# IText

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PDF file program

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iText Developer iText Group NV Release 2000 Stable release 9.3.0 / September 2, 2025; 9 months ago (2025-09-02)[1] Written in Java, C# Operating system Cross-platform Type Library License AGPLv3[2] Proprietary MPL (versions prior to iText 5 and 4.2.x) Website itextpdf.com Repository https://github.com/itext/

**iText** is a [library](/source/Library_(computer_science)) for creating and manipulating [PDF files](/source/PDF) in [Java](/source/Java_(programming_language)) and .[NET](/source/.NET). It was created in 2000 and written by Bruno Lowagie. The source code was initially distributed as open source under the [Mozilla Public License](/source/Mozilla_Public_License) or the GNU Library General Public License open source licenses. However, as of version 5.0.0 (released Dec 7, 2009) and version 4.2.0 (released Jul 10, 2015) it is distributed under the [GNU Affero General Public License](/source/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License) version 3. A fork of the LGPL/MPL licensed version of iText is currently being actively maintained as the [OpenPDF](/source/OpenPDF) library on GitHub.[3] iText is also available through a [proprietary license](/source/Proprietary_license), distributed by iText Software NV.

iText provides support for advanced PDF features such as [PKI](/source/Public_key_infrastructure)-based signatures, 40-bit and 128-bit encryption, [colour correction](/source/Color_correction), Tagged PDF, PDF forms (AcroForms), PDF/X, [colour management](/source/Color_management) via [ICC](/source/International_Color_Consortium) profiles, and [barcodes](/source/Barcode), and is used by several products and services, including [Eclipse BIRT](/source/Eclipse_BIRT), [Jasper Reports](/source/Jasper_Reports), [JBoss Seam](/source/JBoss_Seam), [Windward Reports](/source/Windward_Reports), and [Pdftk](/source/Pdftk).

## History

iText (formerly known as *rugPDF*) was developed in the winter of 1998 as an in-house project at [Ghent University](/source/Ghent_University) to create [PDF](/source/PDF) document applications for student administration. Preliminary versions could only initially read and write PDF files, and they required developers to be knowledgeable of [PDF](/source/PDF) syntax, objects, operators, and operands to work with the library. Leonard Rosenthol, PDF Architect at [Adobe](/source/Adobe_Systems), lists iText as one of the early milestones in the history of the openness of PDF.[4]

In 1999, Lowagie disbanded the rugPDF code and wrote a new library named iText. Lowagie created iText as a library that Java developers could use to create PDF documents without knowing PDF syntax and released it as a [Free and Open Source Software](/source/Free_and_Open_Source_Software) (FOSS) product on February 14, 2000. In the summer of 2000, Paulo Soares joined the project and is now considered one of the main developers.

In late 2008, iText became available for proprietary license, and in early 2009, iText Software Corp. was formed to be the worldwide licensor of iText products.[5]

iText has since been ported to the [.NET Framework](/source/.NET_Framework) under the name iTextSharp, written in [C#](/source/C_Sharp_(programming_language)). While it has a separate code base, it is synchronised to the main iText release schedule.

## ISO standards support

iText adheres to most modern-day PDF standards, including:

- ISO 32000-1 (PDF 1.7)

- ISO 32000-2 (PDF-2.0)

- ISO 19005-1 ([PDF/A](/source/PDF%2FA)-1)

- ISO 19005-2 ([PDF/A](/source/PDF%2FA)-2)

- ISO 19005-3 ([PDF/A](/source/PDF%2FA)-3)[6]

- ISO 19005-4 ([PDF/A](/source/PDF%2FA)-4)

- ISO 14289-1 ([PDF/UA](/source/PDF%2FUA)-1)[7]

- ISO 14289-2 ([PDF/UA](/source/PDF%2FUA)-2)

### Extensions on ISO 32000-2

- ISO 32001

- ISO 32002

- ISO 32003

- ISO 32004

## Licensing

iText was originally released under the MPL/LGPL. On December 1, 2009, with the release of iText 5, the license was switched to the [GNU Affero General Public License](/source/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License) version 3. Projects that did not want to provide their source code (as required by the AGPL) could either purchase a commercial license to iText 5 or continue using previous versions of iText under the MPL/LGPL.

iText Group NV claims that during the due diligence process to prepare for iText 5, several IP issues with iText 2 were discovered and fixed.

