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Convert HTML + CSS to PDF with PHP?
Is it possible to convert a HTML page to PDF using PHP, and if so, how can it be done?
Specifically, the page is an invoice generated dynamically. So I would like it loaded using:
http://example.com/invoices/3333
And the HTML output would have to be converted to PDF.
Any good libraries that do this will be fine.
If you wish to create a pdf from php, pdflib will help you (as some others suggested).
Else, if you want to convert an HTML page to PDF via PHP, you'll find a little trouble outta here.. For 3 years I've been trying to do it as best as I can.
So, the options I know are:
DOMPDF : php class that wraps the html and builds the pdf. Works good, customizable (if you know php), based on pdflib, if I remember right it takes even some CSS. Bad news: slow when the html is big or complex.
HTML2PS: same as DOMPDF, but this one converts first to a .ps (ghostscript) file, then, to whatever format you need (pdf, jpg, png). For me is little better than dompdf, but has the same speed problem.. but, better compatibility with CSS.
Those two are php classes, but if you can install some software on the server, and access it throught passthru() or system(), give a look to these too:
wkhtmltopdf: based on webkit (safari's wrapper), is really fast and powerful.. seems like this is the best one (atm) for converting html pages to pdf on the fly; taking only 2 seconds for a 3 page xHTML document with CSS2. It is a recent project, anyway, the google.code page is often updated.
htmldoc : This one is a tank, it never really stops/crashes.. the project looks dead since 2007, but anyway if you don't need CSS compatibility this can be nice for you.
Related
I have worked on generating PDF about 3 years ago and used FPDF lib for this purpose. I remember it wasn't great as it was very limiting. I haven't got a chance to work on any other PDF related programming since.
I reckon many libraries came up to light during last few years. What is the best pdf generating lib for php that you can recommend nowadays? I would need to be able to include images or even 2 layers (image + text on it) so the lib should allow to do that easily
thanks
Why should not you try to prepare a html of your choice and convert it to pdf using htmltopdf generator. wkhtmltopdf is one among the best. Try to create a html template where you can pass your data and image space. Pass data to that html template and convert that html into pdf.
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Convert HTML + CSS to PDF with PHP?
What's the fastest, cleanest and best way to export from PHP a webpage (given URL) into PDF?
Hard. You wont be able to convert HTML to PDF just like that without any manipulation. One shot may be using mPDF, but that probabliy won't satisfy your needs, since it has limited HTML functionality.
The other way would be making a screenshot of a webpage and including it in PDF document, but you'll need specialized software, or at least libray. Read further on that topic.
You can go for TCPDF.
dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter. At its heart, dompdf is (mostly) CSS 2.1 compliant HTML layout and rendering engine written in PHP domPdf
I want to generate PDF from a PHP file that includes HTML controls like textbox, and textarea. I attached CSS in the same. I tried FPDF, DOMPDF and TCPDF, but still I don't get exactly what I want. How do I pass HTML controls with PHP variables and CSS to these libraries?
mpdf is another option that you could try.
EDIT :
Found another solution for it, TCPDF is a FLOSS PHP class for generating PDF documents. Looks more dominating library.
"PRINCEXML" is a good library (not completely free now).
Others:
If your meaning is to create a PDF file from PHP, pdflib will help you (as some other suggested).
Else, if you want to convert an HTML page in PDF via PHP, you'll find
a little trouble outta here.. For three years I have been trying to do it as best as I
can.
So, the options I know are:
HTML2PS: same of DOMPDF, but this one convert first in .ps
(Ghostscript), then, in whatever format you need (PDF, JPEG, PNG). For
me it is a little better than dompdf, but I have the same speed problem.. Oh,
it has better compatibility with CSS.
