cell(0, 5, '(end of excerpt)') def print_chapter(self, num, title, name): self.add_page() self.chapter_title(num, title) self.chapter_body(name) pdf = PDF() pdf.set_title(title) pdf.set_author('Jules Verne') pdf.print_chapter(1, 'A RUNAWAY REEF', '20k_c1.txt') pdf.print_chapter(2, 'THE PROS AND CONS', '20k_c2.txt') pdf.output('tuto3.pdf', 'F') The get_string_width method allows determining the length of a string in the current font, which is used here to calculate the position and the width of the frame surrounding the title. Then colors are set (via set_draw_color, set_fill_color and set_text_color) and the thickness of the line is set to 1 mm (against 0.2 by default) with set_line_width. Finally, we output the cell (the last parameter to true indicates that the background must be filled).
The method used to print the paragraphs is multi_cell. Each time a line reaches the right extremity of the cell or a carriage return character is met, a line break is issued and a new cell automatically created under the current one. Text is justified by default.
Two document properties are defined: the title (set_title) and the author (set_author). Properties can be viewed by two means. First is to open the document directly with Acrobat Reader, go to the File menu and choose the Document Properties option. The second, also available from the plug-in, is to right-click and select Document Properties.
Installation Notes
Previously, to import the object you should use the pyfpdf package:
After version 1.7, to import it you should use the fpdf package:
Python fpdf жирный шрифт
Sets the font used to print character strings. It is mandatory to call this method at least once before printing text or the resulting document would not be valid.
The font can be either a standard one or a font added via the add_font method.
Default encoding is not specified, but all text writing methods accept only unicode for external fonts and one byte encoding for standard.
Standard fonts use Latin-1 encoding by default, but Windows encoding cp1252 (Western Europe) can be used with set_doc_option («core_fonts_encoding», encoding).
The method can be called before the first page is created and the font is retained from page to page.
If you just wish to change the current font size, it is simpler to call set_font_size.
Note: the font metric files must be accessible. They are searched successively in:
- The directory defined by the FPDF_FONTPATH constant (if this constant is defined)
- The font directory located in the directory containing fpdf.py (if it exists)
The directories accessible through include() Example defining FPDF_FONTPATH (note the mandatory trailing slash): define(«FPDF_FONTPATH»,»/home/www/font/»); require(«fpdf.php»); If the file corresponding to the requested font is not found, the error «Could not include font metric file» is issued.
Parameters
- Courier (fixed-width)
- Helvetica or Arial (synonymous; sans serif)
- Times (serif)
- Symbol (symbolic)
- ZapfDingbats (symbolic)
It is also possible to pass an empty string. In that case, the current family is retained.
or any combination. The default value is regular. Bold and italic styles do not apply to Symbol and ZapfDingbats.
Font size in points. The default value is the current size. If no size has been specified since the beginning of the document, the value taken is 12.
Example
# Times regular 12 pdf.set_font('Times') # Arial bold 14 pdf.set_font('Arial', 'B', 14) # Removes bold pdf.set_font('') # Times bold, italic and underlined 14 pdf.set_font('Times', 'BIU')