How to Create A Pdf File With Native PHP?

To create a PDF file using native PHP, you can make use of the PDFlib library. Here's a step-by-step explanation of the process:

1. Install PDFlib: First, download and install the PDFlib library from the official PDFlib website.
2. Set up the environment: Next, ensure that PHP is configured correctly with the PDFlib module enabled. You can check this in the PHP configuration file (php.ini). Make sure the extension=pdf.so (Linux) or extension=pdf.dll (Windows) line is uncommented.
3. Import PDFlib: In your PHP file, import the PDFlib library by using the import function:

1

$pdf = new PDFlib();

1. Define the output file: Specify the output file for the PDF using the begin_document function:

1

$pdf->begin_document('output.pdf');

1. Set up the page: Initialize the first page of the PDF using the begin_page_ext function:

1

$pdf->begin_page_ext(0, 0, 'width=a4.height=a4');

1. Add content: Now you can add text, images, and other elements to the PDF using various PDFlib functions. For example, to add text to the document, you can use show function:

1

$pdf->show('Hello, World!');

1. Close the page: After adding the desired content to the page, close it using the end_page_ext function:

1

$pdf->end_page_ext('');

1. End the document: Finally, end the document using the end_document function:

1

$pdf->end_document('');

1. Output or save the PDF: Depending on your requirements, you can either output the PDF to the browser or save it to a file. To output it to the browser, use the get_buffer and get_buffer_length functions:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

$pdfData = $pdf->get_buffer();
$pdfLength = $pdf->get_buffer_length();

header('Content-type: application/pdf');
header('Content-Length: ' . $pdfLength);
header('Content-Disposition: inline; filename="output.pdf"');
echo $pdfData;

That's it! You have successfully created a PDF file using native PHP and the PDFlib library.

Best PHP Books to Read in 2024

1

Rating is 5 out of 5

Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites (Learning PHP, MYSQL, Javascript, CSS & HTML5)

Get Book Now

2

Rating is 4.9 out of 5

Murach's PHP and MySQL

Get Book Now

3

Rating is 4.8 out of 5

PHP 8 Objects, Patterns, and Practice: Mastering OO Enhancements, Design Patterns, and Essential Development Tools

Get Book Now

4

Rating is 4.7 out of 5

PHP & MySQL: Server-side Web Development

Get Book Now

5

Rating is 4.6 out of 5

PHP Cookbook: Modern Code Solutions for Professional Developers

Get Book Now

6

Rating is 4.5 out of 5

100 PHP Program Examples | Best for Beginners | PHP Programming Book

Get Book Now

7

Rating is 4.4 out of 5

PHP 8 Programming Tips, Tricks and Best Practices: A practical guide to PHP 8 features, usage changes, and advanced programming techniques

Get Book Now

8

Rating is 4.3 out of 5

PHP Web Services: APIs for the Modern Web

Get Book Now

9

Rating is 4.2 out of 5

Front-End Back-End Development with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, and MySQL

Get Book Now

10

Rating is 4.1 out of 5

Programming PHP: Creating Dynamic Web Pages

Get Book Now

How to set the page orientation (portrait/landscape) in PHP?

To set the page orientation (portrait/landscape) in PHP, you can use the TCPDF library. Here's an example of how to set the page orientation:

1. First, you need to download and include the TCPDF library in your PHP project. You can download it from http://www.tcpdf.org.
2. Create a new PHP file and include the TCPDF library using the following line of code:

1

require_once('tcpdf/tcpdf.php');

1. Next, create an instance of the TCPDF class:

1

$pdf = new TCPDF('P', 'pt', 'A4', true, 'UTF-8', false);

In the above code, 'P' stands for portrait orientation, 'pt' represents the unit used for dimensions (points in this case), 'A4' indicates the page size, true enables unicode fonts, 'UTF-8' sets the default encoding, and false disables the use of cache.

1. To set the page orientation to landscape, use the following line of code:

1

$pdf->setPageOrientation('L');

Here, 'L' represents the landscape orientation. Alternatively, you can use 'P' for portrait orientation.

1. Finally, generate the PDF document using the Output() method:

1

$pdf->Output('output.pdf', 'D');

In the above code, 'output.pdf' specifies the filename of the generated PDF file, and 'D' prompts the browser to download the file instead of displaying it.

