From bcf957cabd33a3e32ea288fb21629c881d45016e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jbranchaud <jbranchaud@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:58:37 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add Generate Sample PDFs With ReportLab as a Python TIL

---
 README.md                                     |  3 +-
 python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md | 44 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b93d6f..c9ff5f8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ working across different projects via [VisualMode](https://www.visualmode.dev/).
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://visualmode.kit.com/newsletter).
 
-_1869 TILs and counting..._
+_1870 TILs and counting..._
 
 See some of the other learning resources I work on:
 
@@ -1105,6 +1105,7 @@ If you've learned something here, support my efforts writing daily TILs by
 - [Escape Curly Braces Within Formatted String](python/escape-curly-braces-within-formatted-string.md)
 - [Experiment With SQLite Queries In Memory](python/experiment-with-sqlite-queries-in-memory.md)
 - [Force Remaining Arguments To Be Named](python/force-remaining-arguments-to-be-named.md)
+- [Generate Sample PDFs With ReportLab](python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md)
 - [Get Absolute Seconds From `timedelta` Object](python/get-absolute-seconds-from-timedelta-object.md)
 - [Get Quotient And Remainder In One Operation](python/get-quotient-and-remainder-in-one-operation.md)
 - [Globally Install CLI Tool With UV](python/globally-install-cli-tool-with-uv.md)
diff --git a/python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md b/python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b85fe86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/generate-sample-pdfs-with-reportlab.md
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Generate Sample PDFs With ReportLab
+
+The `reportlab` package has a `pdfgen` module that provides a `Canvas` API for
+programmatically constructing a PDF.
+
+I recently needed the most basic use of this to quickly construct a sample PDF
+that I could use as I experimented with [different `qpdf`
+commands](/workflow/remove-pages-from-a-pdf.md). I wanted to generate a 10-page
+PDF where each page included a large font number in the center. This way I could
+clearly see what was the first, second, third, and so on pages. Then I could
+quickly verify that the `qpdf` manipulations I was doing were working as
+expected.
+
+I was able to do this without any setup or install. Using a `uv` one-liner (does
+a 10-line heredoc count as a one-liner?), I generated a PDF with some basic
+canvas rendering on each page.
+
+```python
+❯ uv run --with reportlab python - <<'EOF'
+from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
+N, W, H = 10, 612, 792
+c = canvas.Canvas("test.pdf", pagesize=(W, H))
+for i in range(1, N + 1):
+    c.setFont("Helvetica-Bold", 220)
+    c.drawCentredString(W / 2, H / 2 - 80, str(i))
+    c.setFont("Helvetica", 28)
+    c.drawCentredString(W / 2, 100, f"page {i} of {N}")
+    c.showPage()
+c.save()
+EOF
+```
+
+The `--with` makes the `reportlab` package available to the command being run.
+The command being run is `python` which evaluates that block of heredoc text.
+
+Within the heredoc, I import `canvas` from the `reportlab` package that has been
+made available. I then create an in-memory PDF of a standard size. Then for-loop
+10 times to build each page of the PDF with a big number in the middle and a
+smaller `page x of N` lower down on the page. Finally, I save the PDF which
+writes it to the directory I executed this whole command from.
+
+I had Claude help with the `canvas` API, however there are some decent
+[`reportlab.pdfgen` docs
+here](https://docs.reportlab.com/reportlab/userguide/ch2_graphics/).