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1443 Views | 19 min | Published On: January 06, 2021 | Last Updated: August 27, 2026
Creating a PDF from a webpage is a common requirement for PHP applications. Invoices, reports, certificates, quotations, receipts, product pages, documentation, and downloadable web content often need to be converted from HTML into a professional PDF document.
In 2026, developers have several approaches available, but mPDF remains a practical choice when the application already uses PHP and the HTML/CSS requirements are compatible with mPDF's rendering engine.
This guide explains how to create a PDF file from a webpage using PHP and mPDF, including installation, HTML-to-PDF conversion, remote webpage content, CSS considerations, troubleshooting, security, and production best practices.
What is mPDF?
mPDF is a PHP library designed to generate PDF documents from UTF-8 encoded HTML. It is particularly useful when you want to create PDFs using familiar HTML and CSS rather than drawing every element manually.
A typical workflow looks like this:
Webpage or HTML → PHP → mPDF → PDF file
Instead of creating a PDF layout from scratch, you can prepare an HTML template and allow mPDF to convert that content into a PDF document.
This makes mPDF useful for applications where the PDF needs to contain text, tables, images, headers, footers, page numbers, and basic CSS-based formatting.
Why Use PHP and mPDF in 2026?
There are several PHP libraries available for generating PDFs, but mPDF remains one of the most developer-friendly solutions.
There are several reasons developers continue to consider mPDF for PHP applications.
First, it integrates naturally with PHP projects through Composer. Second, HTML templates are generally easier for web developers to maintain than low-level PDF drawing instructions. Third, mPDF supports many common PDF-generation requirements, including custom page sizes, fonts, images, tables, headers, footers, and page numbering.
However, mPDF should not automatically be considered the best solution for every webpage.
Modern websites frequently depend on JavaScript frameworks, dynamic browser rendering, animations, complex CSS, and client-side API calls. mPDF is an HTML-to-PDF library rather than a full browser engine, so a highly interactive webpage may not render exactly as it appears in Chrome or Firefox.
For simple or server-rendered HTML, mPDF can be an efficient solution. For browser-perfect rendering of complex JavaScript applications, a browser automation solution may be more appropriate.
Step 1: Install mPDF Using Composer
The recommended way to install mPDF is through Composer.
From your PHP project's root directory, install the package:
composer require mpdf/mpdf
Composer will install mPDF and its required dependencies.
After installation, your application can load Composer's autoloader:
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
use Mpdf\Mpdf;
Keeping dependencies managed through Composer makes the project easier to update and deploy.
Step 2: Create HTML Content
The simplest approach is to generate HTML inside PHP.
For example:
$html = '
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<style>
body {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 1.6;
}
h1 {
font-size: 24px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.content {
margin: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="content">
<h1>My PDF Document</h1>
<p>This PDF was generated from HTML using PHP and mPDF.</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
You can then pass the HTML to mPDF.
Step 3: Generate the PDF
A basic implementation looks like this:
<?php
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
use Mpdf\Mpdf;
$mpdf = new Mpdf();
$html = '
<h1>My PDF Document</h1>
<p>This PDF was generated using PHP and mPDF.</p>
';
$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
$mpdf->Output('document.pdf', 'D');
The WriteHTML() method sends HTML content to mPDF.
The Output() method determines what happens to the generated PDF. In this example, the D destination tells mPDF to send the document to the browser as a download.
What Does the mPDF Output Mode Mean?
The second argument of Output() controls the destination.
Common modes include:
-
I — display the PDF in the browser.
-
D — download the PDF.
-
F — save the PDF to a server file.
-
S — return the generated PDF as a string.
For example, to display a PDF in the browser:
$mpdf->Output('document.pdf', 'I');
To save it on the server:
$mpdf->Output(__DIR__ . '/files/document.pdf', 'F');
The exact implementation should depend on whether the PDF is intended for immediate download, browser viewing, email attachment, or later retrieval.
How to Convert an Existing Webpage into a PDF
There is an important distinction between converting HTML content and converting a live webpage URL.
If you already control the webpage template, a better architecture is often to reuse the underlying HTML data and generate a PDF-specific version of the page.
For example, suppose your application has:
/products/123
Instead of asking your server to download that URL, you can retrieve the product data and render it through a PDF template:
$product = getProduct(123);
$html = renderPdfTemplate($product);
$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
$mpdf->Output('product-123.pdf', 'D');
This approach is generally more reliable because you control the HTML, CSS, images, fonts, and data being passed to mPDF.
