React.js is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. One of the many tasks that can be performed using React is generating PDFs from HTML. In this article, we will explore two different ways to generate PDFs from HTML using React.
Method 1: Using the react-pdf library
The react-pdf library is a React-based library that allows you to generate PDFs from HTML. To use the library, you first need to install it using npm:
npm install react-pdf
Once the library is installed, you can use it in your React component by importing the Document
component:
import { Document } from 'react-pdf';
You can then use the Document
component to define the structure of your PDF. For example, the following code creates a simple PDF with a single page and a header that says "Hello, World!":
import React from 'react';
import { Document, Page } from 'react-pdf';
function MyPDF() {
return (
<Document>
<Page>
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
</Page>
</Document>
);
}
export default MyPDF;
You can also use the render
prop to render the PDF to a specific element on the page:
<Document
file="path/to/your.pdf"
onRender={({ pages }) => {
console.log(pages);
}}
>
<Page pageNumber={1} />
</Document>
Method 2: Using the jsPDF library
Another popular library for generating PDFs from HTML is jsPDF. jsPDF is a pure JavaScript library, which means it does not require any additional dependencies. To use the library, you first need to include it in your project:
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jspdf/1.5.3/jspdf.min.js"></script>
Once the library is included, you can use it to generate a PDF from an HTML element. For example, the following code generates a PDF from a div
element with the id of "my-div":
import React from 'react';
import jsPDF from 'jspdf';
class MyPDF extends React.Component {
handleClick = () => {
const pdf = new jsPDF();
pdf.addHTML(document.getElementById('my-div'), function() {
pdf.save('web.pdf');
});
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<div id="my-div">
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
</div>
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>Download PDF</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default MyPDF;
In above code, we first create an instance of jsPDF and call the addHTML
method, passing in the HTML element that we want to convert to PDF. The second argument is a callback function that will be called once the PDF is generated. This function is used to save the PDF to the user's device.
In conclusion, React.js provides a
, such as styling the PDF and customizing the layout.
When generating a PDF from HTML, it is often necessary to style the document to match the design of your web application. Both the react-pdf and jsPDF libraries provide options for styling the PDF.
With react-pdf, you can use CSS to style the document. Simply include a style
tag in your HTML and apply styles as you would on a regular web page. For example:
<Document>
<Page>
<style>
h1 {
color: blue;
}
</style>
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
</Page>
</Document>
With jsPDF, you can use the library's built-in text and drawing functions to add styles to your PDF. For example, the following code sets the font size and color of a string of text:
pdf.setTextColor(255, 0, 0);
pdf.setFontSize(24);
pdf.text(20, 20, 'Hello, World!');
Another important aspect of generating PDFs from HTML is customizing the layout. Both react-pdf and jsPDF provide options for customizing the layout of your PDF.
With react-pdf, you can specify the size and orientation of the pages using the size
and orientation
props. For example, the following code creates a PDF with pages that are 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall:
<Document size="8.5x11">
<Page>
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
</Page>
</Document>
With jsPDF, you can set the margins of the pages using the setMargins
method. For example, the following code sets the top, bottom, left, and right margins to 1 inch:
pdf.setMargins(1, 1, 1, 1);
In addition, jsPDF also allows you to change the page format, page size and page orientation of the pdf by using setPageFormat
, setPageSize
and setOrientation
respectively.
In summary, generating PDFs from HTML using React.js is a powerful and flexible process that can be accomplished using libraries such as react-pdf and jsPDF. These libraries provide options for styling and customizing the layout of the PDF, allowing you to create professional-looking documents that match the design of your web application.
Popular questions
- What is React.js?
- React.js is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
- How can we generate PDFs from HTML using React?
- We can generate PDFs from HTML using React by using libraries such as react-pdf and jsPDF.
- What is the react-pdf library?
- The react-pdf library is a React-based library that allows you to generate PDFs from HTML.
- How can we style the PDFs generated from HTML?
- We can style the PDFs generated from HTML by using CSS with react-pdf and built-in text and drawing functions with jsPDF.
- Can we customize the layout of the PDFs generated from HTML?
- Yes, we can customize the layout of the PDFs generated from HTML by using options such as size and orientation props with react-pdf and setMargins, setPageFormat, setPageSize, setOrientation method with jsPDF.
Tag
PDF-generation