## Forks

- [OpenPDF](/source/OpenPDF) is an active open source project released under [LGPL](/source/GNU_Lesser_General_Public_License) and [MPL](/source/Mozilla_Public_License).

## Commendations and Awards

In 2007, *SOA World Magazine* listed iText as "One of the ten open-source solutions enterprises should be using."[8] [James Gosling](/source/James_Gosling) praised the iText library, using it in a new edition of Huckster.[9]

In 2011, iText was featured at [Devoxx](/source/Devoxx), a community conference for Java developers.[10]

In 2013, Deloitte nominated the iText Software Group for the Technology Fast 50 Award in the Benelux. The company was ranked 10th in the Benelux and 3rd in Belgium.[11][12][13][14]

In 2014, iText won the BelCham Entrepreneurship Award in the category "Most Promising Company of the Year"[15] and [Deloitte](/source/Deloitte) recognized iText Group NV as the fastest growing technology company in Belgium.[16] Subsequently, the company was ranked #28 in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in the EMEA region.[17] iText was also featured on the PDF Days in Cologne, Washington DC and New York, on Java One in San Francisco, and on Devoxx in Antwerp.

In 2017, iText won the International Business Awards "Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - under 100 employees 2017".[18]

In 2017/18, the ITEXT GROUP won "The ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year".[19]

In 2019, iText won a Silver Stevie in the American Business Awards for "Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - under 100 employees".[20] iText was also a National Winner of "Growth Strategy of the Year" at the European Business Awards.[19]

## See also

- [Free and open-source software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_and_open-source_software)

