How can I draw a string vertically using ReportLab?

Drawing a string vertically in ReportLab involves using the Canvas object and rotating the text. Here's a breakdown of how you can achieve this:

1. Import Necessary Modules:

Start by importing the required modules from the ReportLab library.

from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.lib.units import inch

2. Create a Canvas Object:

Create a Canvas object, which is the surface on which you'll draw. You will specify a file name and the page size.

c = canvas.Canvas("vertical_text.pdf", pagesize=letter)

3. Define Text and Position:

Define the string you want to draw, along with the desired x and y coordinates for its starting point. Remember that rotation is applied after positioning.

text = "Vertical Text"
x = 2 inch # X-coordinate
y = 5 inch # Y-coordinate

4. Rotate the Canvas:

Before drawing the text, rotate the canvas. Here, we use a 90-degree rotation for vertical text. Note that the rotation happens around the origin of the canvas context.

c.rotate(90)

5. Draw the Text:

Draw your text using the canvas drawString function, now with coordinates considering it's rotated.

c.drawString(y, -x, text)

6. Restore the Canvas and Save:

After drawing, restore the canvas to its original orientation (Optional). Save the canvas to the PDF file.

c.rotate(-90) c.save()

Complete Example:

Here's the complete code to generate a PDF with vertical text.

from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.lib.units import inch

c = canvas.Canvas("vertical_text.pdf", pagesize=letter)
text = "Vertical Text"
x = 2 inch
y = 5 inch

c.rotate(90)
c.drawString(y, -x, text)

c.rotate(-90)
c.save()

Explanation:

- The rotate(90) function rotates the canvas context by 90 degrees, which affects the way text is drawn. - When you use drawString(y, -x, text) after the rotation, the original x position has now become a vertical offset and the original y is a horizontal offset.

By following these steps, you can easily draw text vertically in your ReportLab-generated PDFs. Adjust the coordinates, rotation angle, and font properties as needed to match your specific requirements.

Learn more about this