For most new projects starting in 2025+, Spatie’s package is the future-proof path. Step-by-Step: Building Your First Laravel PDF (Using Dompdf) Let’s generate a simple invoice to illustrate the basic flow. Step 1: Install and Configure composer require barryvdh/laravel-dompdf No extra config needed; Laravel auto-discovers the service provider. Step 2: Create a Controller use Barryvdh\DomPDF\Facade\Pdf; class InvoiceController extends Controller
$pdf = Pdf::loadView('report') ->headerHtml(view('pdfs.header')->render()) ->footerHtml(view('pdfs.footer', ['page' => 'PAGE_NUMBER'])); Use setasign/fpdi + setasign/tcpdf to add signatures to existing PDFs.
$order = Order::with('items')->find($orderId); $pdf = Pdf::loadView('pdfs.invoice', compact('order')); return $pdf->download('invoice-'.$orderId.'.pdf'); mastering laravel pdf
public function showReport(ReportRequest $request)
$pdf = Pdf::loadView(...); Storage::disk('s3')->put("pdfs/$filename", $pdf->output()); Use @font-face with Dompdf or install fonts for Snappy/Browsershot. For Chinese, Arabic, or Hindi: For most new projects starting in 2025+, Spatie’s
GeneratePDFJob::dispatch($order, auth()->id()); In the job:
Laravel has become the go-to PHP framework for developers building everything from small MVPs to enterprise-level systems. One recurring requirement across almost every domain—e-commerce, logistics, HR, finance, education—is the ability to generate dynamic, professional PDF documents . Whether it’s an invoice, a monthly report, a certificate, or a contract, mastering PDF output in Laravel is a non-negotiable skill for back-end and full-stack developers. foreach (Product::cursor() as $product) $pdf->
composer require setasign/fpdi Then overlay a signature image at specific coordinates. Never generate large PDFs during a web request. Dispatch a job:
$pdf = Pdf::loadView('pdfs.report'); $pdf->setOption('isHtml5ParserEnabled', true); foreach (Product::cursor() as $product) $pdf->addView('pdfs.partials.product_row', ['product' => $product]);
| Package | Engine | Best For | |---------|--------|-----------| | | Dompdf | Simple HTML-to-PDF, no external dependencies | | barryvdh/laravel-snappy | wkhtmltopdf | Complex layouts, precise rendering | | spatie/laravel-pdf | Browsershot (Puppeteer) | Modern CSS/JS, charts, Tailwind CSS | | Laravel-dompdf (community) | Dompdf | Lightweight, quick invoices | 1. Dompdf – The Beginner’s Choice Perfect for 80% of use cases. It converts HTML/CSS directly to PDF without needing extra binaries.