Can mPDF Convert a URL Directly?
Developers sometimes expect an HTML-to-PDF library to behave like a web browser: provide a URL, load the complete website, execute JavaScript, wait for AJAX requests, and then print the final page.
That assumption can cause problems.
A modern webpage may contain:
-
JavaScript-generated content
-
Client-side API requests
-
external fonts
-
lazy-loaded images
-
complex CSS
-
dynamically generated charts
-
authentication requirements
-
browser-specific rendering
mPDF is not designed to reproduce every modern browser feature.
If your page is primarily server-rendered HTML and CSS, you may be able to retrieve the HTML and pass it to mPDF. But if the page depends heavily on JavaScript, consider using a headless browser-based PDF solution instead.
Loading Webpage HTML with PHP
If you have a public, server-rendered page and have a legitimate reason to retrieve its HTML, PHP can request the page and pass the resulting HTML to mPDF.
A basic example using cURL is:
$ch = curl_init('https://example.com/page');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);
$html = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
$mpdf = new Mpdf();
$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
$mpdf->Output('page.pdf', 'D');
In a production application, do not blindly accept arbitrary URLs from users and fetch them from your server. This can create serious security problems, including server-side request forgery (SSRF).
If users can supply a URL, validate and restrict the destination carefully.
CSS Support: What Developers Should Know
One of the biggest advantages of an HTML-to-PDF workflow is that you can use CSS to control the appearance of the document.
For example:
<style>
body {
font-family: sans-serif;
}
table {
width: 100%;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th,
td {
border: 1px solid #ccc;
padding: 8px;
}
</style>
However, you should not assume that every CSS feature supported by modern browsers will work identically in mPDF.
PDF rendering has different requirements from normal browser rendering. Test important layouts with the exact version of mPDF used by your application.
For business documents, keep layouts relatively simple and test:
-
tables
-
page breaks
-
images
-
fonts
-
margins
-
headers
-
footers
-
long text
-
repeated table headings
Adding a Header and Footer
mPDF can be used to create professional multi-page documents.
For example:
$mpdf->SetHTMLHeader(
'<div style="text-align:right;">Company Report</div>'
);
$mpdf->SetHTMLFooter(
'<div style="text-align:center;">Page {PAGENO} of {nbpg}</div>'
);
This is particularly useful for reports, invoices, proposals, and documentation.
Creating a PDF from a PHP Template
For production applications, avoid putting a large HTML document directly inside PHP strings.
A better structure is:
project/
??? public/
??? src/
??? templates/
? ??? pdf/
? ??? invoice.php
??? storage/
? ??? pdf/
??? vendor/
??? composer.json
Your PHP code can prepare the data and load a dedicated PDF template.
For example:
ob_start();
include __DIR__ . '/templates/pdf/invoice.php';
$html = ob_get_clean();
$mpdf = new Mpdf();
$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
$mpdf->Output('invoice.pdf', 'D');
This separation makes the application easier to maintain.
Images and Fonts
Images are another common source of PDF conversion problems.
Make sure the image path is accessible to the PDF-generation process. Relative paths that work in a browser may not always behave as expected when the HTML is processed by a server-side PDF library.
For important documents, use predictable local asset paths and test them in your deployment environment.
Custom fonts can also improve the appearance of generated PDFs, especially when supporting multilingual content.
Before deploying a font-heavy PDF system, test:
-
font loading
-
Unicode characters
-
accented characters
-
Indian languages
-
Arabic or right-to-left content
-
Asian scripts
-
font file size
-
PDF generation performance
Security Considerations
PDF generation should be treated as an application feature, not simply a formatting operation.
If PDF content contains user-generated HTML, sanitize the content according to your application's security requirements.
If your application accepts URLs, do not allow unrestricted server-side requests. Validate domains, protocols, redirects, and network destinations to reduce SSRF risk.
Also consider:
-
authentication
-
authorization
-
file permissions
-
temporary file cleanup
-
output filename validation
-
resource limits
-
timeout handling
-
malicious HTML
-
oversized images
-
denial-of-service risks
A PDF endpoint should only allow an authenticated user to generate documents they are authorized to access.
Performance Optimization
PDF generation can become expensive when documents contain many pages, large images, complicated tables, or high-resolution assets.
