Laravel Pdf Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Steps

1. Installation:

   composer require niklasravnsborg/laravel-pdf
   

   For Laravel < 5.5, manually add the service provider and facade to config/app.php.

2. Publish Config:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="niklasravnsborg\LaravelPdf\PdfServiceProvider"
   

   (Note: The package is archived; verify config compatibility with your Laravel version.)

3. First Use Case: Create a Blade view (resources/views/pdf/invoice.blade.php) and generate a PDF in a controller:

   use PDF;
   public function generateInvoice() {
       $data = ['invoice' => Invoice::find(1)];
       return PDF::loadView('pdf.invoice', $data)->stream('invoice.pdf');
   }
   

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflows

1. View-Based PDFs:

   • Use Blade templates (loadView) for dynamic content.
   • Pass data like a normal Laravel view:

     PDF::loadView('pdf.report', ['users' => User::all()])->stream();
     

2. Direct HTML Strings:

   • Generate PDFs from raw HTML strings (e.g., API responses):

     $html = '<h1>Hello</h1><p>World</p>';
     PDF::loadHtml($html)->stream('dynamic.pdf');
     

3. File Storage:

   • Save PDFs to disk instead of streaming:

     $pdf = PDF::loadView('pdf.manual', ['data' => $manual]);
     $pdf->save(storage_path('app/manual.pdf'));
     

4. Queueing for Async Generation:

   • Dispatch a job to generate PDFs in the background:

     GeneratePdfJob::dispatch($userId, 'receipt');
     

   (Note: Requires custom job class with PDF::loadView() logic.)

Integration Tips

• Laravel Mail: Attach PDFs to emails:

  Mail::send([], [], function($message) use ($pdf) {
      $message->subject('Your PDF');
      $message->attachData($pdf->output(), 'document.pdf');
  });
  

• Laravel Storage: Use Storage::disk('s3')->put() to upload PDFs to cloud storage.

• Dynamic Filenames: Use timestamps or model IDs:

  $filename = "invoice_{$invoice->id}_{$invoice->created_at->format('Y-m-d')}.pdf";
  PDF::loadView('pdf.invoice', ['invoice' => $invoice])->stream($filename);
  

• Custom mPDF Config: Override defaults via config (e.g., paper size, margins):

  PDF::loadView('pdf.document')->setOption('default', 'P')->setOption('format', 'A4');
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Deprecated Package:

   • The package is archived (last update: 2023-08-22). Use misterspelik/laravel-pdf for active maintenance.
   • Test thoroughly; some Laravel versions (e.g., 9.x) may require polyfills or config tweaks.

2. mPDF Version Conflicts:

   • The package bundles an older mpdf/mpdf version. Conflicts may arise with other packages using mPDF.
   • Fix: Use composer require mpdf/mpdf:^8.0 and configure the package to use the global mPDF instance.

3. Memory Limits:

   • Complex PDFs (e.g., large tables) may hit PHP’s memory_limit.
   • Tip: Increase memory_limit in php.ini or chunk data processing.

4. Font Issues:

   • Custom fonts may not render. Ensure fonts are installed on the server or use mPDF’s built-in fonts.
   • Workaround: Add fonts via mPDF’s setFontDir() or use @font-face in CSS (limited support).

5. Caching:

   • Blade views cached by Laravel may cause stale PDFs. Use ->stream() with unique filenames or disable caching for PDF routes.

Debugging

• Check mPDF Logs: Enable mPDF debugging in config/laravel-pdf.php:

  'debug' => true,
  

  Logs appear in Laravel’s storage/logs/laravel.log.

• Inspect HTML: Save the generated HTML to a file before PDF conversion to debug rendering:

  file_put_contents(storage_path('debug.html'), $pdf->getHtml());
  

• Common Errors:

  • "Class not found": Run composer dump-autoload.
  • "Call to undefined method": Verify method signatures (e.g., loadView vs. loadHtml).
  • Blank PDFs: Check for invalid HTML or missing CSS (use inline styles if needed).

Extension Points

1. Custom mPDF Instance: Override the default mPDF instance in a service provider:

   $this->app->bind('mpdf', function() {
       $mpdf = new \Mpdf\Mpdf(['mode' => 'utf-8', 'format' => 'A4']);
       return $mpdf;
   });
   

2. Middleware for PDFs: Add headers or auth checks:

   Route::get('/pdf', function() {
       return PDF::loadView('pdf.document')->stream();
   })->middleware('auth');
   

3. PDF Metadata: Set document properties (title, author) via mPDF:

   PDF::loadView('pdf.document')
       ->setOption('title', 'My Document')
       ->setOption('author', 'Laravel App');
   

4. Barcode/QR Codes: Use mPDF’s extensions (e.g., mpdf/barcodes) for dynamic codes:

   $pdf->setOption('barcode_width', '0.2');
   $pdf->setOption('barcode_height', '25');