Laravel Mpdf Laravel Package

Getting Started

First Steps

1. Installation Add the package via Composer:

   composer require carlos-meneses/laravel-mpdf
   

   Publish the config file (optional but recommended for customization):

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="CarlosMeneses\Mpdf\MpdfServiceProvider" --tag="config"
   

2. Basic Usage Generate a PDF from a Blade view:

   use CarlosMeneses\Mpdf\Facades\Mpdf;
   
   $pdf = Mpdf::loadView('pdf.template', ['data' => $yourData]);
   return $pdf->stream('document.pdf'); // Stream to browser
   // OR
   return $pdf->download('document.pdf'); // Force download
   

3. Quick Example Create a Blade template (resources/views/pdf/template.blade.php):

   <h1>{{ $data['title'] }}</h1>
   <p>{{ $data['content'] }}</p>
   

   Trigger PDF generation in a controller:

   public function generatePdf() {
       return Mpdf::loadView('pdf.template', ['title' => 'Hello', 'content' => 'World!'])
           ->stream('output.pdf');
   }
   

Implementation Patterns

Common Workflows

1. Dynamic PDF Generation Pass dynamic data to Blade views:

   $pdf = Mpdf::loadView('invoice', ['user' => $user, 'items' => $items]);
   

2. Reusing PDF Logic Create a service class for reusable PDF generation:

   class PdfGenerator {
       public function generateInvoice($user, $items) {
           return Mpdf::loadView('invoice', compact('user', 'items'))
               ->setPaper('A4', 'portrait')
               ->setCss('public/css/pdf.css');
       }
   }
   

3. Custom Headers/Footers Use setHeader() and setFooter():

   $pdf = Mpdf::loadView('report')
       ->setHeader('Header Text')
       ->setFooter('Page {PAGENO} of {nb}');
   

4. HTML-to-PDF Conversion Convert raw HTML strings:

   $html = '<h1>Dynamic Content</h1><p>' . $dynamicText . '</p>';
   return Mpdf::loadHtml($html)->stream('dynamic.pdf');
   

5. PDF Merging Combine multiple PDFs:

   $pdf1 = Mpdf::loadView('page1');
   $pdf2 = Mpdf::loadView('page2');
   $merged = Mpdf::merge([$pdf1->getContent(), $pdf2->getContent()]);
   return $merged->stream('merged.pdf');
   

6. Storing PDFs Save PDFs to storage:

   $pdf = Mpdf::loadView('document');
   $path = storage_path('app/documents/example.pdf');
   file_put_contents($path, $pdf->getContent());
   

Integration Tips

• Laravel Queues: Dispatch PDF generation jobs for async processing:

  GeneratePdfJob::dispatch($userId, $template)->onQueue('pdfs');
  

• Laravel Notifications: Attach PDFs to notifications:

  Notification::route('mail', $user->email)
      ->notify(new InvoicePaid($invoice, $pdfPath));
  

• API Responses: Return PDFs as API responses:

  return response($pdf->getContent(), 200, [
      'Content-Type' => 'application/pdf',
      'Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="report.pdf"',
  ]);
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. CSS Issues

   • MPDF has limited CSS support. Use its built-in CSS or inline styles.
   • Fix: Avoid complex layouts; test with setCss() for custom stylesheets.

2. Memory Limits

   • Large PDFs may hit PHP memory limits.
   • Fix: Increase memory_limit in php.ini or optimize Blade templates.

3. Font Problems

   • Custom fonts require manual installation in MPDF.
   • Fix: Use setFont() or add fonts via config/mpdf.php:

     'fontdir' => [public_path('fonts'), __DIR__.'/fonts'],
     

4. Blade Directives

   • Some Blade directives (e.g., @stack) may not work as expected.
   • Fix: Use raw PHP or simplify Blade logic.

5. Caching

   • MPDF caches compiled templates. Clear cache if changes aren’t reflected:

     php artisan mpdf:clear-cache
     

Debugging Tips

• Inspect HTML: Use Mpdf::loadHtml($html)->output() to debug rendering.
• Log Errors: Enable MPDF error logging in config/mpdf.php:

  'mode' => 'utf-8',
  'log' => true,
  'log_file' => storage_path('logs/mpdf.log'),
  

• Check Config: Validate config/mpdf.php settings (e.g., default_font, format).

Extension Points

1. Custom MPDF Class Extend the MPDF class for reusable settings:

   namespace App\Services;
   
   use CarlosMeneses\Mpdf\Mpdf;
   
   class CustomMpdf extends Mpdf {
       public function __construct() {
           parent::__construct();
           $this->setDefaultFont('dejavusans');
           $this->setPaper('A4', 'portrait');
       }
   }
   

   Register the binding in AppServiceProvider:

   $this->app->bind(Mpdf::class, function () {
       return new CustomMpdf();
   });
   

2. Middleware for PDFs Add auth/validation middleware to PDF routes:

   Route::get('/pdf/invoice', function () {
       return Mpdf::loadView('invoice', ['user' => auth()->user()]);
   })->middleware('auth');
   

3. Event Listeners Trigger events for PDF generation (e.g., logging):

   Mpdf::event('generating', function ($pdf) {
       Log::info('Generating PDF', ['template' => $pdf->getView(), 'user' => auth()->id()]);
   });