How to add your own custom annotation tools in Qoppa PDF component

Q: Can I add my own custom annotation tools to Qoppa PDF component’s toolbar?

A: Yes. Qoppa PDF components jPDFNotes and jPDFEditor are fully customizable including the Annotation Toolbar. You can remove any existing tools / buttons from the annotation toolbar and add your own buttons for your own tools. This applies to jPDFNotes and jPDFEditor.

1. First Add Your Own Toolbar Buttons

This sample code shows how to create custom buttoms and add then to the toolbar.

m_NotesBean = new PDFNotesBean();        
// button for Free Text Custom Tool
JButton jbFreeText = new JButton ("Free Text");
jbFreeText.setForeground(Color.black);
jbFreeText.setActionCommand(START_FREETEXT);
jbFreeText.addActionListener(this);
m_NotesBean.getAnnotToolbar().add(jbFreeText, 0);
 
// button for Circle Custom Tool
JButton jbCircle = new JButton ("Circle");
jbCircle.setForeground(Color.red);
jbCircle.setActionCommand(START_CIRCLE);
jbCircle.addActionListener(this);
m_NotesBean.getAnnotToolbar().add (jbCircle, 1);
 
// button for Rubber Stamp Custom Tool
JButton jbStamp = new JButton ("Stamp");
jbStamp .setForeground(Color.blue);
jbStamp .setActionCommand(START_RUBBERSTAMP);
jbStamp .addActionListener(this);
m_NotesBean.getAnnotToolbar().add (jbStamp , 2);

2. Create and Start your own Custom Annotation Tools on Button Click

This is done in the actionPerformed() method, called when the custom buttons are clicked.

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
    {
    	MutableDocument doc = m_NotesBean.getMutableDocument();
 
    	if(doc != null)
    	{
    		IAnnotationFactory factory = doc.getAnnotationFactory();
 
            // This is a custom FreeText / Text Box Annotation tool 
            if (e.getActionCommand() == START_FREETEXT)
            {
                FreeTextTool.setShowPropDialog(false);
                FreeText correctAnnot = factory.createFreeText("My Text");
                m_NotesBean.startEdit (correctAnnot, false, false);
            }
            // This is a custom Rubber Stamp Annotation Tool 
            else if (e.getActionCommand() == START_RUBBERSTAMP)
            {
            	RubberStamp myStamp = factory.createRubberStamp ("My Stamp", Color.blue);
            	myStamp.setRotation(45);
                m_NotesBean.startEdit (myStamp, false, false);
            }
            // This is a custom Circle Annotation Tool 
            else if (e.getActionCommand() == START_CIRCLE)
            {
                Circle redCircle = factory.createCircle(null);
                redCircle.setColor(Color.red);
                redCircle.setInternalColor(Color.blue);
                m_NotesBean.startEdit(redCircle, false, false);
            }
    	}
    }

3. See what it looks like

3 new buttons added "Free Text",
See the three new tool buttons on the the annotation toolbar “Free Text”, “Circle” and “Stamp” and the annotations after they are added to the PDF page

4. Download Full Java Sample

Download full java sample code, showing how to add the component to a frame, add the custom annotation tools and launch the frame.

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