Simple FPDF

A simplified version of the FPDF package.

Aim of this package

This package aims to make it easier to generate a PDF, without concerning yourself with the difficulties of keeping track of the (x,y) position inside the document.

A simple row-column system is used to generate a PDF and insert text. Since this extends the FPDF package, all the FPDF functionalities are still included.

Getting started

Install

Install with pip.

pip install simple-fpdf

Import

Import the package and SimpleFPDF.

from simple_fpdf import SimpleFPDF

How to use

Initialize SimpleFPDF

SimpleFPDF is initialized the same as a normal FPDF. You can also use the width and height parameters. If no format, width or height is specified, A4 will be used.

pdf = SimpleFPDF(orientation='P', unit='mm', format="A4")
pdf = SimpleFPDF(orientation='P', unit='mm', width=210, height=297)

Defining the rows and columns

SimpleFPDF makes use of a simple row-column system where all the rows on the page have an equal height. Before adding a page, you need to define how many rows a page will have, and how many columns these rows will contain.

page_1_rows = [
    { 'columns' : 1 }, # row 1, has one column
    { 'columns' : 1 }, # row 2, has one column
    { 'columns' : 2 }, # row 3, has two columns
    { 'columns' : 3 } # row 4, has three columns
]

Adding a page

Add a page using the known .add_page() method. This method expects a new parameter: rows. Rows need to be an array with the row definitions as specified above.

pdf.add_page(rows=page_1_rows)

Writing text

Once you have a page and their rows and columns, you can simply start writing text to it using .write_text(). This function takes three required parameters: row, column and txt. Optionally, you can also specify the page by giving its number. If no page is given, the current page is used.

pdf.write_text(txt='This is my heading', row=1)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my second row', row=2)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my thirth row, first column', row=3, column=1)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my thirth row, second column', row=3, column=2)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my fourth row, first column', row=4, column=1)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my fourth row, second column', row=4, column=2)
pdf.write_text(txt='This is my fourth row, thirth column', row=4, column=3)

Output

Generate the pdf using the .output() method.

pdf.output('my_pdf.pdf')

Advanced settings

Since SimpleFPDF aims to be as simple as possible, not much customisation is possible. There are a few settings you can use.

top-margin

You can specify the top-margin for a row. This will add a margin to the top of a row, using the unit specified at creation.

rows = [
    { 'columns' : 1, 'top-margin' : 30 }, # row 1, has one column and a top-margin of 30mm
    { 'columns' : 1 }, # row 2, has one column
    { 'columns' : 2, 'top-margin' }, # row 3, has two columns and a top-margin of 15mm
    { 'columns' : 3 } # row 4, has three columns
]