The complete code will look like this:

1
2
3
4
5

require_once('tcpdf/tcpdf.php');

$pdf = new TCPDF('P', 'pt', 'A4', true, 'UTF-8', false);
$pdf->setPageOrientation('L');
$pdf->Output('output.pdf', 'D');

This will generate a PDF document with landscape orientation.

How to extract text from a pdf file using PHP?

To extract text from a PDF file using PHP, you can use the Apache PDFBox library. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Download Apache PDFBox

• Download the latest version of Apache PDFBox from the official website (https://pdfbox.apache.org/).
• Extract the downloaded ZIP file.

Step 2: Install Composer

• If you do not have Composer installed, download and install it from the official website (https://getcomposer.org/).

Step 3: Create a new PHP project

• Create a new directory for your PHP project and navigate into it using the command line or terminal.

Step 4: Initialize Composer

• Run the command "composer init" in the project directory to initialize Composer for your project.
• Provide the necessary details such as project name, description, etc., when prompted.

Step 5: Install PDFBox using Composer

• Run the command "composer require smalot/pdfparser" to install the PDFBox library using Composer.

Step 6: Create a PHP script to extract text

• Create a new PHP script file, e.g., 'extract_text.php', in your project directory.
• Include the vendor autoload file at the beginning of the PHP file: "require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';"
• Implement the text extraction code as shown below:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12

<?php
require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Smalot\PdfParser\Parser;

$parser = new Parser();
$pdf = $parser->parseFile('path/to/your/pdf/file.pdf');

$text = $pdf->getText();

echo $text;
?>

• Replace 'path/to/your/pdf/file.pdf' with the actual path to your PDF file.

Step 7: Run the PHP script

• Open the command line or terminal, navigate to your project directory, and run the command "php extract_text.php".
• The script will extract the text from the PDF file and display it on the command line or terminal.

That's it! You have successfully extracted text from a PDF file using PHP.

How to extract images from a pdf file using PHP?

To extract images from a PDF file using PHP, you can utilize the PDF-to-image conversion library and the Imagick library. Here is an example code:

1. First, install the required libraries using Composer:

1
2

composer require spatie/pdf-to-image
composer require imagick

1. Create a PHP file, e.g., extract_images.php, and include the following code:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Spatie\PdfToImage\Pdf;

// Set the PDF file path
$pdfPath = 'path/to/your/pdf_file.pdf';

// Set the output directory to save the extracted images
$outputDir = 'path/to/output_directory/';

// Specify the page numbers from which you want to extract the images
$pages = [1, 2, 3]; // For all pages, use: range(1, Pdf::getNumberOfPages($pdfPath))

// Create a PDF object
$pdf = new Pdf($pdfPath);

// Set the output format to images (PNGs)
$pdf->setOutputFormat('png');

// Convert the specified pages to images
$pdf->setPage($pages)->saveImage($outputDir);

// Output success message
echo 'Images extracted successfully!';
?>

Make sure to replace 'path/to/your/pdf_file.pdf' with the actual path to your PDF file, and 'path/to/output_directory/' with the desired output directory.

1. Run the PHP file in your terminal or on the webserver. The script will extract the specified pages from the PDF file and save them as PNG images in the specified directory.

Note: You need to have ImageMagick installed on your server for the imagick PHP extension to work properly.

What are the alternatives to creating pdf files with native PHP?

There are several alternatives to creating PDF files with native PHP. Some of the popular options include:

1. TCPDF: TCPDF is a powerful library for generating PDF documents with PHP. It supports various document formats, multiple fonts, images, barcodes, and more.
2. FPDF: FPDF is a free PHP class that allows you to generate PDF files dynamically. It supports basic features like adding text, images, and shapes to the PDF.
3. mPDF: mPDF is a PHP library that allows you to generate PDF files from HTML markup. It supports CSS styles, UTF-8 encoding, and various output options.
4. DomPDF: DomPDF is a PHP library that converts HTML to PDF. It can handle complex HTML and CSS stylesheets to produce accurate PDF output.
5. Wkhtmltopdf: Wkhtmltopdf is an open-source command-line tool that can convert HTML pages to PDF. It is not a PHP library, but you can execute it from PHP to generate PDF files.
6. PDFLib: PDFLib is a commercial PDF generation library that provides comprehensive PDF functionality. It has bindings for several programming languages, including PHP.
7. Zend_Pdf: Zend_Pdf is a component of the Zend Framework that allows you to create PDF documents programmatically. It provides a simple and intuitive API for generating PDF files.

