When working with PDF files in Python, there are several libraries available that can help us achieve different tasks. One common requirement is to add multiple editable text boxes to a PDF file. In this article, we will explore three different ways to accomplish this using different libraries.

Option 1: PyPDF2

PyPDF2 is a popular library for working with PDF files in Python. Although it does not provide a direct way to add editable text boxes, we can use its functionality to overlay text on an existing PDF page. Here’s how we can do it:

import PyPDF2

def add_text_boxes(input_file, output_file, text_boxes):
    pdf = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(input_file)
    writer = PyPDF2.PdfFileWriter()

    for page_num in range(pdf.getNumPages()):
        page = pdf.getPage(page_num)
        writer.addPage(page)

        for text_box in text_boxes:
            textbox_page = PyPDF2.pdf.PageObject.createBlankPage(None, page.mediaBox.getWidth(), page.mediaBox.getHeight())
            textbox_page.mergePage(page)
            textbox_page.addText(text_box['text'], text_box['x'], text_box['y'])
            writer.addPage(textbox_page)

    with open(output_file, 'wb') as f:
        writer.write(f)

In this code, we first read the input PDF file using PyPDF2. Then, for each page in the PDF, we create a new page with the same dimensions and merge the original page onto it. We add the desired text box using the `addText` method and finally add the modified page to the output PDF file.

Option 2: ReportLab

ReportLab is another powerful library for creating PDF documents in Python. It provides a higher level of control over the PDF content, including the ability to add editable text boxes. Here’s an example of how we can use ReportLab to achieve this:

from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas

def add_text_boxes(output_file, text_boxes):
    c = canvas.Canvas(output_file)

    for text_box in text_boxes:
        c.setFont(text_box['font'], text_box['font_size'])
        c.drawString(text_box['x'], text_box['y'], text_box['text'])

    c.save()

In this code, we create a new canvas using ReportLab’s `canvas` module. We then iterate over the list of text boxes and use the `drawString` method to add each text box to the canvas. Finally, we save the canvas as the output PDF file.

Option 3: PyMuPDF

PyMuPDF is a Python binding for the MuPDF library, which provides a wide range of PDF manipulation capabilities. It allows us to add editable text boxes to a PDF file with ease. Here’s an example:

import fitz

def add_text_boxes(input_file, output_file, text_boxes):
    doc = fitz.open(input_file)

    for page_num in range(len(doc)):
        page = doc[page_num]

        for text_box in text_boxes:
            textbox = fitz.Rect(text_box['x'], text_box['y'], text_box['x'] + text_box['width'], text_box['y'] + text_box['height'])
            page.insertTextbox(textbox, text_box['text'])

    doc.save(output_file)

In this code, we open the input PDF file using PyMuPDF’s `fitz` module. Then, for each page in the PDF, we iterate over the list of text boxes and use the `insertTextbox` method to add each text box to the page. Finally, we save the modified PDF as the output file.

After exploring these three options, it is clear that PyMuPDF provides the most straightforward and concise solution for adding multiple editable text boxes to a PDF file in Python. Its `insertTextbox` method allows us to easily specify the position and dimensions of the text box, making it a more suitable choice for this task.