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Tfpdf Laravel Package
setasign/tfpdf
tFPDF is a UTF-8 capable PDF generation library for PHP with TrueType font subset embedding. Composer package setasign/tfpdf provides the official tFPDF release with autoloader support and no namespace.
This class is a modified version of FPDF that adds UTF-8 support.
Frequently asked questions about Tfpdf
- What is setasign/tfpdf used for?
- setasign/tfpdf is the Composer distribution of tFPDF, a PHP library for generating PDF documents that accepts UTF-8 text and embeds TrueType font subsets. It is a standalone, non-namespaced class you can instantiate as new \tFPDF() or extend. The package mirrors official tFPDF releases and only adjusts font includes to use Composer autoloading.
- Does setasign/tfpdf support Laravel out of the box?
- Not natively. It has no service provider, config file, or facade, so you must instantiate \tFPDF manually or wrap it in your own service. It can run inside Laravel because Composer installs it, but common tasks like rendering Blade views and returning HTTP responses require your own boilerplate. Many Laravel teams prefer packages like barryvdh/laravel-dompdf or snappy for framework-native integration.
- How do I install setasign/tfpdf with Composer?
- Run composer require setasign/tfpdf:1.33 or add "setasign/tfpdf": "1.33" to your composer.json require block and run composer update. The package autoloads the needed font classes, and the bundled ex.php demo shows usage. After install, confirm your application includes vendor/autoload.php.
- How do I write UTF-8 text with tFPDF?
- Use a TrueType font added with AddFont and pass true as the fourth parameter, then call Write(), Cell(), or MultiCell() with UTF-8 encoded strings. tFPDF does not use the standard PDF core fonts for UTF-8; it relies on embedded font subsets. Ensure your PHP source and database strings are actually UTF-8 before output.
- Why does tFPDF need a writable font/unifont folder?
- tFPDF expects a unifont subfolder inside the font directory to store the .ttf fonts and generated font metric files. Making it writable with CHMOD 755 or 644, as the README notes, allows the library to cache font metrics the first time a font is used. That caching is not strictly required but makes later PDF generation much faster. In Laravel deployments, verify storage permissions and avoid committing generated metrics if possible.
- How does tFPDF keep PDF files small with TrueType fonts?
- tFPDF embeds only the subsets of TrueType fonts that are actually used in the document. This avoids embedding whole font files and keeps PDFs substantially smaller for multilingual documents. You still place the full .ttf in the unifont directory; subsetting happens during generation.
- Can I extend tFPDF inside a namespaced Laravel application?
- Yes. tFPDF is not namespaced, so in a namespaced class you extend it as class Document extends \tFPDF, or instantiate it with new \tFPDF(). The leading backslash is required inside namespaces unless you import it. You can create a Laravel wrapper service or custom document class to encapsulate your PDF layout logic.
- How does font metric caching work in tFPDF?
- When a font is used for the first time, tFPDF writes metric cache files into the font/unifont directory so subsequent requests do not need to parse the .ttf again. This requires the directory to be writable by the web server or PHP process. In containerized Laravel deployments, ensure the path is on a persistent or shared writable volume if you want cache reuse across deploys.
- What are the Laravel alternatives to setasign/tfpdf?
- For Laravel-native HTML-to-PDF workflows, barryvdh/laravel-dompdf and barryvdh/laravel-snappy are common. If you need low-level PDF drawing, FPDF, tFPDF, or TCPDF remain options. Choose based on whether you want Blade and HTML rendering, CSS support, and framework integration versus direct control over PDF primitives.
- Is setasign/tfpdf actively maintained and safe for production?
- The GitHub repository is explicitly a mirror of official tFPDF releases and states there will be no development in that repository. The Composer package exists to provide autoloading, but you should review the upstream tFPDF project for updates and security posture. Because there is no active feature development in this mirror, treat version pinning and dependency audits as important for production Laravel apps.
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