If the numbers of characters have to to limit to particular numbers in the every line in the pdf template use substring(from,toExclusive) function.
<#assign desc_len=item.description?length><tr>
<td colspan="7" style="width: 309px;"><p style = "text-align:left;" >
<span style="color:#0f0e0e; "><#if desc_len < 50>${x}<#elseif desc_len > 100>${item.description?substring(0,50)}<br />${item.description?substring(50,100)}<br />${item.description?substring(50,desc_len)}<#else>${item.description?substring(0,50)}<br />${item.description?substring(50,desc_len)}</#if></span></p></td>