pdf-creator

name

pdf-creator

description

Creates professional Microsoft-branded PDF documents with cover pages, 4-color palette, tables, charts, headers/footers, and executive formatting using Python and reportlab. USE FOR: create PDF, generate pdf, build PDF report, Microsoft branded PDF, PDF proposal, PDF whitepaper, executive PDF, PDF with charts, PDF with tables. DO NOT USE FOR: Word documents (use docx-creator), presentations (use pptx-creator), Excel (use xlsx-creator), diagrams (use figjam-diagrams).

PDF Creator

Create professional Microsoft-branded PDF documents (.pdf) using Python and reportlab with enterprise-grade formatting, cover pages, tables, charts, headers/footers, and the Microsoft 4-color palette.

Technology

All PDF files are generated using Python 3 + reportlab. The agent writes a Python script, executes it, and delivers the .pdf file.

Required Package

pip install reportlab

If not installed, the agent installs it automatically before generating.

Branding Defaults

Color Palette (Microsoft Brand)

Element	Hex	reportlab Color	Use For
Primary Blue	#0078D4	HexColor('#0078D4')	Headers, title bars, section dividers
Red	#F25022	HexColor('#F25022')	Alerts, risks, critical items
Green	#7FBA00	HexColor('#7FBA00')	Success, positive metrics, completed
Blue	#00A4EF	HexColor('#00A4EF')	Info, links, secondary elements
Yellow	#FFB900	HexColor('#FFB900')	Warnings, in-progress, highlights
Dark Green	#107C10	HexColor('#107C10')	Confirmed, healthy status
Red Alert	#E81123	HexColor('#E81123')	Security, blocked, critical
Teal	#008272	HexColor('#008272')	Infrastructure, monitoring
Purple	#5C2D91	HexColor('#5C2D91')	AI, modernization
Orange	#D83B01	HexColor('#D83B01')	Manual actions, human steps
Text Primary	#323130	HexColor('#323130')	Body text
Text Secondary	#605E5C	HexColor('#605E5C')	Captions, metadata, footers
Background Light	#F3F2F1	HexColor('#F3F2F1')	Alternating table rows
Background White	#FFFFFF	colors.white	Page background
Border Gray	#D2D0CE	HexColor('#D2D0CE')	Table borders

4-Color Bar

Every PDF includes the Microsoft 4-color gradient bar on the cover page and as a thin line in the header:

from reportlab.lib.colors import HexColor

def draw_4color_bar(canvas, x, y, width, height=4):
    """Draw the Microsoft 4-color bar."""
    segment = width / 4
    bar_colors = [
        HexColor('#F25022'),  # Red
        HexColor('#7FBA00'),  # Green
        HexColor('#00A4EF'),  # Blue
        HexColor('#FFB900'),  # Yellow
    ]
    for i, color in enumerate(bar_colors):
        canvas.setFillColor(color)
        canvas.rect(x + i * segment, y, segment, height, fill=1, stroke=0)

Fonts

reportlab includes Helvetica by default. For Microsoft branding, register Segoe UI if available:

from reportlab.pdfbase import pdfmetrics
from reportlab.pdfbase.ttfonts import TTFont
import os

# Try to register Segoe UI (available on Windows/macOS with Office installed)
segoe_paths = [
    '/Library/Fonts/Segoe UI.ttf',
    '/System/Library/Fonts/SegoeUI.ttf',
    'C:/Windows/Fonts/segoeui.ttf',
]
FONT_NAME = 'Helvetica'  # Fallback
for path in segoe_paths:
    if os.path.exists(path):
        pdfmetrics.registerFont(TTFont('SegoeUI', path))
        FONT_NAME = 'SegoeUI'
        break

Element	Font	Size	Style
Cover title	FONT_NAME	28pt	Bold
Cover subtitle	FONT_NAME	16pt	Regular
Section heading (H1)	FONT_NAME	18pt	Bold, #0078D4
Subsection heading (H2)	FONT_NAME	14pt	Bold, #323130
Body text	FONT_NAME	10pt	Regular, #323130
Table header	FONT_NAME	10pt	Bold, White on #0078D4
Table body	FONT_NAME	9pt	Regular
Footer	FONT_NAME	8pt	Italic, #605E5C
KPI number	FONT_NAME	36pt	Bold
KPI label	FONT_NAME	10pt	Regular, #605E5C

Document Structure

Page Setup

from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import A4

PAGE_WIDTH, PAGE_HEIGHT = A4
MARGIN_LEFT = 60
MARGIN_RIGHT = 60
MARGIN_TOP = 60
MARGIN_BOTTOM = 50
CONTENT_WIDTH = PAGE_WIDTH - MARGIN_LEFT - MARGIN_RIGHT

