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How to Generate PDF from HTML Using Dompdf

Marcelo | Founder

Feb 12, 2025

Introduction to Dompdf

Dompdf is a powerful, open-source library that converts HTML and CSS directly into PDF documents, making it easy for PHP developers to create professional-looking PDFs without manually constructing layouts. In this guide, you’ll learn:

- How to install Dompdf using Composer

- Step-by-step instructions for rendering static and dynamic HTML

- Advanced tips for styling, images, and pagination

- Best practices for SaaS environments and large-scale PDF generation

You can access the full documentation for dompdf here.

Comparison Between Dompdf and Other PHP PDF Libraries

When choosing a PHP library for PDF generation, three names often arise: Dompdf, TCPDF, and MPDF. Here’s a quick feature comparison:


| Feature                  | Dompdf                 | TCPDF                           | mPDF                                         |
|--------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Install Base (Packagist) | ~111.6 million         | ~69.2 million                   | ~53 million                                  |
| Approach                 | HTML/CSS rendering     | Manually build PDFs             | HTML/CSS rendering                           |
| CSS Support              | CSS2.1 + partial 3     | Basic inline styles             | Advanced CSS3 in some cases                  |
| Ease of Use              | Very beginner-friendly | Steep learning curve            | Moderate learning curve                      |
| Performance              | Good for moderate docs | Highly optimized for large PDFs | Similar to Dompdf, can handle moderate loads

Dompdf excels in simplicity—perfect for projects that rely heavily on existing HTML. If you need more robust performance for extremely large PDFs, TCPDF may offer speed advantages but requires more low-level PDF structuring. mPDF falls somewhere in between, balancing HTML support with decent performance.

If you want to deep dive on a full comparison between the best PHP PDF libraries, check out this guide.

Guide to generate pdf from html using php dompdft

Setting Up Dompdf in Your PHP Project

Integrating Dompdf into your project is straightforward, especially when using Composer for dependency management.

Installing Dompdf via Composer

1. Install Composer: If you haven’t already, download and install Composer from getcomposer.org.

2. Require Dompdf: In your project directory, run the following command:

3. Include the Autoloader: Add the Composer autoloader to your PHP script:

Now, you’re ready to start generating PDFs from any HTML or CSS content!

Configuring Dompdf

Initialize Dompdf in your script:

Set the paper size and orientation (optional):

Exploring the Dompdf basic usage

Load your HTML content:

$html = '<h1>Invoice</h1><p>This is your invoice.</p>

Render the PDF:

Output the generated PDF to the browser:

Generating Dynamic PDFs with Dompdf

Creating visually appealing PDFs requires well-structured HTML and CSS. Below is a simplified invoice template showing how you can embed dynamic data (like customer details, items, and totals) within HTML.

1. Invoice Template (invoice_template.php)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Invoice</title>
    <style>
        /* Minimal styling for clarity */
        body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 20px; }
        h1 { margin-bottom: 10px; }
        .company-details, .customer-details {
            display: inline-block;
            width: 45%;
            vertical-align: top;
        }
        .customer-details { text-align: right; }
        table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 20px; }
        th, td { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 8px; text-align: left; }
        .total { text-align: right; margin-top: 10px; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Invoice</h1>
    
    <div class="company-details">
        <strong>Company Name</strong><br>
        12345 Sunny Road<br>
        Sunnyville, TX 12345
    </div>
    
    <div class="customer-details">
        <strong><?= htmlspecialchars($customerName) ?></strong><br>
        <?= htmlspecialchars($customerAddress) ?><br>
        <?= htmlspecialchars($customerCity) ?>
    </div>
    <br style="clear: both;">
    
    <p>Date: <?= htmlspecialchars($invoiceDate) ?></p>
    
    <table>
        <tr>
            <th>Item</th>
            <th>Description</th>
            <th>Quantity</th>
            <th>Price</th>
            <th>Line Total</th>
        </tr>
        <?php foreach($items as $item): ?>
            <tr>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($item['item']) ?></td>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($item['description']) ?></td>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($item['quantity']) ?></td>
                <td>$<?= number_format($item['price'], 2) ?></td>
                <td>$<?= number_format($item['quantity'] * $item['price'], 2) ?></td>
            </tr>
        <?php endforeach; ?>
    </table>
    
    <div class="total">
        <strong>Total Due: $<?= number_format($totalDue, 2) ?></strong>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

2. Sample PHP Variables (invoices.php or similar)

<?php
$customerName    = 'John Doe';
$customerAddress = '54321 Cloudy Road';
$customerCity    = 'Cloudsville, CA 54321';
$invoiceDate     = date('F d, Y');
$items = [
    [
        'item'        => '001',
        'description' => 'Web Design Services',
        'quantity'    => 1,
        'price'       => 1500.00
    ],
    [
        'item'        => '002',
        'description' => 'Hosting (12 months)',
        'quantity'    => 1,
        'price'       => 240.00
    ],
    // Add more items as needed
];
$totalDue = array_reduce($items, function($sum, $item) {
    return $sum + ($item['quantity'] * $item['price']);
}, 0);

