Php Weasyprint Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require pontedilana/php-weasyprint
   

   Ensure weasyprint is installed system-wide (check official docs for OS-specific instructions).

2. Basic Usage Generate a PDF from HTML:

   use Pontedilana\WeasyPrint\WeasyPrint;
   
   $html = '<h1>Hello, PDF!</h1><p>Generated with WeasyPrint.</p>';
   $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->toPdf();
   file_put_contents('output.pdf', $pdf);
   

3. First Use Case Convert a Blade view to PDF in a Laravel controller:

   use Pontedilana\WeasyPrint\WeasyPrint;
   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
   
   $html = View::make('pdf.template', ['data' => $model])->render();
   $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->toPdf();
   return response($pdf, 200, [
       'Content-Type' => 'application/pdf',
       'Content-Disposition' => 'inline; filename="document.pdf"'
   ]);
   

Implementation Patterns

Common Workflows

1. From URLs

   $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromUrl('https://example.com')->toPdf();
   

2. With CSS Styling

   $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)
       ->setCss('path/to/styles.css')
       ->toPdf();
   

3. Streaming Responses

   return WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)
       ->streamPdf('document.pdf');
   

4. Dynamic Content Loop through models and generate PDFs in batches:

   foreach ($models as $model) {
       $html = View::make('pdf.template', compact('model'))->render();
       $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->toPdf();
       Storage::put("pdfs/{$model->id}.pdf", $pdf);
   }
   

5. Integration with Queues Dispatch a job for async PDF generation:

   GeneratePdfJob::dispatch($html, 'output.pdf');
   

Laravel-Specific Tips

• Service Provider Binding Bind the package for dependency injection:

  $this->app->bind(WeasyPrint::class, function ($app) {
      return new WeasyPrint(config('weasyprint.defaults'));
  });
  

• Config Overrides Publish the config file:

  php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Pontedilana\WeasyPrint\WeasyPrintServiceProvider"
  

  Customize config/weasyprint.php for default options (e.g., timeout, CSS paths).

• Middleware for Authenticated PDFs Protect PDF endpoints:

  Route::get('/pdf/{id}', function ($id) {
      return WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->streamPdf("document_{$id}.pdf");
  })->middleware('auth');
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. WeasyPrint System Dependency

   • Error: Command 'weasyprint' not found.
   • Fix: Install WeasyPrint via package manager (e.g., brew install weasyprint on macOS or apt-get install weasyprint on Ubuntu).
   • Debug: Verify with weasyprint --version in terminal.

2. Memory Limits

   • Error: Allowed memory size exhausted for large HTML.
   • Fix: Increase PHP memory (ini_set('memory_limit', '1G')) or optimize HTML/CSS.

3. CSS Inline vs. External

   • Gotcha: External CSS may fail if paths are relative.
   • Fix: Use absolute paths or inline critical CSS:

     $pdf = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)
         ->setCss('https://example.com/styles.css')
         ->toPdf();
     

4. Timeouts

   • Error: PDF generation hangs on URLs.
   • Fix: Set a timeout in config:

     'timeout' => 30, // seconds
     

Debugging

• Log WeasyPrint Output Enable verbose logging in config:

  'verbose' => true,
  

  Check Laravel logs for WeasyPrint CLI output.

• Test with Minimal HTML Isolate issues by testing with a simple <div> before complex templates.

Extension Points

1. Custom Headers/Footers Use CSS @page rules:

   @page {
       size: A4;
       margin: 2cm;
   }
   header {
       position: fixed;
       top: 0;
       left: 0;
       right: 0;
       height: 1cm;
   }
   

2. Post-Processing Modify PDFs after generation with libraries like setasign/fpdf:

   $pdfContent = WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->toPdf();
   $pdf = \FPDF::parse($pdfContent);
   // Add watermark, etc.
   

3. Caching Cache generated PDFs for static content:

   $pdf = Cache::remember("pdf_{$key}", now()->addHours(1), function () {
       return WeasyPrint::fromHtml($html)->toPdf();
   });
   

Pro Tips

• Use ->toSnapshot() for Images Generate screenshots of URLs:

  $image = WeasyPrint::fromUrl('https://example.com')->toSnapshot();
  file_put_contents('screenshot.png', $image);
  

• Laravel Mix Integration Compile CSS for WeasyPrint in your build process:

  // webpack.mix.js
  mix.postCss('resources/css/pdf.css', 'public/css', [
      require('postcss-import'),
      require('tailwindcss')
  ]);