Quickstart

A first document

use lightweight_pdf::*;

let mut doc = Document::new(PageFormat::A4)
    .margin(Margin::all(20.0))
    .footer(Footer::new(20.0, |ctx| {
        Text::new(format!("Page {} of {}", ctx.page, ctx.total_pages)).into()
    }));

doc.add(Text::new("Invoice").heading1());
doc.add(
    Table::new()
        .columns([TableColumn::flex(1.0), TableColumn::fixed(60.0).align(Align::End)])
        .header(["Item", "Amount"])
        .rows(vec![vec![Element::from("Consulting"), Element::from("1,200.00 USD")]]),
);

let bytes = doc.render().expect("render should succeed");
std::fs::write("invoice.pdf", bytes).unwrap();

• Document::new takes a page format; margins and sizes are in PDF points (1/72 inch).
• doc.add appends elements to the document flow. Pagination happens at render time.
• The footer is a closure that receives the page number and the total page count. Layout runs in two passes, so total_pages is already final when the closure is called.

Check what the layout had to do

render() returns the bytes. render_with_diagnostics() also returns layout warnings – clipped text, content larger than a page, a missing glyph, an image without alt text in a tagged PDF:

let (bytes, warnings) = doc.render_with_diagnostics()?;
for w in &warnings {
    eprintln!("page {}: {:?} ({})", w.page, w.kind, w.element_hint);
}

Without Rust: JSON and the CLI

The same kind of document can be described as JSON and rendered with lwpdf. The repository ships a template and a data file:

lwpdf validate examples/invoice-template.json --data examples/invoice-data.json
lwpdf render examples/invoice-template.json --data examples/invoice-data.json -o invoice.pdf

The showcase shows both files next to the PDF they produce.

Larger examples

examples/demo_*.rs in the repository are complete sample documents – invoice, quote, credentials hand-off, concept, API documentation, audit report, a custom-font demo and the PDF/A-3b, ZUGFeRD and PDF/UA demos. Run one with:

cargo run -p lightweight-pdf --example demo_invoice

crates/lightweight-pdf/examples/invoice.rs (a German DIN 5008-style invoice with a multi-page table) and report.rs are further examples. Most of them are rendered on the showcase page during every site build.

Next: the layout guide.