How to Replace Text in a PDF

What Parameters Does replaceText Need?

```java :title=Replace Text Example import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*; import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection; import java.io.IOException;

/**

• Main application class for demonstrating how to replace text in a PDF. */ public class App {

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

  // Set the IronPDF license key - required for production use
  License.setLicenseKey("IRONPDF-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01");
  
  // Render HTML content into a PDF
  // This creates a new PDF from HTML content
  PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>.NET6</h1>");
  
  // Define the old and new text for replacement
  String oldText = ".NET6";  // Text to search for
  String newText = ".NET7";  // Replacement text
  
  // Replace all instances of oldText with newText on the first page
  // PageSelection.firstPage() targets only the first page (index 0)
  pdf.replaceText(PageSelection.firstPage(), oldText, newText);
  
  // Save the resulting PDF document
  pdf.saveAs("replaceText.pdf");

  } }

The replaceText method performs case-sensitive matching by default. "net6" and "NET6" are treated as different strings. When working with HTML to PDF conversions, ensure your search text matches exactly how it appears in the rendered PDF. For more advanced text operations, consider extracting text from PDFs to verify content before replacement.

What Does the Output Look Like?

Which Pages Can I Target for Text Replacement?

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Main application class for demonstrating how to replace text on multiple pages of a PDF.
 */
public class App {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        // Set the IronPDF license key - see https://ironpdf.com/java/licensing/
        License.setLicenseKey("IRONPDF-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01");

        // HTML content that will be converted to a 3-page PDF
        // Page breaks are created using CSS page-break-after property
        String html = "<p> .NET6 </p>" +
                      "<p> This is 1st Page </p>" +
                      "<div style='page-break-after: always;'></div>" +
                      "<p> This is 2nd Page</p>" +
                      "<div style='page-break-after: always;'></div>" +
                      "<p> .NET6 </p>" +
                      "<p> This is 3rd Page</p>";

        // Render the HTML content into a PDF
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(html);

        // Define the old and new text for replacement
        String oldText = ".NET6";
        String newText = ".NET7";

        // Define the pages where text replacement should occur 
        // Page numbers are zero-indexed: 0 = first page, 2 = third page
        List<Integer> pages = Arrays.asList(0, 2);

        // Replace the text on specified pages only
        // The second page (index 1) will remain unchanged
        pdf.replaceText(PageSelection.pageRange(pages), oldText, newText);

        // Save the resulting PDF document
        pdf.saveAs("replaceTextOnMultiplePages.pdf");
    }
}

import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.*;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Main application class for demonstrating how to replace text on multiple pages of a PDF.
 */
public class App {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        // Set the IronPDF license key - see https://ironpdf.com/java/licensing/
        License.setLicenseKey("IRONPDF-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01");

        // HTML content that will be converted to a 3-page PDF
        // Page breaks are created using CSS page-break-after property
        String html = "<p> .NET6 </p>" +
                      "<p> This is 1st Page </p>" +
                      "<div style='page-break-after: always;'></div>" +
                      "<p> This is 2nd Page</p>" +
                      "<div style='page-break-after: always;'></div>" +
                      "<p> .NET6 </p>" +
                      "<p> This is 3rd Page</p>";

        // Render the HTML content into a PDF
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderHtmlAsPdf(html);

        // Define the old and new text for replacement
        String oldText = ".NET6";
        String newText = ".NET7";

        // Define the pages where text replacement should occur 
        // Page numbers are zero-indexed: 0 = first page, 2 = third page
        List<Integer> pages = Arrays.asList(0, 2);

        // Replace the text on specified pages only
        // The second page (index 1) will remain unchanged
        pdf.replaceText(PageSelection.pageRange(pages), oldText, newText);

        // Save the resulting PDF document
        pdf.saveAs("replaceTextOnMultiplePages.pdf");
    }
}

When creating multi-page PDFs from HTML, understanding custom PDF page sizes and page orientation settings helps ensure content displays correctly across all pages before applying text replacements.

What Happens When I Skip Pages During Replacement?

Which Methods Target Single vs Multiple Pages?

• allPages: Selects all pages of the PDF
• firstPage: Selects the first page of the PDF
• lastPage: Selects the last page of the PDF
• pageRange(int startIndex, int endIndex): Specifies a range of pages (e.g., 0 to 2 selects pages 1–3)
• pageRange(List<Integer> pageList): Selects specific pages from a list (e.g., [0, 2] selects pages 1 and 3)
• singlePage(int pageIndex): Specifies a single page of the PDF

When Should I Use Each PageSelection Method?

Use firstPage() or lastPage() for quick edits to document headers and footers. Choose pageRange() when updating multiple sequential pages like chapters. Select singlePage() for targeted corrections, and apply allPages() for global find-and-replace operations across the entire document.

When working with merged PDFs, use pageRange() to update only pages from a specific source document. Similarly, when handling documents with bookmarks and outlines, target specific sections using their page ranges.