How to Generate PDF Documents with React-PDF

Setting Up Your Project with React-PDF

To start using React-PDF for PDF generation, make sure you have Node.js and npm installed. Then create a new React project and add the @react-pdf/renderer package, which provides all the tools needed to create PDFs directly from React components.

npx create-react-app react-pdf-generator
cd react-pdf-generator
npm

Your project structure might look like this:

React to PDF: How to Generate PDFs in React with React-PDF

The @react-pdf/renderer library lets you write JSX components that render into real PDF documents.

Think of it as React’s declarative style applied to PDF creation — you use <Document>, <Page>, <View>, and <Text> elements instead of <div> and <span>.

Quick Start: React Create PDF with @react-pdf/renderer

1. Install and Scaffold

After installation, import the components you’ll need:

import React from 'react';
import { Document, Page, Text, View, PDFDownloadLink } from '@react-pdf/renderer';

2. Minimal “Hello PDF” Component

Create a simple HelloPDF.js inside src/components:

// src/components/HelloPDF.js
import React from 'react';
import { Document, Page, Text, StyleSheet } from '@react-pdf/renderer';

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  page: { flexDirection: 'column', alignItems: 'center', justifyContent: 'center' },
  text: { fontSize: 16, color: '#333' },
});

const HelloPDF = () => (
  <Document>
    <Page size="A4" style={styles.page}>
      <Text style={styles.text}>Hello from React to PDF!</Text>
    </Page>
  </Document>

Then in App.js:

import React from 'react';
import { PDFDownloadLink } from '@react-pdf/renderer';
import HelloPDF from './components/HelloPDF';

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>React Create PDF Example</h1>
      <PDFDownloadLink document={<HelloPDF />} fileName="hello.pdf">
        {({ loading }) => (loading ? 'Preparing PDF...' : 'Download PDF')}
      </PDFDownloadLink>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

✅ Run npm start and click Download PDF. You just created your first document using React to PDF.

Build a Real Template: Invoice Example with Flexbox Layout

Now let’s build a professional invoice template that uses real data and layout control with Flexbox.

Header and Meta Block

// src/components/Invoice.js
import React from 'react';
import { Document, Page, Text, View, StyleSheet } from '@react-pdf/renderer';

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  page: { padding: 30 },
  header: { borderBottomWidth: 1, borderBottomColor: '#ddd', marginBottom: 20 },
  title: { fontSize: 22, fontWeight: 'bold' },
  section: { marginBottom: 12 },
  row: { flexDirection: 'row', justifyContent: 'space-between' },
  label: { fontWeight: 'bold' },
});

const Invoice = ({ data }) => (
  <Document>
    <Page style={styles.page}>
      <View style={styles.header}>
        <Text style={styles.title}>Invoice</Text>
      </View>

      <View style={styles.section}>
        <View style={styles.row}>
          <Text style={styles.label}>Invoice #:</Text>
          <Text>{data.invoiceNumber}</Text>
        </View>
        <View style={styles.row}>
          <Text style={styles.label}>Client:</Text>
          <Text>{data.clientName}</Text>
        </View>
      </View>

Line Items Table and Totals

      <View style={{ borderWidth: 1, borderColor: '#eee', marginBottom: 12 }}>
        {data.items.map((item, index) => (
          <View key={index} style={[styles.row, { padding: 6 }]}>
            <Text>{item.description}</Text>
            <Text>${item.price.toFixed(2)}</Text>
          </View>
        ))}
      </View>

      <View style={styles.row}>
        <Text style={styles.label}>Total:</Text>
        <Text>
          $
          {data.items
            .reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price, 0)
            .toFixed(2)}
        </Text>
      </View>
    </Page>
  </Document>
);

export default Invoice;

Download via PDFDownloadLink

import { PDFDownloadLink } from '@react-pdf/renderer';
import Invoice from './components/Invoice';
import invoiceData from './data/invoiceData';

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Generate PDF from React</h1>
      <PDFDownloadLink document={<Invoice data={invoiceData} />} fileName="invoice.pdf">
        {({ loading }) => (loading ? 'Creating PDF...' : 'Download Invoice')}
      </PDFDownloadLink>
    </div>
  );
}

Fonts in React-PDF: Font.register and the format Property

React-PDF allows custom font registration through the Font API.

