Adding PDF Annotations

Attachments

from pypdf import PdfWriter

writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_blank_page(width=200, height=200)

data = b"any bytes - typically read from a file"
writer.add_attachment("smile.png", data)

with open("output.pdf", "wb") as output_stream:
    writer.write(output_stream)

Free Text

If you want to add text in a box like this

you can use the FreeText:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import FreeText

# Fill the writer with the pages you want
pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Create the annotation and add it
annotation = FreeText(
    text="Hello World\nThis is the second line!",
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
    font="Arial",
    bold=True,
    italic=True,
    font_size="20pt",
    font_color="00ff00",
    border_color="0000ff",
    background_color="cdcdcd",
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

Text

A text annotation looks like this:

Line

If you want to add a line like this:

you can use Line:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Line

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the line
annotation = Line(
    text="Hello World\nLine2",
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
    p1=(50, 550),
    p2=(200, 650),
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

PolyLine

If you want to add a line like this:

you can use PolyLine:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import PolyLine

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the polyline
annotation = PolyLine(
    vertices=[(50, 550), (200, 650), (70, 750), (50, 700)],
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

Rectangle

If you want to add a rectangle like this:

you can use Rectangle:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Rectangle

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the rectangle
annotation = Rectangle(
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

If you want the rectangle to be filled, use the interiour_color="ff0000" parameter.

This method uses the “square” annotation type of the PDF format.

Ellipse

If you want to add a circle like this:

you can use Ellipse:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Ellipse

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the rectangle
annotation = Ellipse(
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

Polygon

If you want to add a polygon like this:

you can use Polygon:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Polygon

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the line
annotation = Polygon(
    vertices=[(50, 550), (200, 650), (70, 750), (50, 700)],
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

Popup

Manage the Popup windows for markups. looks like this:

you can use the Popup:

you have to use the returned result from add_annotation() to fill-up the

from pypdf.annotations import Popup, Text

# Arrange
writer = pypdf.PdfWriter()
writer.append(os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf"), [0])

# Act
text_annotation = writer.add_annotation(
    0,
    Text(
        text="Hello World\nThis is the second line!",
        rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
        open=True,
    ),
)

popup_annotation = Popup(
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
    open=True,
    parent=text_annotation,  # use the output of add_annotation
)

writer.write("annotated-pdf-popup.pdf")

Link

If you want to add a link, you can use Link:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Link

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the line
annotation = Link(
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650),
    url="https://martin-thoma.com/",
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

You can also add internal links:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Link

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

# Add the line
annotation = Link(
    rect=(50, 550, 200, 650), target_page_index=3, fit="/FitH", fit_args=(123,)
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)

Text Markup Annotations

Text markup annotations refer to a specific piece of text within the document.

Those are a bit more complicated as you need to know exactly where the text is, the so-called “Quad points”.

Highlighting

If you want to highlight text like this:

you can use the Highlight:

from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter
from pypdf.annotations import Highlight
from pypdf.generic import ArrayObject, FloatObject

pdf_path = os.path.join(RESOURCE_ROOT, "crazyones.pdf")
reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
page = reader.pages[0]
writer = PdfWriter()
writer.add_page(page)

rect = (50, 550, 200, 650)
quad_points = [rect[0], rect[1], rect[2], rect[1], rect[0], rect[3], rect[2], rect[3]]

# Add the highlight
annotation = Highlight(
    rect=rect,
    quad_points=ArrayObject([FloatObject(quad_point) for quad_point in quad_points]),
)
writer.add_annotation(page_number=0, annotation=annotation)

# Write the annotated file to disk
with open("annotated-pdf.pdf", "wb") as fp:
    writer.write(fp)