Your first PDF

At a glance

In this tutorial you generate two PDF files. First, you write text directly with the fluent core Application Programming Interface (API). Then you render a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) fragment with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) into a page. By the end, you have a working script you can adapt for a real document, plus links to the framework and server variants.

Both approaches run on the same engine, so what you learn here carries across every distribution.

The diagram below shows the two authoring approaches and the three deployment surfaces that reuse them.

From your code to a PDF file

Before you begin

You need the core engine installed and a place to run a PHP script.

1. Confirm PHP 8.4 is the active runtime:

   php --version

2. Install the core engine in your project, if it is not already present:

   composer require nextpdf/core

3. Create a working file named first-pdf.php in the project root.

The standard 14 fonts work without setup

The default body face resolves to one of the standard 14 Type 1 fonts named in ISO 32000-2. Your first document needs no font files. Register and embed custom fonts later, when the design calls for them.

Generate a PDF from PHP

Start with the fluent API. Document::createStandalone() returns a document you can use right away. Add a page, set a font, write cells, then save. Each authoring method returns the document, so the calls read from top to bottom.

1. Put this code in first-pdf.php. The script declares strict types, loads the autoloader, and builds one page:

   <?php
   
   declare(strict_types=1);
   
   require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
   
   use NextPDF\Core\Document;
   
   $document = Document::createStandalone();
   $document->setTitle('My first NextPDF document');
   $document->addPage();
   
   $document->setFont('helvetica', 'B', 24);
   $document->cell(0, 15, 'Hello, NextPDF!', newLine: true);
   
   $document->setFont('helvetica', '', 12);
   $document->cell(0, 10, 'This is the first PDF I generated with PHP.', newLine: true);
   
   $document->save(__DIR__ . '/first-pdf.pdf');
   
   echo "Wrote first-pdf.pdf\n";

2. Run the script:

   php first-pdf.php

3. Confirm the output. You should see this line on standard output and a new file named first-pdf.pdf next to the script:

   Wrote first-pdf.pdf

You have now generated a valid PDF 2.0 file. Open it in any viewer to see the heading and the line below it.

save versus output

save() writes the document to a file path. To stream the bytes to a browser instead, call output(). To capture the bytes in memory, call getPdfData(). A document is single-use. Once you have written one, create a fresh instance for the next document instead of reusing it.

Render HTML to PDF

Writing cells gives you precise control. Most documents, however, are faster to express as HTML and CSS. The core engine includes a pure-PHP HTML pipeline. Its writeHtml() method renders a fragment into the current page. It does not use a browser or an external service.

1. Create a second file, html-pdf.php, that renders an HTML fragment:

   <?php
   
   declare(strict_types=1);
   
   require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
   
   use NextPDF\Core\Document;
   
   $document = Document::createStandalone();
   $document->setTitle('HTML to PDF');
   $document->addPage();
   
   $html = <<<'HTML'
   <h1 style="color: #1E3A8A;">HTML rendering in NextPDF</h1>
   <p>NextPDF renders <strong>HTML content</strong> directly into PDF pages.</p>
   <ul>
       <li>Headings, paragraphs, and lists</li>
       <li>Inline <strong>bold</strong> and <em>italic</em></li>
       <li>Inline styles such as color and font-size</li>
   </ul>
   HTML;
   
   $document->writeHtml($html);
   
   $document->save(__DIR__ . '/html-pdf.pdf');
   
   echo "Wrote html-pdf.pdf\n";

2. Run it:

   php html-pdf.php

3. Confirm the output line and the new file:

   Wrote html-pdf.pdf

Treat HTML input as untrusted

When HTML comes from a user, a form, or any external source, validate and sanitize it before you pass it to writeHtml(). The Render HTML to a PDF page recipe covers the full security posture and streaming model.

The engine renders a supported subset of HTML and CSS. Before you rely on a property, check the CSS support matrix. When a layout needs full browser fidelity, such as flexbox, grid, or web fonts, install the Artisan renderer and call writeHtmlChrome() instead. That method keeps text selectable.

From a framework controller

Your application may already run in a framework or through the server. The same two calls move into that environment. The engine stays the same. Only the wiring changes.

Laravel

The Pdf facade resolves a fresh document for each call. PdfResponse turns a document into a download response:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Response;
use NextPDF\Contracts\PdfDocumentInterface;
use NextPDF\Laravel\Http\PdfResponse;

final class ReportController extends Controller
{
    public function download(): Response
    {
        $document = app(PdfDocumentInterface::class);
        $document->addPage();
        $document->cell(0, 10, 'Monthly report', newLine: true);

        return PdfResponse::download($document, 'report.pdf');
    }
}

See the Laravel quickstart.

Symfony

The bundle exposes a PdfFactory service. Type-hint NextPDF\Symfony\Service\PdfFactory in a controller, build a document the same way, and return it as an HTTP response. See the Symfony quickstart.

Server (REST)

With NextPDF Server running, POST an ordered operations array, and the server returns the PDF bytes:

curl -sS -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/render \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <api-key>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
        "page_size": "A4",
        "orientation": "portrait",
        "operations": [
          { "type": "add_text", "text": "Hello from NextPDF Connect" }
        ]
      }' \
  --output hello.pdf

On a 200 response, the body is the PDF. See the Connect quickstart.

Next steps

You have now generated a PDF three ways. Use these pages to build on each one.

Render HTML to a PDF page The full HTML recipe: supported elements, the streaming model, and the security posture.

Choose your path Decide between core, a framework, the server, and which HTML renderer to use.

Core engine reference Every Document method, parameter, and return value.

Cookbook Task-focused recipes for styling, tables, pagination, and more.