PDF generation is a common requirement in web applications, allowing users to create and download dynamic content as PDF documents. PHP provides several excellent libraries that simplify the process of generating PDFs with various formatting options. In this post, we'll explore some of the best PHP libraries for PDF generation, helping you choose the most suitable one for your projects.
TCPDF
TCPDF is one of the most popular PHP libraries for creating PDF documents. It supports a wide range of features, including various fonts, images, tables, barcodes, and more. TCPDF offers high-quality output and excellent performance, making it a reliable choice for generating complex PDFs.
Dompdf
Dompdf is a CSS-based layout and rendering engine that converts HTML and CSS content into PDFs. It allows developers to use familiar HTML and CSS syntax to create PDFs, making it an ideal choice for generating PDFs from existing web pages or templates.
MPDF
MPDF is a powerful library for generating PDFs from HTML content. It supports UTF-8, CSS styles, and a variety of page formats. MPDF also provides options for watermarking, encryption, and various image formats, making it versatile and feature-rich.
FPDF
FPDF is a lightweight and easy-to-use library for creating PDFs programmatically. While it offers fewer features compared to some other libraries, FPDF's simplicity and performance make it an excellent choice for basic PDF generation tasks.
TCPDI (TCPDF Improved)
TCPDI, also known as TCPDF Improved, is a PHP library that extends TCPDF and allows you to import and modify existing PDF documents. This makes it an excellent choice when you need to manipulate existing PDFs or fill in PDF forms dynamically.
Snappy
Snappy is a PHP wrapper around the wkhtmltopdf command-line tool, which converts HTML and CSS to PDF using the WebKit rendering engine. Snappy provides powerful features for creating high-quality PDFs and is particularly useful for generating PDFs from complex HTML templates.
TCPDF Symfony Bundle
For Symfony projects, the TCPDF Symfony Bundle provides seamless integration of the TCPDF library. It simplifies the configuration and usage of TCPDF within Symfony applications, enabling easy PDF generation within the Symfony framework.