PDF Document Generation Implementation for Website

PDF Generation Implementation

PDF generation from HTML: invoices, receipts, reports, certificates. Options: server-side (mPDF, TCPDF, Puppeteer) or browser (client library). Server-side allows batch processing, emailing, storage.

PHP: mPDF or TCPDF

class InvoiceController
{
    public function download(Invoice $invoice)
    {
        $html = view('invoices.template', ['invoice' => $invoice])->render();
        
        $pdf = new \Mpdf\Mpdf();
        $pdf->WriteHTML($html);
        
        return response($pdf->Output('invoice.pdf', 'S'))
            ->header('Content-Type', 'application/pdf')
            ->header('Content-Disposition', 'attachment; filename="invoice.pdf"');
    }
}

Node.js: Puppeteer

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer';

async function generatePDF(htmlContent: string): Promise<Buffer> {
    const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    await page.setContent(htmlContent);
    const pdf = await page.pdf({ format: 'A4' });
    await browser.close();
    return pdf;
}

Async generation with queue

For large volumes: generate in background, store in S3, send download link via email.

Implementation timeline

Basic PDF generation: 1–2 days. With queue, templates, and email: 2–3 days.