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Save Annotations to PDF in the Document Viewer - HTML5 JavaScript

This tutorial shows how to export a PDF document with annotations in the Document Viewer in an HTML5 JavaScript application using the LEADTOOLS SDK.

Overview
Summary	This tutorial covers how to export a document in the LEADTOOLS Document Viewer to a PDF in an HTML5 JavaScript Application.
Completion Time	20 minutes
Visual Studio Project	Download tutorial project (4 KB)
Platform	JS Web Application
IDE	Visual Studio Code - Client
Development License	Download LEADTOOLS

Required Knowledge

Get familiar with the basic steps of creating a project and working with annotations in the Document Viewer by reviewing the Add References and Set a License and Display Files in the Document Viewer tutorials, before working on the Save Annotations to PDF in the Document Viewer - HTML5 JavaScript tutorial.

This tutorial makes use of http-server, a console command for running a static file server. To install http-server first install Node.js and then install http-server.

Create the Project and Add LEADTOOLS References

Start with a copy of the project created in the Display Files in the Document Viewer tutorial. If that project is unavailable, follow the steps in that tutorial to create it.

The references needed depend upon the purpose of the project. References can be added by .js files located at <INSTALL_DIR>\LEADTOOLS22\Bin\JS.

For this project, the following references are needed:

Leadtools.js
Leadtools.Annotations.Automation.js
Leadtools.Annotations.Designer.js
Leadtools.Annotations.Engine.js
Leadtools.Annotations.Rendering.JavaScript.js
Leadtools.Controls.js
Leadtools.Document.js
Leadtools.Document.Viewer.js
Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Main.js
Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Color.js
Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Core.js
Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Effects.js

Make sure to copy these files to the lib folder and to import them in the index.html file.

For a complete list of which JS files are required for your application, refer to Files to be Included with your Application

Set the License File

The License unlocks the features needed for the project. It must be set before any toolkit function is called. For details including tutorials for different platforms, refer to Setting a Runtime License.

There are two types of runtime licenses:

Evaluation license, obtained at the time the evaluation toolkit is downloaded. It allows the toolkit to be evaluated.
Deployment license. If a Deployment license file and developer key are needed, refer to Obtaining a License.

Write the HTML File

With the project created, dependencies added, and the license set, coding can begin.

Open the index.html file located in the project folder. Add the following lines in the <head> tag to import the JS files and attach the dependencies to the index.html page. Then add the following <select> elements to the body of the index.html page.

<head> 
   <meta charset="UTF-8" /> 
   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> 
   <title>DocumentViewer Example</title> 
 
   <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.2.4.min.js" 
           integrity="sha256-BbhdlvQf/xTY9gja0Dq3HiwQF8LaCRTXxZKRutelT44=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> 
 
   <!--Import LEADTOOLS Dependencies--> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Controls.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Annotations.Engine.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Annotations.Designers.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Annotations.Rendering.Javascript.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Annotations.Automation.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Main.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Color.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Core.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.ImageProcessing.Effects.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Document.js"></script> 
   <script src="./lib/Leadtools.Document.Viewer.js"></script> 
   <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"> 
 
   <!--Import Project Dependencies--> 
   <script src="app.js" type="text/javascript"></script> 
</head> 
 
 
<body> 
   <div class="container"> 
      <div class="toolbar"> 
         <div class="vcenter push-right"> 
            <label for="interactiveSelect">Interactive mode:</label> 
            <select id="interactiveSelect"></select> 
         </div> 
         <div class="vcenter push-right"> 
            <label for="annotationsSelect">Annotations objects:</label> 
            <select id="annotationsSelect"></select> 
         </div> 
         <div id="output" class="vcenter push-right"></div> 
         <div id="serviceStatus" class="vcenter push-right"></div> 
         <button id="saveAsPdf" class="vcenter push-right">Save as PDF</button> 
      </div> 
      <div class="docContainer"> 
         <div class="sidepanel" id="thumbnails"></div> 
         <div class="centerpanel" id="viewer"></div> 
         <div class="sidepanel" id="bookmarks"></div> 
      </div> 
   </div> 
</body>

Write the CSS File

Open the style.css file located in the project folder. Remove the default body styling and add the below lines of code to the body.

/*  
   Remove default body styling.  
   Set the body to flex as a column;  
*/ 
body { 
   margin: 0; 
   display: flex; 
   flex-direction: column; 
} 
.container { 
   margin: 10px; 
   width: calc(100% - 20px); 
   height: calc(100vh - 20px); 
} 
.toolbar { 
   height: 5%; 
   width: 100%; 
   border-bottom: 2px solid #333; 
   flex-direction: row; 
   display: flex; 
} 
#bookmarks { 
   overflow: hidden; 
} 
.vcenter { 
   margin-top: auto; 
   margin-bottom: auto; 
} 
.hcenter { 
   margin-left: auto; 
   margin-right: auto; 
} 
.push-right { 
   margin-left: 10px; 
} 
.docContainer { 
   height: 95%; 
   width: 100%; 
   display: flex; 
   flex-direction: row; 
} 
.sidepanel { 
   width: 15%; 
   height: 100%; 
} 
.centerpanel { 
   width: 100%; 
   height: 100%; 
} 
#saveAsPdf{ 
   height:50%; 
} 
/* Styles for Elements Mode. */ 
.lt-item, 
.lt-image-border { 
   /* Box Shadow (view, item, image border) */ 
   box-shadow: #333 2px 2px 5px 1px; 
} 
.lt-view, 
.lt-thumb-item { 
   /* View */ 
   margin: 5px; 
   padding: 5px; 
} 
.lt-item { 
   /* Item */ 
   border: 2px solid #6ecaab; 
   background-color: #b2decf; 
   padding: 10px; 
} 
 