Useful optimizations include:
-
Resize oversized images before embedding them.
-
Keep HTML and CSS simple.
-
Avoid unnecessary external resources.
-
Cache reusable assets where appropriate.
-
Generate large reports asynchronously when necessary.
-
Monitor PHP memory usage.
-
Set reasonable execution and request limits.
-
Store generated PDFs when repeatedly requested.
For example, instead of generating the same 100-page report every time someone clicks Download, your application can generate it once and serve the stored document until the underlying data changes.
Common mPDF Problems and Solutions
PDF Is Blank
Check whether the HTML is actually being generated.
Before passing the HTML to mPDF, inspect the generated content during development.
Also check for PHP errors and invalid template logic.
Images Are Missing
Verify the image paths and confirm that the server process can access the files.
Avoid assuming that a browser-relative URL will always resolve correctly from the PDF-generation environment.
CSS Looks Different
Remember that mPDF is not a full browser rendering engine.
Simplify the CSS and test the specific layout features required by the document.
PDF Generation Uses Too Much Memory
Large images and long documents can consume substantial memory.
Compress or resize images, simplify the document, and consider generating large reports in background jobs.
Special Characters Are Incorrect
Use UTF-8 consistently:
<meta charset="UTF-8">
Also verify that the selected font contains the characters you need.
mPDF vs Browser-Based PDF Generation
The right tool depends on the webpage.
Choose mPDF when:
-
your application is PHP-based
-
the content is primarily HTML and CSS
-
you want server-side PDF generation
-
you need reports or business documents
-
browser-perfect JavaScript rendering is not required
Consider a browser-based solution when:
-
the page depends heavily on JavaScript
-
you need pixel-level browser rendering
-
the page uses modern CSS extensively
-
charts are rendered dynamically in the browser
-
you need the PDF to closely match a Chrome-rendered webpage
The important question is not simply "Which PDF library is best?" but rather "What rendering environment does my webpage require?"
Best Practices for 2026
A robust PHP PDF implementation should follow a few principles.
Use Composer: Keep mPDF and other dependencies version-controlled.
Separate templates: Maintain PDF-specific HTML templates instead of mixing presentation with business logic.
Design for print: A webpage and a PDF have different layout requirements.
Test real documents: Test long tables, page breaks, images, fonts, and multilingual content.
Secure external resources: Never blindly fetch arbitrary URLs from user input.
Optimize assets: Large images can significantly increase memory consumption.
Keep dependencies updated: Monitor the mPDF project and your PHP dependency security advisories.
Choose the rendering engine based on requirements: mPDF is excellent for suitable HTML documents, but a browser engine can be a better choice for JavaScript-heavy pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can PHP create a PDF from HTML?
Yes. PHP can generate PDFs from HTML using libraries such as mPDF. The HTML is passed to the PDF library, which converts supported HTML and CSS into a PDF document.
Can mPDF convert a webpage URL into PDF?
mPDF can process HTML content, but it should not be treated as a complete browser capable of reproducing every modern webpage. For complex JavaScript-driven pages, a browser-based PDF solution may be more suitable.
Is mPDF free to use?
mPDF is an open-source PHP library. Always review the project's current license and dependency requirements before using it in a commercial application.
Why is my webpage different in the generated PDF?
Web browsers and server-side PDF engines use different rendering systems. CSS or JavaScript that works in Chrome may not produce the same result in mPDF.
Is mPDF suitable for invoices?
Yes. mPDF is commonly suitable for structured documents such as invoices, receipts, quotations, reports, and certificates, provided the HTML/CSS layout fits its supported rendering capabilities.
Final Thoughts
Creating a PDF file from a webpage using PHP and mPDF is straightforward when the source content is predictable HTML and CSS.
The basic process is:
Install mPDF → prepare HTML → call WriteHTML() → output the PDF.
For production systems, the quality of the result depends less on the basic PHP code and more on how the application handles templates, CSS, fonts, images, security, performance, and document-specific layouts.
In 2026, the most important architectural decision is choosing the correct PDF rendering approach. If your application generates server-rendered reports, invoices, certificates, or structured documents, mPDF can be a practical solution. If you need to reproduce a sophisticated JavaScript application exactly as rendered by a browser, consider a browser-based PDF engine instead.
A good PDF implementation is therefore not simply about "converting a webpage." It is about designing a reliable document-generation pipeline that produces consistent, secure, readable, and maintainable PDFs.
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