3. Rendering the Invoice with Dompdf

<?php
use Dompdf\Dompdf;
use Dompdf\Options;

// 1. Load Dompdf & Set Options
$options = new Options();
$options->set('isRemoteEnabled', true);  // Enable remote image loading if needed

$dompdf = new Dompdf($options);

// 2. Capture the Invoice Template Output
ob_start();
include 'invoice_template.php'; // This file uses the variables from above
$html = ob_get_clean();

// 3. Load and Render the HTML
$dompdf->loadHtml($html);
$dompdf->setPaper('A4', 'portrait');
$dompdf->render();

// 4. Stream or Save the PDF
$dompdf->stream('invoice.pdf', ['Attachment' => false]);
// Or to force download: $dompdf->stream('invoice.pdf');

How It Works

1. Prepare Data: Define $customerName, $items, etc. in a PHP file.

2. Include Template: Use ob_start() and include 'invoice_template.php' to capture the rendered HTML (with dynamic data) into a variable.

3. Render: Load the HTML into Dompdf, set paper size/orientation, and call $dompdf->render().

4. Output: Finally, output the PDF to the browser with $dompdf->stream(), or save it to the server with $dompdf->output().

This approach keeps your invoice layout cleanly separated in invoice_template.php and allows for any dynamic data you need. Feel free to add additional styling, headers, footers, or images to suit your design requirements.

Handling Images, Pagination, Headers, and Footers

1. Embedding Images in the PDF

To include images (e.g., a company logo) in your generated PDFs, you can use an absolute URL or base64-encoded data. Make sure remote loading is enabled if you’re using external URLs.

use Dompdf\Dompdf;
use Dompdf\Options;

$options = new Options();
$options->set('isRemoteEnabled', true);  // Allows loading of remote images

$dompdf = new Dompdf($options);

// Sample HTML with an embedded image
$html = '
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Invoice with Logo</title></head>
<body>
    <img src="https://your-domain.com/path/to/logo.png" alt="Company Logo" width="120"/>
    <h1>Invoice Title</h1>
    <p>Some invoice content here...</p>
</body>
</html>

If your images are local or behind authentication, consider converting them to base64 to ensure they render correctly.

$logoData = base64_encode(file_get_contents('path/to/logo.png'));
$imgTag = '<img src="data:image/png;base64,' . $logoData . '" alt="Company Logo" width="120" />

2. Adding Pagination (Headers and Footers)

Dompdf can automatically paginate lengthy content, and you can inject headers/footers (including page numbers) by using fixed positions in your HTML/CSS. Below is an example of how to create a header with a logo and a footer that displays page numbers.

CSS for Fixed Header and Footer

HTML Structure with Header & Footer

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>PDF with Header and Footer</title>
    <style>
        @page {
            margin: 100px 25px;
        }
        header {
            position: fixed;
            top: -60px;
            left: 0;
            right: 0;
            height: 50px;
            background-color: #f9f9f9;
            text-align: center;
            line-height: 50px;
        }
        footer {
            position: fixed;
            bottom: -40px;
            left: 0;
            right: 0;
            height: 40px;
            background-color: #f9f9f9;
            text-align: center;
            line-height: 40px;
        }
        .page-number:before {
            content: "Page " counter(page) " of " counter(pages);
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <img src="https://your-domain.com/path/to/logo.png" alt="Company Logo" width="120"/>
    </header>

    <footer>
        <span class="page-number"></span>
    </footer>

    <!-- Main content goes here -->
    <h1>Your Document Title</h1>
    <p>Lots of text or tables that might span multiple pages...</p>
    <!-- Add more content to force additional pages for testing -->
</body>
</html>

PHP Integration

After preparing the above HTML/CSS, integrate it with Dompdf in your PHP script:

Note: Make sure the <header> and <footer> elements are positioned with negative margins so they occupy the space you configured in the @page { margin: ... } settings, but don’t overlap your main content.

Alternative: Scaling PDF Generation with Third-Party APIs

For larger SaaS platforms requiring automated PDF generation at scale, integrating a PDF Generation API like pdforge can offload the heavy lifting. This approach is ideal for SaaS platforms with high volumes of PDF requests.

With pdforge, you can create beautiful reports with flexible layouts and complex components with an easy-to-use opinionated no-code builder. Let the AI do the heavy lifting by generating your templates, creating custom components or even filling all the variables for you.

You can handle high-volume PDF generation from a single backend call.

Here’s an example of how to generate pdf with pdforge via an API call:

You can create your account, experience our no-code builder and create your first layout template without any upfront payment clicking here.

Conclusion

Dompdf offers a developer-friendly way to convert HTML and CSS into polished PDF files—ideal for invoices, reports, or any document-heavy SaaS feature. Its ease of use and strong community support make it a go-to for small to medium-sized projects. However, if you anticipate rapid growth or have strict performance requirements, explore TCPDF or mPDF for more granular control.

If you don't want to waste time maintaining pdfs layouts and their infrastructure or if you don't want to keep track of best practices to generate PDFs at scale, third-party PDF APIs like pdforge will save you hours of work and deliver a high quality pdf layout.