.lt-image-border { 
   /* Image Border */ 
   border: 3px solid #444; 
   background-color: white; 
} 
.lt-thumb-item { 
   /* Thumbnail Item */ 
   border: 2px solid #6ecaab; 
   background-color: #b2decf; 
} 
.lt-thumb-item.lt-thumb-item-selected { 
   /* Selected Thumbnail Item */ 
   border: 2px solid #59b2ba; 
   background-color: #8ce1e1; 
} 
.lt-thumb-item-hovered { 
   /* Hovered Thumbnail Item */ 
   border: 2px solid #52b996; 
   background-color: #87c7b1; 
} 
.small-modal { 
   max-width: 200px; 
   width: 200px; 
}

Write the JS File

Open the app.js file located in the project folder.

Add the below code to create a DocumentViewer object, add Automated Annotation support, load a default document, and export the document to PDF with the added annotations embedded.

window.onload = function () { 
    const licenseUrl = "https://demo.leadtools.com/licenses/js/LEADTOOLSEVAL.txt"; 
    const developerKey = "ADD THE CONTENTS OF THE LEADTOOLS.lic.key.txt FILE"; 
    lt.RasterSupport.setLicenseUri(licenseUrl, developerKey, function ( 
        setLicenseResult 
    ) { 
        // Check the status of the license  
        if (setLicenseResult.result) { 
            console.log("LEADTOOLS client license set successfully"); 
        } else { 
            const msg = "LEADTOOLS License is missing, invalid or expired\nError:\n"; 
            console.log(msg); 
            alert(msg); 
        } 
    }); 
 
    let documentViewer = null; 
 
    class ViewerInitializer { 
        constructor(callback) { 
            this.callback = callback; 
            this.init(); 
        } 
 
        static showServiceError = (jqXHR, statusText, errorThrown) => { 
            alert("Error returned from service. See the console for details.") 
            const serviceError = lt.Document.ServiceError.parseError(jqXHR, statusText, errorThrown); 
            console.error(serviceError); 
        } 
 
        init = () => { 
            this.initFactory(); 
            this.testConnection(); 
        } 
 
        initFactory = () => { 
            // To communicate with the DocumentService, it must be running! 
            // Change these parameters to match the path to the service. 
            lt.Document.DocumentFactory.serviceHost = "http://localhost:40000"; 
            lt.Document.DocumentFactory.servicePath = ""; 
            lt.Document.DocumentFactory.serviceApiPath = "api"; 
        } 
 
        testConnection = () => { 
            const serviceStatus = document.getElementById("serviceStatus"); 
            serviceStatus.innerHTML = "Connecting to service: " + lt.Document.DocumentFactory.serviceUri; 
 
            lt.Document.DocumentFactory.verifyService() 
                .done((serviceData) => { 
                    serviceStatus.innerHTML = "Service connection verified!"; 
                    this.createDocumentViewer(); 
                }) 
                .fail((jqXHR, statusText, errorThrown) => { 
                    serviceStatus.innerHTML = "Service connection unavailable."; 
                    ViewerInitializer.showServiceError(jqXHR, statusText, errorThrown); 
                }); 
        } 
 
        createDocumentViewer = () => { 
            // Initialize the user interface 
            const interactiveSelect = document.getElementById("interactiveSelect"); 
 
            const panZoomOption = document.createElement("option"); 
            panZoomOption.innerHTML = "Pan / Zoom"; 
            panZoomOption.value = lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerCommands.interactivePanZoom; 
            interactiveSelect.appendChild(panZoomOption); 
 
            const textOption = document.createElement("option"); 
            textOption.value = lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerCommands.interactiveSelectText; 
            textOption.innerHTML = "Select Text"; 
            interactiveSelect.appendChild(textOption); 
 
            interactiveSelect.onchange = (e) => documentViewer.commands.run(e.target.value, null); 
 
            const annotationsSelect = document.getElementById("annotationsSelect"); 
 
            const annSelectOption = document.createElement("option"); 
            annSelectOption.innerHTML = "Select Annotations"; 
            annSelectOption.value = lt.Annotations.Engine.AnnObject.selectObjectId.toString(); 
            annotationsSelect.appendChild(annSelectOption); 
 
            const annLineOption = document.createElement("option"); 
            annLineOption.innerHTML = "Line Object"; 
            annLineOption.value = lt.Annotations.Engine.AnnObject.lineObjectId.toString(); 
            annotationsSelect.appendChild(annLineOption); 
 
            const annRectOption = document.createElement("option"); 
            annRectOption.innerHTML = "Rectangle Object"; 
            annRectOption.value = lt.Annotations.Engine.AnnObject.rectangleObjectId.toString(); 
            annotationsSelect.appendChild(annRectOption); 
 
            annotationsSelect.onchange = (e) => { 
                const value = +e.currentTarget.value; 
                documentViewer.annotations.automationManager.currentObjectId = value; 
            } 
 
