How to achieve per-phrase leading and alignment in OpenPDF ColumnText with inline rendering?

[balaji-pc]

I'm working on a custom PDF text layout using OpenPDF ColumnText and need to render multiple phrases, each with its own leading, character spacing, alignment, and styling. Currently, I use ct.addElement(Paragraph) for each phrase, which gives me paragraph-level leading and alignment but does not produce the desired inline text flow (phrases stack vertically with individual settings but don't flow as inline text). When I use ct.addText(Chunk) with manual positioning, I get inline rendering, but lose distinct leading and alignment for each phrase.

Here is the rendering I want to achieve (see third image, ignore font and color for now):

- Each phrase should have its own alignment (e.g. left, right), leading, and character spacing.
- Phrases should flow inline, respecting their individual settings, and wrap to the next line if needed.

What I've tried

• Using ct.addElement(Paragraph) for each phrase: I get individual leading and alignment but phrases appear stacked, not flowing inline.
• Using ct.addText(Chunk) for inline rendering: All phrases are in one paragraph, making it impossible to set individual alignment/leading for each phrase.

1. How can I achieve both paragraph-level control (leading, alignment per phrase) and inline text flow in ColumnText? Is there a workaround, or do I need to manually measure and position each phrase chunk?

2. Is there an OpenPDF idiom or workaround to achieve this, or do I need to process and position the phrases manually?

        `public void draw() {
                float llx = 41;
                float lly = 60;
                float urx = 289;
                float ury = 191;
                try (Document document = new Document(new Rectangle(llx, lly, urx, ury), 0, 0, 0, 0)) {
                    ByteArrayOutputStream os = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
                    PdfWriter writer = PdfWriter.getInstance(document, os);
                    writer.setViewerPreferences(PdfWriter.PrintScalingNone);
                    document.open();
                    PdfContentByte cb = writer.getDirectContent();
                    ColumnText ct = new ColumnText(cb);
                    ct.setSimpleColumn(43, 61, 288, 189);
                    BaseFont bf = BaseFont.createFont();
                    ct.setUseAscender(false);
                    Font font = new Font(bf, 12);
                    font.setColor(Color.GREEN);
                    float dAscent = font.getBaseFont().getAscentPoint("d", font.getSize());
                    System.out.println("defined dAscent baseline " + (ury - dAscent));
                    ct.setYLine(ury - dAscent);
                    ct.useDefaultFirstYLine(false);
                    ct.setFirstLineY(ury - dAscent);
                    String text1 = "Together ";
                    Chunk chunk1 = new Chunk(text1, font);
                    chunk1.setTextRenderMode(PdfContentByte.TEXT_RENDER_MODE_STROKE, 1, Color.red);
                    chunk1.setCharacterSpacing(0.4 f);
                    chunk1.setHorizontalScaling(1);
                    Paragraph paragraph1 = new Paragraph(chunk1);
                    paragraph1.setLeading(14);
                    paragraph1.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_RIGHT);
                    ct.addElement(paragraph1);
                    String text2 = "with their  Parents";
                    Chunk chunk2 = new Chunk(text2, font);
                    chunk2.setTextRenderMode(PdfContentByte.TEXT_RENDER_MODE_STROKE, 1, Color.GREEN);
                    chunk2.setCharacterSpacing(0.3 f);
                    chunk2.setHorizontalScaling(1);
                    Paragraph paragraph2 = new Paragraph(chunk2);
                    paragraph2.setLeading(12);
                    paragraph2.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_LEFT);
                    ct.addElement(paragraph2);
                    String text3 = "Bella Sydney and george Thomas invite";
                    Chunk chunk3 = new Chunk(text3, font);
                    chunk3.setTextRenderMode(PdfContentByte.TEXT_RENDER_MODE_STROKE, 1, Color.PINK);
                    chunk3.setCharacterSpacing(0.3 f);
                    chunk3.setHorizontalScaling(1);
                    Paragraph paragraph3 = new Paragraph(chunk3);
                    paragraph3.setLeading(12);
                    paragraph3.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_RIGHT);
                    ct.addElement(paragraph3);
                    ct.go();
                    System.out.println("Alignment " + ct.getAlignment());
                    document.close();
                    File outputPDF = new File("target/columnTextUserBaselineTest.pdf");
                    FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(outputPDF);
                    fos.write(os.toByteArray());
                    fos.close();
                }
                '