- [List of PDF software](/source/List_of_PDF_software)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Release iText Suite 9.3.0"](https://kb.itextpdf.com/itext/release-itext-core-9-3-0). *kb.itextpdf.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["The 'LICENSE.md' file in iText source code repository"](https://github.com/itext/itext-java/blob/master/LICENSE.md). github.com/itext/itext-ava. Retrieved 2024-04-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["The OpenPDF project on GitHub.com"](https://github.com/LibrePDF/OpenPDF/). github.com. Retrieved 2017-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["pdf"](http://pdf-pdf.blogspot.be/2007/11/pdf-adobe-acrobat-history.html). *pdf-pdf.blogspot.be*. November 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Feature article in Wereldwijs, a monthly magazine by Flanders Investment and Trade (in Dutch)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121010045135/http://epub01.publitas.com/173/34/). Epub01.publitas.com. Archived from [the original](http://epub01.publitas.com/173/34/) on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2013-10-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** PDF Association (2013-06-06). ["How to create PDF/A-3 using iText"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131003152441/http://www.pdfa.org/news/how-to-create-pdfa-3-using-itext/). Pdfa.org. Archived from [the original](http://www.pdfa.org/news/how-to-create-pdfa-3-using-itext) on 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["iText bringing PDF/UA support to Java Implementations"](http://duff-johnson.com/2013/02/19/itext-bringing-pdfua-support-to-java-implementations/). *duff-johnson.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["SOA World Magazine"](https://web.archive.org/web/20161118000913/http://soa.sys-con.com/node/368028?page=0,1). Soa.sys-con.com. Archived from [the original](http://soa.sys-con.com/node/368028?page=0,1) on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2013-10-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["James Gosling praises iText"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131215200029/https://blogs.oracle.com/jag/entry/thanks_to_the_itext_folks). Blogs.oracle.com. 2007-09-20. Archived from [the original](https://blogs.oracle.com/jag/entry/thanks_to_the_itext_folks) on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2013-10-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["iText - Devoxx 2011 - Devoxx"](http://www.devoxx.com/display/DV11/iText). *devoxx.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Ranking Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Benelux](http://actueel.deloitte.nl/media/316749/fast50_ranking_2013.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131014174454/http://actueel.deloitte.nl/media/316749/fast50_ranking_2013.pdf) 2013-10-14 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Pieterjan Van Leemputten (11 October 2013). ["Tien Belgen in Deloitte Technology Fast50"](http://datanews.knack.be/ict/nieuws/tien-belgen-in-deloitte-technology-fast50/article-4000420777148.htm). *knack.be*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["De 5 Belgische digitale start-ups met de snelste groei"](http://www.digimedia.be/content.php?lng=nl&rubric=News&id=15296). *digimedia.be*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Deloitte's Fast 50 Newspaper article"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131019042925/http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Belgium/Local%20Assets/Documents/NL/Fast50/Krant%20van%20West%20Vlaanderen_Ieper%20heeft%20studenten%20en%20betere%20verbinding%20nod....pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Belgium/Local%20Assets/Documents/NL/Fast50/Krant%20van%20West%20Vlaanderen_Ieper%20heeft%20studenten%20en%20betere%20verbinding%20nod....pdf) (PDF) on 2013-10-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["BELCHAM "In the News". Press active in covering last night's Annual Gala - BelCham"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141024124354/http://www.belcham.org/content/belcham-news-press-active-covering-last-nights-annual-gala). *belcham.org*. Archived from [the original](http://www.belcham.org/content/belcham-news-press-active-covering-last-nights-annual-gala) on 2014-10-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["iText Group wins Deloitte Technology Fast50"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141024125905/http://www2.deloitte.com/be/en/pages/technology/topics/fast50/pressrelease-fast50214.html). *Deloitte Belgium*. Archived from [the original](http://www2.deloitte.com/be/en/pages/technology/topics/fast50/pressrelease-fast50214.html) on 2014-10-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Deloitte 2014 Technology Fast 500: Powerful Connections"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220306222758/https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Technology-Media-Telecommunications/gx-tmt-emea-f500-2014-ranking.pdf) (PDF). Deloitte. 2014. Archived from [the original](http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Technology-Media-Telecommunications/gx-tmt-emea-f500-2014-ranking.pdf) (PDF) on 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2014-12-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["The Stevie® Awards"](https://stevieawards.com/). *stevieawards.com*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-eba_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-eba_19-1) ["The European Business Awards"](https://www.businessawardseurope.com/). *businessawardseurope.com*. Retrieved 2020-06-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** PDF, iText (2019-05-06). ["Silver Stevie for Most Innovative Tech Company of 2019"](https://itextpdf.com/en/awards/2019/silver-stevie-most-innovative-tech-company-2019). *iText PDF*. Retrieved 2020-06-10.

## Further reading

- [Lowagie, Bruno](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruno_Lowagie&action=edit&redlink=1) (Summer 2010). *iText in Action* (2nd ed.). [Manning Publications](/source/Manning_Publications). p. 600. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-935182-61-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-935182-61-0).

- [Lowagie, Bruno](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruno_Lowagie&action=edit&redlink=1) (8 December 2006). *iText in Action* (1st ed.). [Manning Publications](/source/Manning_Publications). p. 656. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-932394-79-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-932394-79-6).

- [Review first edition on JavaLobby](https://web.archive.org/web/20170112055535/http://www.javalobby.org/articles/itext-in-action/) by Stephen Kitt

- [Review second edition in Freies Magazin](http://www.freiesmagazin.de/ftp/2010/freiesMagazin-2010-12.pdf#page=50) by Michael Niedermai

- [Tools of the Trade, Part 1: Creating PDF documents with iText](http://www.adobepress.com/articles/printerfriendly.asp?p=420686) by Jeff Friesen (Adobe Press)

## External links

- [Official website](https://itextpdf.com)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [IText](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IText) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IText?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.