Drawing · phppdf

All drawing goes through PdfContentStreamBuilder. The PDF graphics model is a state machine: you construct a path, then paint it.

Paths

// Straight lines
$s->moveTo(72, 400)
  ->lineTo(523, 400)
  ->stroke();

// Rectangle (shorthand)
$s->rectangle(x: 72, y: 500, width: 200, height: 100)
  ->fill();

// Cubic Bézier curve: moveTo then curveTo(cp1x, cp1y, cp2x, cp2y, x, y)
$s->moveTo(100, 300)
  ->curveTo(150, 400, 200, 200, 250, 300)
  ->stroke();

Painting operators

Method	Effect
`->stroke()`	Stroke the path with the current stroke color
`->fill()`	Fill using non-zero winding rule
`->fillEvenOdd()`	Fill using even-odd rule
`->fillAndStroke()`	Fill then stroke (non-zero)
`->fillAndStrokeEvenOdd()`	Fill then stroke (even-odd)
`->closeAndStroke()`	Close open subpath, then stroke
`->endPath()`	Discard path without painting
`->clip()`	Set clipping region (non-zero); follow with `endPath()`
`->clipEvenOdd()`	Set clipping region (even-odd)

Graphics state

Save and restore the full graphics state to isolate style changes:

$s->saveGraphicsState()
  ->setLineWidth(2.0)
  ->setStrokingRgbColor(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
  ->rectangle(72, 500, 200, 100)
  ->stroke()
  ->restoreGraphicsState();  // width and color reset here

Line style

$s->setLineWidth(0.5)
  ->setLineCap(1)       // 0 = butt, 1 = round, 2 = square
  ->setLineJoin(1)      // 0 = miter, 1 = round, 2 = bevel
  ->setMiterLimit(4.0)
  ->setDashPattern([3, 2], 0);  // [dash, gap, ...], phase

Transformations

Transformations affect all subsequent drawing until the graphics state is restored.

use PhpPdf\Content\Matrix;

// Translate (move origin)
$s->concatenateMatrix(Matrix::translate(100, 200));

// Rotate (radians, counter-clockwise around current origin)
$s->concatenateMatrix(Matrix::rotate(deg2rad(45)));

// Scale
$s->concatenateMatrix(Matrix::scale(1.5, 1.5));

// Arbitrary matrix: [a, b, c, d, e, f]
$s->concatenateMatrix(new Matrix(1, 0, 0, 1, 50, 100));

Always wrap transformations in saveGraphicsState() / restoreGraphicsState():

$s->saveGraphicsState()
  ->concatenateMatrix(Matrix::rotate(deg2rad(30)))
  ->rectangle(0, 0, 100, 40)
  ->fill()
  ->restoreGraphicsState();

Clipping

Set a clipping region before painting gradients, images, or any content that needs a shape mask:

// Circular clip
$s->saveGraphicsState()
  ->circle(cx: 300, cy: 500, radius: 80)   // helper if available, or use curveTo
  ->clip()
  ->endPath()
  ->drawImage('IMG', 220, 420, 160, 160)
  ->restoreGraphicsState();

// Rectangular clip (common for gradients)
$s->saveGraphicsState()
  ->rectangle(72, 550, 451, 60)
  ->clip()
  ->endPath()
  ->paintShading('G1')
  ->restoreGraphicsState();

Transparency

Graphics state dictionaries control opacity and blend mode. See Colors for usage.