Open PDF file using swift

Question

How can I add a PDF file for an app , where you click on a button to view the file & when you're done you get back to screen you were at?

score 75 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 19 '18 at 11:01

75

If you simply want to view a PDF file you can load it into a UIWebView.

let url : NSURL! = NSURL(string: "http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UIWebView_Class/UIWebView_Class.pdf")
webView.loadRequest(NSURLRequest(URL: url))

Swift 4.1 :

let url: URL! = URL(string: "http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UIWebView_Class/UIWebView_Class.pdf")
webView.loadRequest(URLRequest(url: url))

If you'd like to achieve more, a good framework is PSPDFKit.

edited Jun 19 '18 at 11:01

Sunil Targe

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answered Nov 12 '14 at 09:51

Jasper Blues

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6

UIWebView can load a local PDF. Instead use `[NSURL fileURLWithPath:strURLPath];` . . the path will be either your documents directory or your resource bundle. . There's also a method on UIWebView to load data, so you could feed it an NSData object. (Streaming from file is probably better for memory usage though). – Jasper Blues Nov 12 '14 at 10:11
If in resources directory: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6398937/getting-a-list-of-files-in-the-resources-folder-ios (similar story for documents dir). . . build NSURL from string. – Jasper Blues Nov 12 '14 at 10:24
is PSPDFKit suggested by Jasper is free? – jishnu bala Oct 12 '15 at 06:38
I've never tried it, but heard it is popular. On the website it looks like its a paid product, however the actual price is not clear! – Jasper Blues Oct 12 '15 at 06:40
2

Starting in iOS 8.0 and OS X 10.10, use WKWebView to add web content to your app. Do not use UIWebView or WebView. – MosTwanTedT Dec 05 '20 at 21:23
@MosTwanTedT Feel free to edit the answer with current best approach – Jasper Blues Dec 06 '20 at 02:00

score 67 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '18 at 15:00

67

Apple added PDFKit framework in iOS 11

Add a UIView to your view controller and make it's class to PDFView

import UIKit
import PDFKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBOutlet var pdfView: PDFView!

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        if let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "sample", ofType: "pdf") {
            if let pdfDocument = PDFDocument(url: URL(fileURLWithPath: path)) {
                pdfView.displayMode = .singlePageContinuous
                pdfView.autoScales = true
                pdfView.displayDirection = .vertical
                pdfView.document = pdfDocument
            }
        }
    }
}

There are 4 display modes : singlePage, singlePageContinuous, twoUp, twoUpContinuous .

edited May 23 '18 at 15:00

rmaddy

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answered May 23 '18 at 12:18

ajw

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Error inside Xcode 10.2, need to put method inside viewDidAppear() – Darwin Harianto May 17 '19 at 05:48
It doesn't necessary need to specify custom class for view `@IBOutlet weak var pdfView: UIView!` – Keivan Jun 16 '23 at 14:02

score 26 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 17 '20 at 07:21

SWIFT 4+

If has to open file from local cache/Documentdiectory which has file path

Method 1: using UIDocumentInteractionController

class ViewController: UIViewController,UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate {
   //let path =  Bundle.main.path(forResource: "Guide", ofType: ".pdf")!
    let dc = UIDocumentInteractionController(url: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
    dc.delegate = self
    dc.presentPreview(animated: true)
}

//MARK: UIDocumentInteractionController delegates
func documentInteractionControllerViewControllerForPreview(_ controller: UIDocumentInteractionController) -> UIViewController {
    return self//or use return self.navigationController for fetching app navigation bar colour
}

Method 2: using WebView

let webview = WKWebView(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
view.addSubview(webview)
webview.navigationDelegate = self
webview.load(URLRequest(url: URL(fileURLWithPath: path)))//URL(string: "http://") for web URL

score 18 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 17 '20 at 07:20

18

For Xcode 8.1 and Swift 3.0

Save the PDF file in any folder of your xcode. Suppose the file name is 'Filename.pdf'

if let pdf = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "Filename", withExtension: "pdf", subdirectory: nil, localization: nil)  {
    let req = NSURLRequest(url: pdf)
    yourWebViewOutletName.loadRequest(req as URLRequest)        
}

Same will apply if you want to open any html file.

