PDF Generation in C++: Libraries and Examples

PDF Generation in C++: Library Overview and Practical Examples

Generating PDF documents is a common task in the development of enterprise applications, reporting systems, and document management. Despite the fact that C++ does not have built-in support for the PDF format, there are several mature libraries that allow you to create, edit, and render PDF files. In this article, we will review three popular tools: libharu, PoDoFo, and wkhtmltopdf. For each, we will provide a code example and describe key features.

1. libharu — Lightweight and Fast PDF Generation

libharu (Haru PDF) is a cross-platform library written in pure C that is well-suited for C++ projects. It has no external graphics library dependencies, supports Unicode (UTF-8), font embedding (TrueType), and image handling (JPEG, PNG). Its primary use case is programmatically creating documents "from scratch."

Installation

Download the source code from GitHub and build it using CMake:

mkdir build && cd buildcmake .. -DLIBHPDF_SHARED=ONmakesudo make install

Example: Creating a Simple PDF with Text

#include <hpdf.h>#include <cstdio>

int main() {    HPDF_Doc pdf = HPDF_New(NULL, NULL);    HPDF_Page page = HPDF_AddPage(pdf);    HPDF_Page_SetSize(page, HPDF_PAGE_SIZE_A4, HPDF_PAGE_PORTRAIT);

    // Font    const char* font_name = HPDF_LoadTTFontFromFile(pdf, "arial.ttf", HPDF_TRUE);    HPDF_Font font = HPDF_GetFont(pdf, font_name, "UTF-8");    HPDF_Page_SetFontAndSize(page, font, 14);

    // Text    HPDF_Page_BeginText(page);    HPDF_Page_TextOut(page, 50, 750, "Hello, world! PDF from C++.");    HPDF_Page_EndText(page);

    HPDF_SaveToFile(pdf, "output.pdf");    HPDF_Free(pdf);    printf("PDF created: output.pdf");    return 0;}

libharu Features

Creation of multi-page documents
Vector graphics (lines, rectangles, curves)
Embedding JPEG/PNG images
Support for bookmarks (outline) and annotations
Page content compression

2. PoDoFo — Advanced PDF Manipulation

PoDoFo is a C++ library providing full control over the PDF structure. It allows not only creating but also editing existing documents, extracting text, managing metadata, and encryption. PoDoFo uses CMake and requires minimal setup.

Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install libpodofo-dev

Example: Adding Text to a Page

#include <podofo/podofo.h>using namespace PoDoFo;

int main() {    PdfMemDocument document;    document.SetPdfVersion(PdfVersion::V1_4);    document.GetMetadata().SetTitle("PoDoFo Document");

    PdfPage* page = document.CreatePage(PdfPage::CreateStandardPageSize(PdfPageSize::A4));    PdfPainter painter;    painter.SetCanvas(*page);

    PdfFont* font = document.CreateFont("Arial", false, false, false);    font->SetFontSize(16);    painter.SetFont(font);    painter.DrawText(50, 700, "Generated with PoDoFo!");

    painter.FinishDrawing();    document.Save("podofo_example.pdf");    return 0;}