Level 1: PdfWriter

PdfWriter is the ergonomic builder for the PDF object model. It handles object registration, resource naming, and page tree wiring, while giving you precise control over what goes where.

Creating pages

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PdfWriter;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PageSize;

$writer = new PdfWriter();

// Explicit dimensions (points)
$page = $writer->addPage(612, 792);

// Or use a named size
$page = $writer->addPage(PageSize::A4);
$page = $writer->addPage(PageSize::Legal);

Fonts

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type1Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\StandardFont;

// Standard 14 fonts (no embedding needed)
$helvetica = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font(StandardFont::Helvetica));
$courier = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font(StandardFont::Courier));

// TrueType font (auto-embedded and subsetted)
$custom = $writer->addFont(
    \Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\TrueTypeFont::fromFile('/path/to/font.ttf')
);

The returned Font handle is opaque — pass it to drawing methods:

$page->drawText('Hello', 72, 720, $helvetica, 12);

Drawing on pages

The Page object provides fluent drawing methods. Each call is isolated in its own graphics state (q/Q):

Text

$page->drawText('Hello World', 72, 720, $font, 12);
$page->drawText('Red text', 72, 700, $font, 14, color: new RgbColor(1, 0, 0));

Shapes

use Phpdftk\Color\RgbColor;

// Rectangle with fill and stroke
$page->drawRectangle(72, 600, 200, 100,
    fill: new RgbColor(0.9, 0.9, 1.0),
    stroke: new RgbColor(0, 0, 0.5),
    strokeWidth: 2.0,
);

// Circle
$page->drawCircle(300, 400, 50, fill: new RgbColor(1, 0.8, 0));

// Line with dash pattern
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\DashPattern;
$page->drawLine(72, 500, 540, 500,
    color: new RgbColor(0.5, 0.5, 0.5),
    dash: DashPattern::dashed(),
);

Images

$page->drawImage('photo.jpg', 72, 300, width: 200);

Custom paths

$page->drawPath(
    function ($p) {
        $p->moveTo(100, 100)
          ->lineTo(200, 200)
          ->curveTo(250, 250, 300, 200, 300, 150)
          ->close();
    },
    fill: new RgbColor(0.2, 0.6, 1.0),
);

Bookmarks

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Document\Outline;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Document\OutlineItem;

$outline = new Outline();
$writer->setOutline($outline);

$item = new OutlineItem('Chapter 1');
$item->dest = $page; // link to page
$writer->addOutlineItem($item);

Digital signatures

$writer->setSigner($signatureValue, $pkcs7Signer);

Encryption

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Security\PdfEncryptor;

$fileId = random_bytes(16);
$encryptor = PdfEncryptor::aes256('userpass', 'ownerpass', $fileId);
$writer->setEncryption($encryptor);

Escape hatches

// Drop to Level 0 — raw ContentStream operators
$cs = $page->contentStream();
$cs->beginText()
   ->setFont($font->getResourceName(), 12)
   ->moveTextPosition(72, 720)
   ->showText('Raw operator access')
   ->endText();

// Access the core Page object for annotations, resources, etc.
$corePage = $page->corePage();

// Access the PdfFileWriter for byte-level control
$fw = $writer->fileWriter();