edited Dec 17 '20 at 07:20

Olcay Ertaş

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answered Jan 05 '17 at 14:17

Anil shukla

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score 14 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 30 '19 at 09:37

Check out PDFKit from IOS11

Here is an example of a view controller which implements PDFView from PDFKit.

import UIKit
import PDFKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // Add PDFView to view controller.
        let pdfView = PDFView(frame: self.view.bounds)
        self.view.addSubview(pdfView)

        // Fit content in PDFView.
        pdfView.autoScales = true

        // Load Sample.pdf file.
        let fileURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "Sample", withExtension: "pdf")
        pdfView.document = PDFDocument(url: fileURL!)
    }

}

score 13 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 13 '18 at 11:26

13

you can use UIDocumentInteractionController to preview file in IOS. In the view controller's file, add a property of type UIDocumentInteractionController

and implement a simple delegate method of it

self.documentInteractionController = UIDocumentInteractionController.init(URL: url)
self.documentInteractionController?.delegate = self
self.documentInteractionController?.presentPreviewAnimated(t‌rue) 

func documentInteractionControllerViewControllerForPreview(controller: UIDocumentInteractionController) -> UIViewController {
    return self
}

don't forget to add UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate in view controller's class

edited Apr 13 '18 at 11:26

pacification

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answered Feb 08 '16 at 07:08

Shan Shafiq

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self.documentInteractionController = UIDocumentInteractionController.init(URL: url) self.documentInteractionController?.delegate = self self.documentInteractionController?.presentPreviewAnimated(true) – Shan Shafiq Feb 08 '16 at 07:16
It's useless in this case. "Preview" should be used for preview - in small views, but not for "opening" pdf. – Alexander Volkov May 17 '20 at 11:50

score 11 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 17 '20 at 07:23

SWIFT 5

An update to open the file from the Document directory (device) and present preview:

let urlFile = URL(string: pathToFile)
var documentInteractionController: UIDocumentInteractionController!    
documentInteractionController = UIDocumentInteractionController.init(url: urlFile!)
documentInteractionController?.delegate = self
documentInteractionController?.presentPreview(animated: true)

And UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate:

extension ViewController: UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate {
    func documentInteractionControllerViewControllerForPreview(_ controller: UIDocumentInteractionController) -> UIViewController {
        return self
    }
}

If you want to dismiss the document preview you can use:

documentInteractionController?.dismissPreview(animated: true)

score 6 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 17 '21 at 20:16

You can use this UIViewController. It contains the share button for free:

import UIKit
import PDFKit

class PDFWebViewController: UIViewController {
    var pdfURL: URL!
    
    private var pdfView: PDFView!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        self.edgesForExtendedLayout = []
                
        self.setPDFView()
        self.fetchPDF()
    }
    
    private func setPDFView() {
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.pdfView = PDFView(frame: self.view.bounds)
            
            self.pdfView.maxScaleFactor = 3;
            self.pdfView.minScaleFactor = self.pdfView.scaleFactorForSizeToFit;
            self.pdfView.autoScales = true;
            self.pdfView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleHeight, .flexibleWidth]
            
            self.view.addSubview(self.pdfView)
        }
    }
    
    private func fetchPDF() {
        DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async {
            if let data = try? Data(contentsOf: self.pdfURL), let document = PDFDocument(data: data) {
                DispatchQueue.main.async {
                    self.pdfView.document = document
                    self.addShareBarButton()
                }
            }
        }
    }
    
    private func addShareBarButton() {
        let barButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .action,
                                            target: self,
                                            action: #selector(self.presentShare))
        barButtonItem.tintColor = .white
        self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = barButtonItem
    }
    
    @objc private func presentShare() {
        guard let pdfDocument = self.pdfView.document?.dataRepresentation() else { return }
        
        let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [pdfDocument], applicationActivities: nil)
        activityViewController.popoverPresentationController?.barButtonItem = self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem
        
        self.present(activityViewController, animated: true)
    }
}

To use it:

let viewController = PDFWebViewController()

// the url can be a web url or a file url
viewController.pdfURL = url
        
self.navigationController?.pushViewController(viewController, animated: true)

