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Creating Custom Layout Tables with RadPdfProcessing

Updated on Jun 5, 2026

Environment

Version	Product	Author
2024.3.806	RadPdfProcessing	Desislava Yordanova

Creating tables with customized layouts, including varying column spans, is a common requirement for document processing. This article demonstrates how to achieve a table with multiple rows, each with a different column layout, by using the RadPdfProcessing library.

The following image shows a sample design for such a custom layout:

Custom Table design

Solution

Before starting with the solution, divide the table columns with red lines for better understanding of how to build the layout:

Divided Table design

To create a table with varying column layouts, follow the steps below:

Define a Table and set its LayoutType to AutoFit. Customize the DefaultCellProperties to set padding and borders for the cells.
Add table rows by using table.Rows.AddTableRow().
For each row, add cells by using row.Cells.AddTableCell(). Customize each cell's content by adding blocks of text with specific styles (for example, font family, font style, and font weight).
To change the column layout, set the ColumnSpan property of the cells accordingly.
To adjust the row height, insert content with the desired height in each cell or use the Padding property for minor adjustments.

The following example demonstrates the setup:

csharp


        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            RadFixedDocument fixedDocument = new RadFixedDocument();
            RadFixedPage page = new RadFixedPage();
            page.Size = new Size(1200, 800);
            fixedDocument.Pages.Add(page);
            
            FixedContentEditor editor = new FixedContentEditor(page);
            editor.Position.Translate(Unit.CmToDip(2), Unit.CmToDip(2)); 

            editor.DrawTable(GenerateCustomTable()); 

            string outputFilePath = "sample.pdf";
            File.Delete(outputFilePath);
            PdfFormatProvider provider = new PdfFormatProvider();

            using (Stream output = File.OpenWrite(outputFilePath))
            {
                provider.Export(fixedDocument, output);
            }
            Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo() { FileName = outputFilePath, UseShellExecute = true });
        }

        private static Table GenerateCustomTable()
        {
            Border blackBorder = new Border(1, new RgbColor(0, 0, 0));
            Table table = new Table
            {
                LayoutType = TableLayoutType.AutoFit,
                DefaultCellProperties =
                {
            Padding = new Thickness(5, 5, 5, 5),
            Borders = new TableCellBorders(blackBorder, blackBorder, blackBorder, blackBorder)
                }
            };

            TableRow row = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell = row.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Truck-Reference");
            cell.ColumnSpan = 5;
            TableCell cell2 = row.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell2.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Date:");
            cell2.ColumnSpan = 2;

            TableRow row2 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell3 = row2.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell3.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Appointment:");
            cell3.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row3 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell4 = row3.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell4.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "CtrNr.:");
            cell4.ColumnSpan = 2;
            TableCell cell5 = row3.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell5.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Type:");
            cell5.ColumnSpan = 2;
            TableCell cell6 = row3.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell6.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Tara(kg):");
            cell6.ColumnSpan = 2;
            TableCell cell7 = row3.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell7.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Net(kg):");
            cell7.ColumnSpan = 1;

            TableRow row4 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell8 = row4.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell8.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Content:");
            cell8.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row5 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell9 = row5.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell9.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "License Truck:");
            cell9.ColumnSpan = 3;
            TableCell cell10 = row5.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell10.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Trailer:");
            cell10.ColumnSpan = 4;

            TableRow row6 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell11 = row6.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell11.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Full Cont.:");
            cell11.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row7 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell12 = row7.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell12.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Depot:");
            cell12.ColumnSpan = 3;
            TableCell cell13 = row7.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell13.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Available:");
            cell13.ColumnSpan = 4;

            TableRow row8 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell14 = row8.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell14.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Loadingplace:");
            cell14.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row9 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell15 = row9.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell15.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Reference:");
            cell15.ColumnSpan = 3;
            TableCell cell16 = row9.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell16.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Origin:");
            cell16.ColumnSpan = 4;

            TableRow row10 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell17 = row10.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell17.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Info Driver:");
            cell17.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row11 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell18 = row11.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell18.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Remarks:");
            cell18.ColumnSpan = 7;

            TableRow row12 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell19 = row12.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell19.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Customs:");
            cell19.ColumnSpan = 1;
            TableCell cell20 = row12.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell20.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Procedure:");
            cell20.ColumnSpan = 4;
            TableCell cell21 = row12.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell21.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Info:");
            cell21.ColumnSpan = 2;

            TableRow row13 = table.Rows.AddTableRow();
            TableCell cell22 = row13.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell22.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Arrical/Date/Time:");
            cell22.ColumnSpan = 1;
            TableCell cell23 = row13.Cells.AddTableCell();
            cell23.Blocks.AddBlock().InsertText(new FontFamily("Helvetica"), FontStyles.Normal, FontWeights.Normal, "Date/Stamp/Signature:");
            cell23.ColumnSpan = 6;

            return table;
        }

The code snippet produces the following result:

Achieved Table design

When using the ColumnSpan functionality, pay attention to two important things:

The rows that contain cells with ColumnSpan must contain fewer text blocks. For example, if ColumnSpan is 4, you need to insert four fewer text blocks for this row. Skip adding the text block for the cells that participate in the ColumnSpan functionality.
For a column to exist and have a calculated width, it must contain at least one cell with content among the rows within the table.

Creating Custom Layout Tables with RadPdfProcessing

Environment

Description

Solution

See Also