Java · v1.8.0 · MIT

Java PDF layout engine for structured business documents.

Describe documents. Render polished PDFs. A semantic layout engine for Java services that need structured, paginated, theme-driven output — CVs, invoices, proposals, reports.

No drawing API. No pixel arithmetic. You compose ParagraphNode, TableNode, SectionNode; GraphCompose handles measurement, pagination, fonts, and PDFBox rendering.

Browse Examples Source on GitHub Install in 30s

NEW

Building your own templates?

The layered architecture guide walks you through the five-folder pattern — data / theme / components / widgets / presets — with a worked CV example, widget cookbook, and step-by-step contributor checklist. New templates and major rewrites follow this shape.

Quickstart (5 min) Author a preset Add a template family

30 lines → one invoice

The whole stack — theme tokens, table, totals, chrome — behind one fluent DSL.

Atomic pagination

Tables split row-by-row, rows are atomic, layer stacks atomic. No manual page math.

14 CV presets, 14 letter pairs

Every preset is one final class with a one-liner create(BusinessTheme) factory.

Tested at every layer

819 green tests, layout snapshots per preset, pixel-diff visual parity gate, public-API leak guards.

Install

Maven Central. One dependency.

Maven

<dependency>
  <groupId>io.github.demchaav</groupId>
  <artifactId>graph-compose</artifactId>
  <version>1.8.0</version>
</dependency>

Gradle

dependencies {
  implementation(
    'io.github.demchaav:graph-compose:1.8.0'
  )
}

30-second hello world

try (var doc = GraphCompose
        .document(out).create()) {
  doc.pageFlow()
     .addParagraph("Hello, GraphCompose")
     .addList(l -> l.items(
         "PDF", "DOCX", "Tables"))
     .build();
  doc.buildPdf();
}

Showcase

50+ generated PDFs you can inspect.

Every example below is a real, runnable Java file. Click the preview to open the rendered PDF, or jump straight into the source.

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JavaScript is disabled. The full searchable gallery requires JS. Below is a static index of the catalogue so you can still reach the rendered PDFs and source files.

Templates

CV (14 presets)

Cover Letter (14 paired layouts)

Invoice / Proposal / Schedule

Features

Flagships

Source for every example lives under examples/src/main/java/com/demcha/examples on GitHub.

Architecture

Author intent stays separate from PDF rendering.

Semantic DSL. You build a tree of ParagraphNode, TableNode, SectionNode, LayerStackNode, CanvasLayerNode.
Layout pass. The engine resolves measurements, pagination, decoration, overlays. Output is a LayoutGraph — geometry only, no draw calls.
Render backend. The FixedLayoutBackend consumes placed fragments. Default: PdfFixedLayoutBackend via PDFBox. DOCX backend exists for editable output.

Why GraphCompose

For services that produce structured PDFs at scale.

Stream straight into HTTP responses

session.writePdf(OutputStream) writes incrementally with no in-memory buffering. Spring Boot, Quarkus, Micronaut, or plain Java HTTP.

Snapshot-tested layouts

Every preset has a layout-graph JSON baseline plus a pixel-diff visual parity baseline. Regressions surface on the first run.

Theme tokens, not magic numbers

BusinessTheme.modern() / .classic() / .executive() set palette, typography, table styles. Override one or all.

Markdown-aware bodies

Inline **bold**, *italic*, _italic_ markers parsed in every paragraph and list block automatically.