These libraries offer various features and customization options, so you can choose the one that best suits your requirements.

How to set the page dimensions for a pdf file in PHP?

To set the page dimensions for a PDF file in PHP, you can make use of the TCPDF library. TCPDF is a popular and easy-to-use PHP library for generating PDF documents.

First, make sure you have installed the TCPDF library. You can download it from the TCPDF website or use Composer to add it to your project.

Once you have the library installed, you can use the following code to set the page dimensions:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14

// Include the TCPDF library
require_once('tcpdf/tcpdf.php');

// Create a new TCPDF object
$pdf = new TCPDF('P', 'mm', 'A4', true, 'UTF-8', false);

// Set page dimensions
$pdf->SetMargins(10, 10, 10); // Set the margins (in mm)
$pdf->SetAutoPageBreak(TRUE, 10); // Set auto page breaks and the bottom margin (in mm)

// Add content to the PDF here...

// Output the PDF
$pdf->Output('example.pdf', 'D'); // 'D' parameter forces browser to download the PDF

In this example, we create a new TCPDF object with the parameters 'P' (portrait orientation), 'mm' (unit of measurement), and 'A4' (page size). We then set the margins and enable auto page breaks according to your requirements.

After setting the page dimensions, you can add content to the PDF using the various methods provided by TCPDF.

Finally, call the Output method to generate the PDF and specify the filename (e.g., example.pdf). The 'D' parameter forces the browser to download the PDF instead of displaying it in the browser.

Remember to adjust the dimensions, margins, and other settings to meet your specific needs.

How to set table headers and cell borders in a pdf file using PHP?

To set table headers and cell borders in a PDF file using PHP, you can use a library like TCPDF or FPDF. Here's an example using TCPDF:

1. Start by including the TCPDF library in your PHP file:

1

require_once('tcpdf/tcpdf.php');

1. Create a new TCPDF object:

1

$pdf = new TCPDF('P', 'mm', 'A4', true, 'UTF-8');

1. Set the document information and default header/footer:

1
2
3
4

$pdf->SetCreator(PDF_CREATOR);
$pdf->SetAuthor('Your Name');
$pdf->SetTitle('Table with Headers and Borders');
$pdf->SetHeaderData('', 0, '', '');

1. Add a new page to the PDF:

1

$pdf->AddPage();

1. Define the table structure and layout:

1
2
3
4
5

$pdf->SetLineStyle(array('width' => 0.2, 'cap' => 'butt', 'join' => 'miter', 'dash' => 0, 'color' => array(0, 0, 0)));
$pdf->SetFont('times', 'B', 12);
$pdf->SetFillColor(255, 255, 255);
$pdf->SetTextColor(0, 0, 0);
$pdf->SetDrawColor(0, 0, 0);

1. Set the table headers:

1
2
3
4

$header = array('Header 1', 'Header 2', 'Header 3');
$pdf->Cell(40, 7, $header[0], 1, 0, 'C', true);
$pdf->Cell(40, 7, $header[1], 1, 0, 'C', true);
$pdf->Cell(40, 7, $header[2], 1, 1, 'C', true);

1. Set the table cells:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

$data = array(array('Cell 1', 'Cell 2', 'Cell 3'), array('Cell 4', 'Cell 5', 'Cell 6'));
$pdf->SetFont('times', '', 12);
foreach ($data as $row) {
    $pdf->Cell(40, 6, $row[0], 1, 0);
    $pdf->Cell(40, 6, $row[1], 1, 0);
    $pdf->Cell(40, 6, $row[2], 1, 1);
}

1. Output the PDF file:

1

$pdf->Output('table.pdf', 'I');

This example sets the table headers, cell borders, and outputs the PDF with the table. You can customize the table structure, headers, and cells based on your requirements.