This is especially useful when you need consistent branding or multi-language support.

// src/fonts/registerFonts.js
import { Font } from '@react-pdf/renderer';

Font.register({
  family: 'Inter',
  src: '/fonts/Inter-Regular.woff2',
  format: 'woff2', // react-pdf/renderer Font.register format property
});

Font.register({
  family: 'Inter',
  fonts: [
    { src: '/fonts/Inter-Bold.woff2', fontWeight: 'bold', format: 'woff2' },
    { src: '/fonts/Inter-Italic.woff', fontStyle: 'italic', format: 'woff' },
  ],
});

✅ Use the registered family inside your styles:

Tip: Supported formats include woff2, woff, truetype, and opentype. Keep fonts inside /public/fonts or host them from a CDN.

Does React-PDF Render HTML? Understanding React PDF vs HTML PDF

It’s common to confuse React-PDF with HTML-to-PDF converters.

React-PDF does not render raw HTML or CSS. It transforms React components into PDF pages using the PDFKit engine.

If you actually need to convert HTML to PDF in React, you have two main options:

1. Headless browsers like Playwright or Puppeteer — ideal for pixel-perfect rendering.

2. HTML-to-React-PDF mappers that parse a limited subset of HTML tags into React-PDF components.

Example (simplified HTML-to-React mapping):

import { Document, Page, Text, View } from '@react-pdf/renderer';
import { parse } from 'node-html-parser';

const htmlToPdfNodes = (html) => {
  const root = parse(html);
  return root.childNodes.map((node, i) => (
    <Text key={i}>{node.rawText}</Text>
  ));
};

const HtmlDocument = ({ html }) => (
  <Document>
    <Page>
      <View>{htmlToPdfNodes(html)}</View>
    </Page>
  </Document>
);

For production use, headless browsers or APIs like pdforge are better for rendering complex HTML layouts with CSS.

Server-Side Rendering: Generate PDF from React on Node (Streaming)

React-PDF also supports server-side PDF generation for automation or batch exports.

Install the Node renderer:

npm

Then create a lightweight Express server:

// server.js
import express from 'express';
import React from 'react';
import { renderToStream } from '@react-pdf/node';
import Invoice from './src/components/Invoice.js';
import invoiceData from './src/data/invoiceData.js';

const app = express();

app.get('/invoice', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const element = React.createElement(Invoice, { data: invoiceData });
    const pdfStream = await renderToStream(element);
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/pdf');
    pdfStream.pipe(res);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
    res.status(500).send('Error generating PDF');
  }
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('PDF server running on port 3000'));

✅ This approach streams PDF files directly to clients — perfect for invoices, reports, or downloadable receipts.

Next Steps:

If you need HTML-to-PDF at scale with full CSS and templates, integrate a PDF API like pdforge.

You’ll get the best of both worlds: the flexibility of React on the frontend and automated PDF rendering at scale.

Alternative: Convert HTML to PDF at Scale Using pdforge

Managing HTML to PDF conversion at scale poses challenges, particularly with serverless architectures (see our detailed article) and frequent template updates. pdforge simplifies these challenges by providing a robust PDF Generation API for direct HTML to PDF conversion:

fetch('https://api.pdforge.com/v1/pdf/sync', {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({ templateId: 'your-template' , data: {html:'your-html' } }),
  headers: { 'Authorization' : 'Bearer your-api-key' }
});

pdforge also includes a powerful AI Agent that generates PDF templates instantly and a modern no-code editor for quick design fine-tuning. Its intuitive platform allows non-developers to manage templates efficiently. Here's a quick demo on how it works:

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

Conclusion

React-PDF offers a powerful solution for generating PDF reports from HTML in React applications. Its integration with PDFKit and use of React components make it an excellent choice for developers seeking a declarative and intuitive approach.

However, React-PDF may not suit all scenarios. If you require low-level control over PDF structures or need to convert complex HTML directly, alternatives like pdf-lib or browser-oriented libraries like Puppeteer and Playwright might be more appropriate.

For large-scale applications demanding advanced features and scalability, leveraging third-party PDF APIs such as pdforge is recommended. These services handle the complexities of PDF generation, allowing you to focus on your application’s core functionality.