            // Init the document viewer, pass along the panels 
            const createOptions = new lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerCreateOptions(); 
            // We are not going to use elements mode in this example 
            createOptions.viewCreateOptions.useElements = false; 
            createOptions.thumbnailsCreateOptions.useElements = false; 
 
            // The middle panel for the view 
            createOptions.viewContainer = document.getElementById("viewer"); 
            // The left panel for the thumbnails 
            createOptions.thumbnailsContainer = document.getElementById("thumbnails"); 
            // The right panel for the bookmarks 
            createOptions.bookmarksContainer = document.getElementById("bookmarks"); 
            createOptions.useAnnotations = true; 
 
            // Create the document viewer 
            documentViewer = lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerFactory.createDocumentViewer(createOptions); 
 
            // We prefer SVG viewing 
            documentViewer.view.preferredItemType = lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerItemType.svg; 
 
            // Create html5 rendering engine 
            documentViewer.annotations.automationManager.renderingEngine = new lt.Annotations.Rendering.AnnHtml5RenderingEngine(); 
            // Initialize documentViewer annotations 
            documentViewer.annotations.initialize(); 
 
            documentViewer.annotations.automationManager.currentObjectIdChanged.add(function (sender, e) { 
                // When done drawing, the manager will return to the select object; so we need to force the annotationsSelect element to return to the select object option 
                annotationsSelect.value = sender.currentObjectId; 
            }); 
 
            this.loadDefaultDoc(documentViewer, interactiveSelect) 
        } 
 
        loadDefaultDoc = (viewer, interactiveSelect) => { 
            // Load a PDF document 
            const url = "https://demo.leadtools.com/images/pdf/leadtools.pdf"; 
            lt.Document.DocumentFactory.loadFromUri(url, null) 
                .done((doc) => { 
                    const ready = () => { 
                        viewer.setDocument(doc); 
                        const panZoom = lt.Document.Viewer.DocumentViewerCommands.interactivePanZoom; 
                        interactiveSelect.value = panZoom; 
                        viewer.commands.run(panZoom, null) 
                        if (this.callback) 
                            this.callback(viewer); 
                    } 
 
                    if (doc.isStructureSupported && !doc.structure.isParse) 
                        doc.structure.parse() 
                            .done(ready) 
                            .fail(ViewerInitializer.showServiceError); 
                    else 
                        ready(); 
                }) 
                .fail(ViewerInitializer.showServiceError); 
        } 
    } 
    new ViewerInitializer(); 
 
    $("#saveAsPdf").click(async function () { 
        documentViewer.prepareToSave(); 
        await lt.Document.DocumentFactory.saveToCache(documentViewer.document); 
 
        const jobData = new lt.Document.DocumentConverterJobData(); 
        jobData.documentFormat = lt.Document.Writer.DocumentFormat.pdf; 
        jobData.annotationsMode = lt.Document.DocumentConverterAnnotationsMode.embed; 
 
        let result = await documentViewer.document.convert(jobData); 
        promptSaveResult(result); 
    }); 
 
    function promptSaveResult(result) { 
        const resultDocument = result.document != null ? result.document.url : result.archive.url; 
        const link = document.createElement("a"); 
        const url = lt.Document.DocumentFactory.serviceUri + "/" + resultDocument; 
        link.href = url; 
        document.body.appendChild(link); 
        link.click(); 
        document.body.removeChild(link); 
        delete link; 
    } 
}

Run the Project

Before running the front end HTML5/JS Document Viewer, run the Document Service. The LEADTOOLS SDK installation provides three examples of the Document Service for the following platforms:

.NET Framework
.NET Core
Java

For instructions on how to set up and configure the Document Service, in the three platforms previously listed, refer to the steps in the Get Started with the Document Viewer Demo tutorial.

For the purposes of this tutorial, the .NET Framework Document Service is used and it can be found here: <INSTALL_DIR>\LEADTOOLS22\Examples\Document\JS\DocumentServiceDotNet\fx.

Once you have the back-end Document Service running, open the Command Line and cd into the project folder. Use the following command to run a static file server: http-server

The server should start and run on http://localhost:8080. A message should appear in the console indicating all the ports that the server is available on.

To test, select an annotation object, draw on the document, then click Save as PDF. Note that certain browsers may not show the embedded annotations.

Wrap-up

This tutorial showed how to embed the annotations into a PDF file in a HTML5 JavaScript application.