How can I add a highlight annotation to an existing PDF using Python

Question

I want to add an annotation to an existing PDF, specifically a highlight annotation.
This is displayed as a translucent rectangle, marking one or more pieces of text.

Joris Schellekens · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-15 17:34:24Z

3

Disclaimer: I am the author of the library being used in this answer.

This answer uses borb a pure python PDF library.
Its code can be found here.

We start by reading the PDF:

doc = None
with open("input.pdf", "rb") as in_file_handle:
    doc = PDF.loads(in_file_handle)

Next we add the annotation:

# add annotation
doc.get_page(0).append_highlight_annotation(
    rectangle=Rectangle(
        Decimal(72.86), Decimal(486.82), Decimal(129), Decimal(13)
    ),
    contents="Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet",
    color=X11Color("Yellow"),
)

Now we can store the PDF document again:

with open("output.pdf", "wb") as out_file_handle:
    PDF.dumps(out_file_handle, doc)

The output should look something like this (at least the annotation part):

edited Mar 15, 2022 at 17:34

answered Jan 22, 2021 at 8:19

Joris Schellekens

9,2173 gold badges28 silver badges60 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

U13-Forward Over a year ago

I don't think you need doc = None

Joris Schellekens Over a year ago

I also try to minimize the warnings I get when running static code analysis. I got a warning that doc was potentially undefined. So I added the doc = None

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How can I add a highlight annotation to an existing PDF using Python

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related