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Get started with Java

This guide walks you through the steps to use a sample project, and then explains how to integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application with the Java programming language.

Request trial or full license​

The Toolbox add-on requires a license key for both evaluation and full use. To request a license key, follow these steps:

  1. Reach out to the sales team through the Contact page and mark the Toolbox add-on as the product of your interest for a trial license.

If you already have a license key and you need to copy it, review Find the license key.

Prerequisites​

The Toolbox add-on for Java requires Java version 8 or higher.

Get started with a sample project​

This Java sample project demonstrates how to extract all images and image masks from a PDF document.

Compile and run the sample​

Switch between the following tabs to display steps for the CLI (Maven or Gradle), Eclipse IDE, or IntelliJ IDEA. To compile and run the sample, follow these steps:

  1. Download a sample project, and then unzip the file.

  2. Locate your license key. For more information, review Find the license key.

  3. In the lib/src/main/java/ToolboxImageExtraction/ToolboxImageExtraction.java file, replace the string "insert-license-key-here" with your license key:

    Sdk.initialize("insert-license-key-here", null);

    Use the license key in the same format as you copied it. Include the less-than (<) and greater-than (>) signs.

  1. In the command line, navigate to the root directory of the unzipped sample project.

  2. Create an output directory:

    mkdir output_images

  3. Build and run the sample to extract all images and image masks from the sample PDF file ImageCollection.pdf to the output directory output_images:

    mvn clean install
    mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="ToolboxImageExtraction.ToolboxImageExtraction" -Dexec.args="ImageCollection.pdf output_images"

The code sample takes:

  • The input and output files represented as a file name, a file path with the file name, or the output directory.
  • Both file paths (input and output) can be relative or absolute.

Review this snippet with a placeholder and compare it to the last step of the previous procedure:

mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="ToolboxImageExtraction.ToolboxImageExtraction" -Dexec.args="INPUT_FILE OUTPUT_DIRECTORY"
note

You can apply a similar procedure described in this tutorial for other code samples. For more information, see Code samples page.

Integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application​

Integrate and initialize the Toolbox add-on into your application by following the instructions in these sections.

Add the Toolbox add-on to your project​

To add the Toolbox add-on to your project, use one of the following methods:

The Toolbox add-on for Java is available on Maven Central. To add the Toolbox add-on for Java to your project, add the following to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.pdftools</groupId>
    <artifactId>toolbox</artifactId>
    <version>1.12.0</version>
</dependency>

The dependency includes native binaries for all supported platforms, which are loaded automatically at runtime.

Initialize the Toolbox add-on​

The Toolbox add-on always requires a license key to operate (unlike the Pdftools SDK).

Getting a license key

Without a valid license key, the Toolbox add-on returns an error. Get in touch with the Pdftools sales team through the Contact page to get a full license.

To initialize the Toolbox add-on with your license key, follow these steps:

  1. Locate your license key. For more information, review Find the license key.

  2. Before you call any function of the Toolbox add-on, first call the Sdk.initialize method.

    Sdk.initialize("insert-license-key-here", null);

    Replace insert-license-key-here with the value of your license key. Use the license key in the same format as you copied it. Include the less-than (<) and greater-than (>) signs.

To get a code sample with the Sdk.initialize method that you can use as a reference for your code, follow these steps:

  1. On the Code samples page, download and unzip a Java code sample. For example: Download Extract all images and image masks from a PDF sample.
  2. Unzip the file, and then find the Sdk.initialize method in the main Java file of the sample. For example: Extract all images and image masks from a PDF sample includes the Sdk.initialize method in the lib/src/main/java/ToolboxImageExtraction/ToolboxImageExtraction.java file.
  3. Replace insert-license-key-here with your license key.

Implement your use case​

  • Find more use cases and sample projects on the Code samples page.
  • For more technical information about the Toolbox add-on for Java, consult the Java technical notes.