I'm trying to use a PDF file (contains a form with table for several 'records') as a template. My idea is to read in the original file as a template, and then use Swifts drawing features to insert the text at the relevant positions before saving as a new pdf file and printing.
My problem is that i'm seeing a small loss of resolution (fonts are slightly wooly, gridlines are no longer crisp) when re-saving the output.
I've tried two approaches, the first with my 'template' as a file in the project, and the second with it as an Asset (Scales: Single Scale, Resizing: Preserve Vector Data).
Here is my code:
func createCompletedForm(records: [MyDataObject]) -> URL? {
let directoryURL = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0]
let fileURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "pdfToPrint", relativeTo: directoryURL).appendingPathExtension("pdf")
guard let templateUrl = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "MyPdfTemplate", withExtension: "pdf") else { return nil }
guard let document = CGPDFDocument(templateUrl as CFURL) else { return nil }
guard let page = document.page(at: 1) else { return nil }
let pageTemplate = page.getBoxRect(.mediaBox)
UIGraphicsBeginPDFContextToFile(fileURL.path, pageTemplate, nil)
guard let pdfContext = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext() else {
print("Unable to access PDF Context.")
return nil
}
// Mark the beginning of the page.
pdfContext.beginPDFPage(nil)
// Save the context state to restore after we are done drawing the image.
pdfContext.saveGState()
// Change the PDF context to match the UIKit coordinate system.
pdfContext.translateBy(x: 0, y: StandardPageDimensions.ISO216_A4.height)
pdfContext.scaleBy(x: 1, y: -1)
// Option 1: Draw PDF from a file added to my project
DrawingHelper.drawPDFfromCGPDF(page: page, drawingArea: pageTemplate)
// Option 2: Draw PDF from Assets
//let baseTemplate = UIImage(named: "MyPdfTemplate")
//baseTemplate?.draw(at: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 0))
// Draw the records over the template - NOT the source of the problem, happens even when commented out
//addRecordsToTemplate(records: records)
// Restoring the context back to its original state.
pdfContext.restoreGState()
// Mark the end of the current page.
pdfContext.endPDFPage()
UIGraphicsEndPDFContext()
// Useful to find and open the file produced on the simulator
print("pdf created at : \(fileURL.path)")
return fileURL
}
// And the drawing function from my helper class
static func drawPDFfromCGPDF(page: CGPDFPage, drawingArea: CGRect) {
let renderer = UIGraphicsImageRenderer(size: drawingArea.size)
let img = renderer.image { ctx in
UIColor.white.set()
ctx.fill(drawingArea)
ctx.cgContext.translateBy(x: 0.0, y: drawingArea.size.height)
ctx.cgContext.scaleBy(x: 1.0, y: -1.0)
ctx.cgContext.drawPDFPage(page)
}
img.draw(at: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 0))
}