Page 1: Cover Page

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [4-color bar across full width]        │
│                                         │
│         (vertical spacer ~200pt)        │
│                                         │
│         DOCUMENT TITLE                  │
│         28pt Bold, #0078D4              │
│                                         │
│         Subtitle or Description         │
│         16pt Regular, #605E5C           │
│                                         │
│         (vertical spacer ~100pt)        │
│                                         │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────┐       │
│  │  Author: {{author_name}}    │       │
│  │  Date: {{date}}             │       │
│  │  Version: {{version}}       │       │
│  │  Client: {{client_name}}    │       │
│  │  Status: {{status}}         │       │
│  └──────────────────────────────┘       │
│                                         │
│  Microsoft Confidential                 │
│  [4-color bar across full width]        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Content Pages

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [thin 4-color bar - 2px]              │
│  Document Title          Page X of Y    │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────  │
│                                         │
│  ## Section Title                       │
│  Body text...                           │
│                                         │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────┐        │
│  │  Table with branded headers │        │
│  │  Alternating row colors     │        │
│  └─────────────────────────────┘        │
│                                         │
│  Body text continues...                 │
│                                         │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────  │
│  {{client_name}} | v{{version}} | Conf  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Table Formatting

from reportlab.lib import colors
from reportlab.platypus import Table, TableStyle

def create_branded_table(data, col_widths=None):
    """Create a Microsoft-branded table."""
    table = Table(data, colWidths=col_widths)
    style = TableStyle([
        # Header row
        ('BACKGROUND', (0, 0), (-1, 0), HexColor('#0078D4')),
        ('TEXTCOLOR', (0, 0), (-1, 0), colors.white),
        ('FONTNAME', (0, 0), (-1, 0), FONT_NAME),
        ('FONTSIZE', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 10),
        ('BOTTOMPADDING', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 8),
        ('TOPPADDING', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 8),

        # Body rows
        ('FONTNAME', (0, 1), (-1, -1), FONT_NAME),
        ('FONTSIZE', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 9),
        ('BOTTOMPADDING', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 6),
        ('TOPPADDING', (0, 1), (-1, -1), 6),
        ('TEXTCOLOR', (0, 1), (-1, -1), HexColor('#323130')),

        # Alternating rows
        *[('BACKGROUND', (0, i), (-1, i),
           HexColor('#F3F2F1') if i % 2 == 0 else colors.white)
          for i in range(1, len(data))],

        # Borders
        ('GRID', (0, 0), (-1, -1), 0.5, HexColor('#D2D0CE')),
        ('LINEBELOW', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 1.5, HexColor('#0078D4')),

        # Alignment
        ('ALIGN', (0, 0), (-1, 0), 'CENTER'),
        ('VALIGN', (0, 0), (-1, -1), 'MIDDLE'),
    ])
    table.setStyle(style)
    return table

Header and Footer

def add_header_footer(canvas, doc, title, client_name, version):
    """Add branded header and footer to every page."""
    canvas.saveState()
    width, height = A4

    # Header: 4-color bar (2px)
    draw_4color_bar(canvas, 0, height - 15, width, height=2)

    # Header: title left, page number right
    canvas.setFont(FONT_NAME, 8)
    canvas.setFillColor(HexColor('#605E5C'))
    canvas.drawString(MARGIN_LEFT, height - 35, title)
    canvas.drawRightString(width - MARGIN_RIGHT, height - 35,
                          f"Page {doc.page}")

    # Footer: separator line
    canvas.setStrokeColor(HexColor('#D2D0CE'))
    canvas.line(MARGIN_LEFT, 35, width - MARGIN_RIGHT, 35)

    # Footer: text
    canvas.setFont(FONT_NAME, 7)
    canvas.setFillColor(HexColor('#605E5C'))
    canvas.drawString(MARGIN_LEFT, 22,
                     f"{client_name} | v{version} | Confidential")
    canvas.drawRightString(width - MARGIN_RIGHT, 22,
                          f"Page {doc.page}")

    canvas.restoreState()

Document Types

Type	Sections	Key Features
Report	Executive Summary, Findings, Analysis, Recommendations, References	Tables, metrics, charts
Proposal	Context, Solution, Approach, Timeline, Investment, Next Steps	Value tables, roadmap
Whitepaper	Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Conclusion, References	Academic style, citations
Assessment	Scope, Methodology, Findings, Scoring, Recommendations, Appendix	Radar charts, heatmaps, scoring tables
Guide	Overview, Prerequisites, Steps, Troubleshooting, FAQ, Appendix	Numbered steps, code blocks, callouts
Executive Brief	Context, Key Findings, Recommendations, Next Steps	2-4 pages, KPI cards, concise

