Everything that can be drawn on a page

The one required key: the list of what gets drawn, in drawing order. Twenty-four kinds in all.

Summary

Everything else settles the document; this one fills it. Text, a table, a photograph, a barcode, a line, a tick box: each thing says what it is and where it goes. The last one written passes over the ones before, like sheets stacked on a desk, which is how a stamp ends up on top of the page it crosses.

Technically

Written at the top level of a request, under "items"

items is the one key a request must carry. It is an array, in drawing order, where each entry has a type key saying which of the twenty-four kinds it is; that order is paint order, so a later item covers an earlier one. Most kinds share a common base of settings: the rectangle they live in, the pages they appear on, the layer they belong to, a rotation or a transform. Each kind has a detail page of its own.

Request schema

items — array, required. The one key a request must carry.
Each entry is an object carrying type, or an array whose first element is the label. An object with no type is refused; two type keys in one object are refused too.
Twenty-four type values, each with a page of its own, listed below.
Settings most kinds share: pages, either an array of one-based integers, empty by default and meaning every page, or a rule: every, one of page (the default), odd_page or even_page; from and to, one-based page numbers, each included, absent running from the first page and to the last; but, an array of pages left out, each a number or an expression, so "{page_of_headline}" leaves out the page an item opened on. layer (the name of a declared layer), id and relative_to (placement relative to another item), transform (six numbers) or rotate (degrees) — both together are refused.

The twenty-four things an item can be

Each has a page of its own: what it is, what it does technically, the schema of the request it takes, and a whole request showing it.

Text

A block of text placed on the page text Set text inside a chosen rectangle, with its font, size and colour, and give one word in the middle of a sentence a style of its own.
Text in paragraphs, with indents and tab stops flow Lay several paragraphs in a frame, with a first-line indent, space between them, bulleted lists and neat columns of figures.
A stamp laid across the page stamp Lay one word across an area, at the size that fills the box: draft, paid, copy, cancelled, on the diagonal or flat.
A line of words set along a path text_path Run one line of text round a seal, over an arch or along the edge of a map: every letter stands on the curve and leans the way it leans.
Blocks laid one under the other, page after page stack Pile paragraphs, tables, pictures and rules in reading order and let them find their own pages: what does not fit carries on in the box of the next one.

Tables

A table that carries on from page to page table Rows and columns flowing over as many pages as needed, with a repeated header, rules, coloured backgrounds and merged cells.

Pictures and imported pages

A picture placed in a rectangle image Place a photo or a logo supplied with the request in a chosen frame, stretched to the edges or kept at its own proportions.
A page of a supplied PDF, placed on the page pdf_page Take one page of a PDF sent with the request and place it in a frame, at its own proportions, among the other items.

Barcodes and square codes

A barcode of vertical bars barcode Draw a barcode a scanner reads: Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, ITF-14, Codabar, EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8, UPC-E, GS1 DataBar and the two add-ons.
A square QR code, read with a phone qr Draw a QR code carrying a web address or a piece of text, read by any phone, with its white margin all around.
An Aztec code, with no white margin around it aztec Draw an Aztec code, the one on train tickets: square, needing no margin, with the share of safety you choose.
A Data Matrix code, very small and very sturdy data_matrix Draw a Data Matrix code, the one on parcels and small parts: as much content as a QR code in far less room.
A PDF417 code, carrying a whole form pdf417 Draw a PDF417 code of stacked bars, the one on boarding passes: it carries a whole form, not merely a number.

Shapes

A free path: lines, curves and filled shapes path Draw a shape point by point, with straight segments and curves, filled with a colour or a gradient, and outlined with a stroke.
A rectangle, filled or outlined rect Place a rectangle: a coloured band behind a heading, a frame around an area, or both, with the stroke you choose.
A straight line between two points line Pull a line from one point to another, at the thickness, colour and dash you want: a divider, an underline, a ruled row.
A drawing declared once and placed as often as wanted drawing Put a drawing the request declared on the page, where you want it and at the size you want, without the file carrying the same ink twice.

Form fields

A field the reader types into text_field Add a field to fill in: a name, an address, a comment over several lines, a hidden password, or a number one square per digit.
A box the reader ticks check_box Add a tick box: accepting terms, choosing an option, with the mark you pick and the value the form reports.
A list the reader picks from choice_field Offer a list of answers: an open list, a drop-down menu, or a menu the reader may also type an answer into.
Several buttons, one answer radio_group Place buttons of which only one stays chosen at a time, each in its own spot, all belonging to the same question.
The place kept for a signature signature_field Keep a spot on the page where an electronic signature will settle, with its name and its frame.
A button the reader presses push_button Place a button that acts instead of answering: open an address, go to a page, send the form or reset it.

A patch of page a reader clicks link Make a patch of page clickable: it opens a web address, or takes the reader to another page of the same document.

A whole request that creates a PDF

{
  "standard_fonts": [{ "name": "sans", "face": "helvetica" }],
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "rect",
      "rect": { "llx": 60, "lly": 700, "urx": 535, "ury": 780 },
      "fill": [0.93, 0.95, 0.98]
    },
    {
      "type": "text",
      "id": "headline",
      "rect": { "llx": 72, "lly": 730, "urx": 523, "ury": 760 },
      "content": ["Drawn second, so it sits on top"],
      "font": "sans",
      "font_size": 16
    },
    {
      "type": "text",
      "rect": { "llx": 72, "lly": 690, "urx": 523, "ury": 712 },
      "relative_to": { "id": "headline", "edge": "bottom", "offset": -18 },
      "content": ["Placed under the line above, wherever that one landed"],
      "font": "sans",
      "font_size": 11
    },
    {
      "type": "text",
      "rect": { "llx": 72, "lly": 60, "urx": 523, "ury": 76 },
      "pages": { "every": "even_page", "from": 3, "but": [7] },
      "content": ["On the even pages from page three, page seven excepted"],
      "font": "sans",
      "font_size": 9
    }
  ]
}

The line that sends it, in three languages

What is drawn, and how it comes out

The file's weight and the time it takes The first page, shown while the rest arrives Layers reading software shows or hides A name that stands for several layers at once A drawing made once, shown by a button The sets of layers reading software offers Layers reading software shows one of at a time

Where to go next

Every JSON key of a request, in one page The other forty-one settings of a request

See the prices See the examples