Html2Pdf Laravel Package

Getting Started

First Steps

1. Installation Add the package via Composer:

   composer require spipu/html2pdf
   

   Ensure your server meets the requirements (PHP 8.0+, DOM extension, etc.).

2. Basic Usage Include the autoloader and instantiate the converter:

   require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
   use Spipu\Html2Pdf\Html2Pdf;
   
   $html2pdf = new Html2Pdf();
   $html2pdf->writeHTML('<h1>Hello, PDF!</h1>');
   $html2pdf->output('output.pdf', 'D'); // 'D' forces download
   

3. First Laravel Integration In a controller or service:

   use Spipu\Html2Pdf\Html2Pdf;
   
   public function generatePdf()
   {
       $html = view('pdf.template')->render();
       $pdf = new Html2Pdf();
       $pdf->writeHTML($html);
       return $pdf->output('invoice.pdf', 'D');
   }
   

Where to Look First

• Official Docs (Quickstart, API reference).
• Examples (Real-world use cases).
• Laravel-Specific: Check for community wrappers (e.g., barryvdh/laravel-dompdf alternatives).

Implementation Patterns

Common Workflows

1. Dynamic PDF Generation Use Blade views to render HTML before conversion:

   $html = view('pdf.invoice', ['data' => $invoice])->render();
   $pdf->writeHTML($html);
   

2. Streaming Large PDFs Avoid memory issues by streaming chunks:

   $pdf->writeHTML($html);
   $pdf->stream('large_report.pdf');
   

3. Custom Styling Override default CSS with inline styles or external sheets:

   $pdf->writeHTML('<style>body { font-family: Arial; }</style>' . $html);
   

4. Headers/Footers Use the setDefaultFont() and setFooter() methods:

   $pdf->setDefaultFont('Arial');
   $pdf->setFooter('Page {PAGE_NUM} of {PAGE_TOTAL}');
   

Integration Tips

• Laravel Responses: Return PDFs via Response:

  return response()->streamDownload(
      fn () => $pdf->output(),
      'report.pdf'
  );
  

• Queue Jobs: Offload PDF generation to queues (e.g., GeneratePdfJob).
• Caching: Cache rendered HTML if generating identical PDFs frequently.

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. CSS Limitations

   • Complex CSS (e.g., position: absolute, flexbox) may render poorly.
   • Fix: Use tables or inline styles for critical layouts.

2. Memory Leaks

   • Large HTML inputs can exhaust memory.
   • Fix: Stream output or break HTML into chunks.

3. Font Issues

   • Custom fonts require embedding (use setFont() or @font-face in CSS).
   • Fix: Preload fonts or use system fonts (e.g., DejaVu Sans).

4. Encoding Problems

   • Special characters (e.g., é, ñ) may corrupt.
   • Fix: Ensure UTF-8 encoding in HTML and PDF headers.

Debugging

• Inspect Rendered HTML: Use browser dev tools to validate HTML/CSS before conversion.
• Log Errors: Wrap calls in try-catch:

  try {
      $pdf->writeHTML($html);
  } catch (\Exception $e) {
      Log::error($e->getMessage());
  }
  

Extension Points

1. Custom Templates Extend Html2Pdf to add reusable methods:

   class CustomPdf extends Html2Pdf {
       public function addLogo($path) {
           $this->writeHTML('<img src="' . asset($path) . '" width="100">');
       }
   }
   

2. Hooks for Post-Processing Use output() callbacks to modify PDFs (e.g., add signatures):

   $pdf->output('file.pdf', 'S'); // 'S' saves to file
   // Manually add annotations with TCPDF or other libraries.
   

3. Laravel Service Provider Bind the converter to the container for dependency injection:

   $this->app->bind(Html2Pdf::class, function () {
       return new Html2Pdf(['mode' => 'utf-8']);
   });