Callout Boxes

from reportlab.platypus import Paragraph, Spacer
from reportlab.lib.styles import ParagraphStyle

def create_callout(text, callout_type='info'):
    """Create a colored callout box."""
    colors_map = {
        'info': ('#E8F4FD', '#0078D4'),
        'warning': ('#FFF3E0', '#FFB900'),
        'success': ('#E8F5E9', '#107C10'),
        'critical': ('#FDEDED', '#E81123'),
    }
    bg, border = colors_map.get(callout_type, colors_map['info'])
    style = ParagraphStyle(
        'Callout',
        fontName=FONT_NAME,
        fontSize=9,
        leading=13,
        textColor=HexColor('#323130'),
        backColor=HexColor(bg),
        borderColor=HexColor(border),
        borderWidth=2,
        borderPadding=10,
        leftIndent=4,
        spaceBefore=8,
        spaceAfter=8,
    )
    return Paragraph(text, style)

KPI Cards

def create_kpi_card(canvas, x, y, value, label, color='#0078D4', width=120, height=70):
    """Draw a KPI card with large number and label."""
    # Background
    canvas.setFillColor(HexColor('#FFFFFF'))
    canvas.setStrokeColor(HexColor(color))
    canvas.setLineWidth(2)
    canvas.roundRect(x, y, width, height, 6, fill=1, stroke=1)

    # Value
    canvas.setFont(FONT_NAME, 28)
    canvas.setFillColor(HexColor(color))
    canvas.drawCentredString(x + width/2, y + height - 35, str(value))

    # Label
    canvas.setFont(FONT_NAME, 8)
    canvas.setFillColor(HexColor('#605E5C'))
    canvas.drawCentredString(x + width/2, y + 10, label)

Factual Integrity

• NEVER fabricate metrics, KPIs, ROI figures, market data, or statistics
• Only use data from: workspace context, user-provided materials, or credible official sources
• Every metric or market claim MUST include a source citation
• If no credible source exists, state as assumption or omit entirely
• Add a References section at the end of every document
• Use footnote-style citations: "...reduced costs by 40% [1]"

Versioning and Archiving

• Filename: {Title}_v{version}_{YYYY-MM-DD}.pdf
• Save to: output/pdf/
• Archive previous: output/pdf/archive/
• Cover page MUST show: title, version, date, author, client

Script Template

from reportlab.lib import colors
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import A4
from reportlab.lib.colors import HexColor
from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet, ParagraphStyle
from reportlab.lib.units import mm, inch
from reportlab.platypus import (
    SimpleDocTemplate, Paragraph, Spacer, Table, TableStyle,
    PageBreak, Image, KeepTogether
)
from reportlab.pdfbase import pdfmetrics
from datetime import date
import os

# === CONFIG ===
TITLE = "{{title}}"
SUBTITLE = "{{subtitle}}"
CLIENT = "{{client_name}}"
AUTHOR = "{{author_name}}"
VERSION = "{{version}}"
DATE = date.today().isoformat()

# === COLORS ===
BLUE = HexColor('#0078D4')
RED = HexColor('#F25022')
GREEN = HexColor('#7FBA00')
LIGHT_BLUE = HexColor('#00A4EF')
YELLOW = HexColor('#FFB900')
TEXT = HexColor('#323130')
TEXT_LIGHT = HexColor('#605E5C')
BG_ALT = HexColor('#F3F2F1')
BORDER = HexColor('#D2D0CE')

# === BUILD ===
filename = f"{TITLE.replace(' ', '_')}_v{VERSION}_{DATE}.pdf"
filepath = f"output/pdf/{filename}"
doc = SimpleDocTemplate(filepath, pagesize=A4,
    leftMargin=60, rightMargin=60, topMargin=60, bottomMargin=50)

story = []
# ... build content ...
doc.build(story, onFirstPage=on_cover_page, onLaterPages=on_content_page)
print(f"Created: {filepath}")

Quality Checklist

• Cover page has title, subtitle, date, author, version, client, 4-color bar
• All section headings use #0078D4 blue
• Tables have branded headers (blue background, white text)
• Alternating row colors on all tables
• Header with 4-color bar and title on every content page
• Footer with client name, version, confidentiality, page numbers
• KPI cards use Microsoft brand colors with large numbers
• Callout boxes use appropriate colors (info/warning/success/critical)
• Fonts are consistent throughout (Segoe UI or Helvetica fallback)
• No fabricated data — all metrics have source citations
• References section present with all cited sources
• Filename follows {Title}_v{version}_{date}.pdf pattern
• Saved to output/pdf/ with previous version archived