Generate PDFs in Laravel with DomPDF easily.

In the world of web development, generating PDF documents is a functionality that many applications require. Whether for reports, invoices, or other types of documents, having a tool that performs this task efficiently can save you time and effort. This time, we show you how to use DomPDF in Laravel to easily generate PDF files.

What is DomPDF?

DomPDF is a PHP library that allows you to transform HTML and CSS into PDF files. It is especially useful for those working with Laravel, as it integrates easily into this platform. With DomPDF, you can create styled PDF documents that maintain the presentation you have designed in HTML.

Installing DomPDF in Laravel

Installing DomPDF in a Laravel project is a straightforward process. It is recommended to use Composer, the PHP dependency manager. Follow these simple steps:

Installation via Composer: Open the terminal in your Laravel project and run the following command:

composer require barryvdh/laravel-dompdf

Publishing the configuration file: Next, you can publish the DomPDF configuration with:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Barryvdh\DomPDF\ServiceProvider"

Verification: To ensure that the installation was successful, you can check the configuration file config/dompdf.php.

Generating a Basic PDF

Once DomPDF is installed, the next step is to generate a basic PDF. First, you need to create a view containing the HTML you want to convert to PDF. You can do this in the resources/views directory.

Example code for the view

Create a file named documento.blade.php with the following content:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Sample PDF</title>
    <style>
        body { font-family: DejaVu Sans, sans-serif; }
        h1 { color: #333; }
        p { margin: 20px 0; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>PDF Document Title</h1>
    <p>This is a sample content that will be included in the PDF file.</p>
</body>
</html>

Controller to generate the PDF

Now, to generate the PDF, you will need to create a controller. Example controller:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\PDFController;

class PDFController extends Controller
{
    public function generarPDF()
    {
        $pdf = app('dompdf.wrapper');
        $pdf->loadView('documento'); 
        return $pdf->stream('documento.pdf'); 
    }
}

Defining the route

Finally, don't forget to define the route in the web.php file to access the generated PDF:

Route::get('/generar-pdf', [PDFController::class, 'generarPDF']);

Customizing the PDF

One of the highlights of DomPDF is the ability to customize the generated PDF. You can add headers, footers, images, and more, using CSS to style your content. Additionally, this library is compatible with many common CSS properties, which makes it easy to create attractive documents.

Conclusion

Generating PDFs in Laravel with DomPDF is a relatively simple process that can add great value to your applications. By following the mentioned steps, you can create styled PDF documents in no time.

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