Javascript pdf generator libraries

Sometimes we need to save web pages for our functions. This is a very common need for web development. PDF documents are the most portable tool for saving web page content. It requires some third-party JS APIs to save the content as a PDF file.  

PDF library gives a method for generating PDF files. We can generate files with text, graphics, images, and annotations or bookmarks. We can simplify our PDF generation process and save valuable time and resources. We can create high-quality PDF documents. We can do so using Our PDF generation API, SDKs, and integrations. It allows you to complete pre-built templates effortlessly. So we can perform streamlined, efficient workflows instead of manual document generation.  

Steps:  

• Import the JavaScript library by installing it using NPM or writing HTML code.  
• Add generate pdf function to convert some parts of our webpage into a pdf.  
• To trigger the generatePDF function, add a button to your HTML page.  
• Add format options in the "opt" variable (html2pdf).  

JsPDF helps in generating pdf documents using only JavaScript. It creates a pdf page and applies our specified formatting to the page. We can change the presentation of the data by editing the orientation and format.  

jsPDF:

• jsPDF has the API as MrRio's original version.  
• Full compatibility with plugins.  
• It has the availability of all advanced features. The features can be patterns, FormObjects, and transformation matrices.  
• Some advanced features like transformation matrices and patterns won't work. This is the default mode.  

pdfmake:

• It supports text alignments (left, right, centered, justified).  
• We can use it for line-wrapping, numbered, and bulleted lists.  
• It has a table of contents, margins, custom page breaks, and font embedding.  
• It supports complex, multi-level (nested) structures.  

Pdfkit:  

• It has more accessibility support. It helps to mark content, logical structure, Tagged PDF, and PDF/UA.  
• It has the facilities like printing, copying, and modifying. It also has facilities like annotating, form filling, content accessibility, and document assembly.  
• Image embedding Supports JPEG and PNG files.  
• Outlines.

PDFObject  

• PDFObject is a lightweight JavaScript utility.  
• It embeds PDFs in HTML documents.  
• It has a medium active ecosystem.  
• PDFObject detects browser support for inline/embedded PDFs. 

pdfjs  

• It has common formatting options (Text).  
• It adds existing PDFs (merge them or add them as page templates).  
• It supports Images (JPEGs, other PDFs).  
• It supports Tables (fixed layout, header row).  

pdfAnnotate:

• It helps create and annotate PDF documents in javascript.  
• It works in a browser, as well as in a nodejs environment.  
• It helps provide a simple interface to annotate PDF documents.  
• We can download it easily.  

canvas2pdf:

• It exports your HTML canvas as a PDF using JavaScript.  
• This library generates actual PDF drawing calls to create a PDF with vector graphics.  
• We also create mock 2d canvas context.  
• We can perform open, view, edit, and save the page. 

html_to_pdf:

• It generates a simple PDF invoice from HTML using Puppeteer & handlebars.  
• It converts HTML content to PDF files in the browser.  
• It uses the id of the element to export the content of that element into the PDF.  
• It is great at creating an authentic download experience for your users.  

FAQ:  

1. What is the PDF generation API, and what are its features?  

API platform helps generate REST APIs as PDF documents using already created templates. It supports HTML to PDF conversions. It displays the preview of your PDF before downloading. It includes some features as follows:  

• It Converts HTML to PDF.  
• It supports custom footers and headers with page numbers and total pages. It is compatible with CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Python.  
• We can integrate it using Zapier, Integromat, Airtable, UiPath, and other No-code platforms.  

2. What advantages does using the PDF file format offers for web development?  

• It does not depend on which operating system, device, or software application we view it on. But PDF displays the same content and layout.  
• The PDF format allows you to combine various types of content. Text, images, graphics, videos, animations, audio, hyperlinks, and buttons are the types.  

3. Can we create PDF forms with the jsPDF library?  

JSPDF allows you to create PDF files from your web pages.  

4. How can html2canvas help create many pages of a single pdf document?  

The jsPDF with html2canvas library displays the best output PDF from HTML. We need to import the jsPDF library and link the html2canvas libraries. This example comes with the implementation of the following three steps.  

• It gets HTML content.  
• It sets the html2canvas and jsPDF options of PDF presentation properties.  
• It calls the jsPDF .html() function and invokes a callback to output the PDF.  

5. Is it possible to create many pages of pdfs with the jsPDF library, and if so, what are some tips for doing this task?  

It is possible to create many pages of pdfs with the jsPDF library. For example, we can add many images to PDF using jsPDF by using the following points:  

• The syntax for adding an image is  

Syntax: doc.addImage(imgData, 'image format', x, y, w, h, 'alias');  

• addPage helps add a new page to PDF.  
• The Output will generate the PDF document.  
• Get the width of the pdf by doc.internal.pageSize.width  
• Get the height of the pdf by doc.internal.pageSize.height