mPDF/mPDFmPDF is an open-source PHP library designed for generating PDF files from HTML and CSS. It's widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and powerful solutions for server-side PDF generation in PHP, offering extensive support for complex layouts, international character sets (UTF-8), and a wide array of CSS properties.
Key Features:
* HTML to PDF Conversion: It excels at rendering complex HTML content, including tables, images, and various HTML tags, into a PDF format.
* CSS Support: mPDF supports a significant portion of CSS2 and CSS3 properties, allowing developers to style their PDF documents much like they would a web page. This includes support for floats, margins, padding, borders, background images, and more.
* UTF-8 and Multilingual Support: It has excellent support for UTF-8 encoded text, making it suitable for generating PDFs in virtually any language, including those with complex scripts like Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Indic languages.
* Headers, Footers, and Watermarks: Easily define custom headers, footers, and watermarks for each page or specific sections of the document.
* Forms and Annotations: Supports creation of PDF forms (AcroForms) and various PDF annotations.
* Table of Contents (TOC) and Indexes: Can automatically generate a table of contents based on heading levels and create indexes.
* Page Numbering and Bookmarks: Provides robust control over page numbering and supports PDF bookmarks for navigation.
* Barcodes: Built-in support for generating various types of barcodes.
* Image Handling: Supports various image formats (JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, BMP) and allows for resizing and positioning.
* Custom Fonts: Allows embedding custom TrueType Unicode fonts.
* Output Options: Can output the PDF directly to the browser (inline or as a download), save it to a file on the server, or return it as a string.
How it Works:
mPDF parses the provided HTML and CSS content, interprets it, and then renders it into a PDF document using its internal rendering engine. It essentially acts as a browser engine optimized for PDF output rather than screen display.
Installation:
mPDF is typically installed via Composer, the PHP dependency manager. The command `composer require mpdf/mpdf` will add it to your project.
Use Cases:
* Generating invoices, receipts, and order confirmations.
* Creating reports, data summaries, and financial statements.
* Producing printable versions of web pages or articles.
* Generating custom documents, certificates, and tickets.
Benefits:
mPDF offers a high degree of flexibility and control over the PDF output, making it a preferred choice for applications requiring detailed and visually rich PDF documents from HTML sources. Its extensive feature set reduces the need for complex, manual PDF construction, allowing developers to leverage their existing HTML/CSS knowledge.
Example Code
<?php
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
// Create an instance of the mPDF class
// You can pass configuration options to the constructor.
// For example, page format, orientation, font directories, etc.
// Here, we'll use default settings for simplicity, but often set page size.
// $mpdf = new \Mpdf\Mpdf(['mode' => 'utf-8', 'format' => 'A4-L']); // A4 landscape
$mpdf = new \Mpdf\Mpdf(); // Default A4 portrait
// Set a document title (optional, appears in PDF metadata)
$mpdf->SetTitle('My Awesome PDF Document');
// Set a document author (optional)
$mpdf->SetAuthor('Your Name');
// Add a page
$mpdf->AddPage();
// Define the HTML content for the PDF
$html = '<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
margin: 20mm;
}
h1 {
color: #333366;
text-align: center;
border-bottom: 2px solid #333366;
padding-bottom: 10px;
}
p {
line-height: 1.6;
color: #555;
}
.highlight {
background-color: #f0f0f0;
padding: 10px;
border-left: 5px solid #007bff;
}
table {
width: 100%;
border-collapse: collapse;
margin-top: 20px;
}
th, td {
border: 1px solid #ddd;
padding: 8px;
text-align: left;
}
th {
background-color: #f2f2f2;
color: #333;
}
.footer {
text-align: center;
margin-top: 30px;
font-size: 0.8em;
color: #777;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to mPDF Demonstration</h1>
<p>This is an example of generating a PDF document using the mPDF PHP library. It allows you to convert HTML and CSS content into a high-quality PDF file effortlessly.</p>
<div class="highlight">
<p>mPDF supports a wide range of HTML tags and CSS properties, making it very flexible for various document generation needs. From simple reports to complex invoices, mPDF can handle it.</p>
</div>
<h2>Key Features</h2>
<ul>
<li>HTML/CSS to PDF Conversion</li>
<li>UTF-8 and Multilingual Support</li>
<li>Headers, Footers, and Watermarks</li>
<li>Table of Contents generation</li>
<li>Custom Fonts and Barcodes</li>
</ul>
<h2>Sample Data Table</h2>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Product ID</th>
<th>Product Name</th>
<th>Quantity</th>
<th>Price</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>P001</td>
<td>Laptop Pro</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>$1200.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>P002</td>
<td>Wireless Mouse</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>$25.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>P003</td>
<td>USB Keyboard</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>$45.00</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="footer">Generated on ' . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . ' by mPDF.</p>
</body>
</html>';
// Write the HTML to the PDF
$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
// You can add more pages or more HTML content if needed
// $mpdf->AddPage();
// $mpdf->WriteHTML('<h2>Another Section</h2><p>Content for the second page...</p>');
// Output the PDF to the browser
// 'I' for inline (display in browser)
// 'D' for download (force download)
// 'F' for file (save to server)
// 'S' for string (return PDF as a string)
$mpdf->Output('mpdf_example.pdf', 'I');
// If you want to save it to a file:
// $mpdf->Output('path/to/save/mpdf_example.pdf', 'F');
// If you want to get it as a string:
// $pdfString = $mpdf->Output('', 'S');
// file_put_contents('path/to/save/mpdf_example_string.pdf', $pdfString);
?>