It just awesome answer for me. +1 – iDeveloper Mar 16 '22 at 12:01 — iDeveloper, Mar 16 '22 at 12:01

score 5 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 19 '18 at 10:25

You can use this code in Swift 4

Import PDFKit

Copy this code

let pdfView = PDFView()        
pdfView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.addSubview(pdfView)

pdfView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
pdfView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.trailingAnchor).isActive = true
pdfView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.topAnchor).isActive = true
pdfView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.bottomAnchor).isActive = true

guard let path = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "test", withExtension: "pdf") else { return }

if let document = PDFDocument(url: path) {
    pdfView.document = document
}

How to close once the document is opened? – Md Rais Jun 26 '19 at 06:57 — Md Rais, Jun 26 '19 at 06:57

Prashant Gaikwad · Answer 10 · 2017-10-03T09:18:53.417

3

You can also use Quick Look Framework from Apple.

It is very flexible.

You can show your PDF file with zoom feature.

Also you have support for all other types (like png, jpg, docx, txt, rtf, xlsx, zip, mov, etc) of files and it is very easy to use.

Please refer this answer if you want detail description of using QuickLook.framework

edited Oct 03 '17 at 09:18

answered Sep 28 '17 at 09:48

Prashant Gaikwad

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score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 23 '20 at 18:05

A modernized version of Akila's answer, with the benefit that it is a drop in, ready to use UIViewController that you can integrate into your app.

import UIKit
import PDFKit

final class PDFViewController: UIViewController {
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        let pdfView = PDFView(frame: view.frame)
        
        title = "Your_title_here"
        
        if let url = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "document_name_here", withExtension: "pdf"),
            let pdfDocument = PDFDocument(url: url) {
            pdfView.displayMode = .singlePageContinuous
            pdfView.autoScales = true
            pdfView.displayDirection = .vertical
            pdfView.document = pdfDocument
            
            view.addSubview(pdfView)
        }
    }
}

It creates the PDFView during viewDidLoad and sets it to use the view's frame
The URL for the PDF file is safely unwrapped from the bundle and then a PDFDocument is created, if possible
Some common settings are used. Adjust as needed
Finally, it adds the PDFView as a subview of the controller's view

Sambit Das · Answer 12 · 2021-03-20T18:36:20.317

//In Swift 5

    class PDFBookViewController: UIViewController, PDFViewDelegate {
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        addPDFView()  
    }
    
    private func addPDFView() {
        let pdfView = PDFView()
        pdfView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        pdfContenerView.addSubview(pdfView)
    
        pdfView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: pdfContenerView.safeAreaLayoutGuide.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
        pdfView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: pdfContenerView.safeAreaLayoutGuide.trailingAnchor).isActive = true
        pdfView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: pdfContenerView.safeAreaLayoutGuide.topAnchor).isActive = true
        pdfView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: pdfContenerView.safeAreaLayoutGuide.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
        
        pdfView.autoScales = true
        pdfView.displayMode = .singlePageContinuous
        pdfView.displayDirection = .vertical
        
        ///Open pdf with help of FileManager URL
        if let dir = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first {
            let bookWithPdf = "\(bookname).pdf"
            let fileURL = dir.appendingPathComponent(bookWithPdf)
            let document = PDFDocument(url: fileURL)
            pdfView.document = document
        } 
  @IBAction func backButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
            navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
        } 
}

score 1 · Answer 13 · edited Sep 13 '22 at 06:11

1

if let url: URL = URL(string: "http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UIWebView_Class/UIWebView_Class.pdf") {
webView.loadRequest(URLRequest(url: url)) }

edited Sep 13 '22 at 06:11

Wai Ha Lee

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answered Sep 07 '22 at 17:26

santhosh

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score -1 · Answer 14 · edited Dec 17 '20 at 07:20

let openLink = NSURL(string : OtherContactorProfileVview.Result.CertificateList[index].CertificateFileLink)

if #available(iOS 9.0, *) {
    let svc = SFSafariViewController(url: openLink! as URL)
    present(svc, animated: true, completion: nil)
} else {
    let port = UIStoryboard(
        name: "Main",
        bundle: nil
    ).instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "PDFViewer") as! PDFViewer
    port.strUrl = OtherContactorProfileVview.Result.CertificateList[index].CertificateFileLink
    navigationController?.pushViewController(port, animated: true)
}

Open PDF file using swift

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