Those two are PHP classes, but if you can install some software on the
server, and access it through passthru() or system(), have a look at
these too:
wkhtmltopdf: based on webkit (safari's wrapper), is really fast and
powerful... It seem like it is the best one (atm) for converting HTML pages to PDF on the fly, taking only two seconds for a three pages XHTML document
with CSS 2. It is a recent project. Anyway, the Google Code page is often
updated.
htmldoc: this one is a tank, it really never stops orcrashes... The project
seems to have died in 2007, but anyway if you don't need CSS compatibility
this can be nice for you.
** Thumbs Up For Strae.
If I understand your needs correctly I don't think any PHP-PDF class would do that.
Mostly you could insert only text and images to a PDF file, so if you would want something that looks like an HTML element you would need to insert it as an image.
Usually just putting HTML doesn't mean all your elements would stay intact in the PDF . (Different world, after all)
http://www.fpdf.org/ is the site having a great HTML-to-PDF class which work well. I am using it, but you have to first study its functionality and then start.
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I have some HTML that includes bolding, italics, small tag, big tag, blockquote tag, bullets, and numbered items. I need to convert it to PDF via PHP. I tried FPDF, but it was entirely too complex. I tried the html2pdf PHP library, which uses FPDF, but it was very buggy and unreliable. What do you recommend?
Note: Imagine your typical resume. I'm needing to format something like that.
Take a look at FPDF
I've had a lot of success with dompdf.
Make sure you have valid HTML though, or it can get into a loop.
It's very simple to use - about 4 lines to convert an HTML file to a PDF.
I have had good experiences with PrinceXML. Their rendering engine is very good. Passes acid2 and has good .svg support so you can include vector images instead of bitmaps to keep the .PDF relatively small (which is important when generating reports which need to be sent as an attachment).
(note that princexml is proprietary software).
http://www.ros.co.nz/pdf/
I once used the above to turn incredibly complex architect's tile specifications into PDFs on a dynamic basis and it worked out well. I found the class very approachable and easily modifiable.
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Convert HTML + CSS to PDF with PHP?
I have a form with 5 fields, two of which are textboxes extended with tinyMCE, the rest are simple inputs of type text.
I need to generate a PDF from this input. I understand that I can use Zend_Pdf to generate the PDF and include the plain text data. But how, for example, can I include a bulleted list from the tinyMCE fields?
Would the best way be to create an HTML file, and then use for example DOMPDF or HTML2PDF? Ideally, I'd prefer to just use the zend framework to create the document, position and insert the fields, and save.
Thanks in advance.
More info in Convert HTML + CSS to PDF with PHP?.
In my experience, Prince XML was the Rolls Royce of such technologies so far away and above any of the other ones it's not even funny. It's expensive though. But I had all sorts of problems with all the others.
Some time ago I tried to use HTML to PDF conversion programs to convert... HTML to PDF, but in the end I gave up with that approach and just created the PDFs directly in code. I use fpdf (http://www.fpdf.org/) as a base and added supporting code for lists and grids etc.
I am using Prince XML mentioned by cletus. Results are very good, even with css styled html with floats etc. It's expensive, but it just works and saves a lots of time.
FPDF is very old library for PHP4. It propably won't even work nowadays. I'd recommend DOMPDF or TCPDF. They both are for PHP5+ and can eat HTML or CSS to some degree.
You could convert it all to HTML and then use openoffice or some other tool (pandoc is quite nifty too) to convert from HTML to PDF.
Alternatively, you could take a look at LiveDocx, which has php-bindings too. It's a hosted service, but you can use it without charge.
I personal recommend command line application instead of any php libraries.
Reasons :
PHP libraries need more time and memory (cache) for conversion process
They need well formatted html pages only, otherwise through errors or warning
Not support for external style sheet.
Command Line Tool:
If run your script on Linux server then I suggest command line tool.
Reasons :
They are extremely fast as compared to PHP libraries.
Support css.
Accept non well formatted html.
Which command line tool to use?
wkhtmltopdf
htmltopdf
html2pdf
for more information refer Converting HTML to PDF (not PDF to HTML) using PHP