PDF Link Annotations

Add clickable URLs to your PDFs with the PdfLink composable.

Links example PDF link annotations example — download PDF

Basic text link 

PdfLink(href = "https://example.com") {
    Text(
        "Visit Example.com",
        color = Color.Blue,
        textDecoration = TextDecoration.Underline,
    )
}

When the PDF is opened, clicking the text area opens the URL in a browser.

Wrap any content – not just text:

PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/get-started") {
    Box(
        Modifier
            .clip(RoundedCornerShape(8.dp))
            .background(Color(0xFF1565C0))
            .padding(horizontal = 24.dp, vertical = 12.dp),
    ) {
        Text("Get Started", color = Color.White, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold)
    }
}

Mix links with surrounding text using Row:

Row {
    Text("Read our ")
    PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/terms") {
        Text("Terms of Service", color = Color.Blue, textDecoration = TextDecoration.Underline)
    }
    Text(" and ")
    PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/privacy") {
        Text("Privacy Policy", color = Color.Blue, textDecoration = TextDecoration.Underline)
    }
    Text(".")
}

Large clickable area

The entire bounds of the content become the clickable region:

PdfLink(href = "https://example.com") {
    Box(
        Modifier
            .fillMaxWidth()
            .height(80.dp)
            .background(Color(0xFFF0F0F0), RoundedCornerShape(12.dp)),
        contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
    ) {
        Text("Click anywhere in this box", fontSize = 18.sp)
    }
}

PdfLink(href = "mailto:contact@example.com") {
    Text("contact@example.com", color = Color.Blue)
}

Row(
    Modifier
        .fillMaxWidth()
        .background(Color(0xFF1565C0))
        .padding(16.dp),
    horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(16.dp),
) {
    PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/docs") {
        Text("Docs", color = Color.White)
    }
    PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/pricing") {
        Text("Pricing", color = Color.White)
    }
    PdfLink(href = "https://example.com/support") {
        Text("Support", color = Color.White)
    }
}

How it works

  1. During renderToPdf, a PdfLinkCollector is provided via CompositionLocal
  2. PdfLink uses onGloballyPositioned to measure the bounds of its content
  3. After rendering, the collected bounds are converted to PDF coordinates and added as PDAnnotationLink objects with invisible borders
  4. PDF viewers render these as clickable regions

Outside of renderToPdf, PdfLink is a no-op wrapper – safe to use in shared composables that render both on screen and to PDF.

The href parameter must not be blank. An IllegalArgumentException is thrown if you pass an empty or blank string.

See also