{"id":4287,"date":"2012-10-04T07:14:12","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T07:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noi3.org\/site\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2012-10-04T07:14:12","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T07:14:12","slug":"convert-html-page-to-a-pdf-using-open-source-tool-linux-os-x-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.noi3.org\/?p=4287","title":{"rendered":"Convert HTML Page To a PDF Using Open Source Tool [ Linux \/ OS X \/ Windows ]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"\"Simple shell utility to convert html to pdf using the webkit rendering engine, and qt. Searching the web, I have found several command line tools that allow you to convert a HTML-document to a PDF-document, however they all seem to use their own, and rather incomplete rendering engine, resulting in poor quality. Recently QT 4.4 was released with a WebKit widget (WebKit is the engine of Apples Safari, which is a fork of the KDE KHtml), and making a good tool became very easy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\tD<\/span>o you need a simple open source cross-platform command line tool that converts web pages and HTML to a PDF file? Look no further, try wkhtmltopdf.<\/p>\n

\tFrom the project home page:<\/p>\n

\tSimple shell utility to convert html to pdf using the webkit rendering engine, and qt. Searching the web, I have found several command line tools that allow you to convert a HTML-document to a PDF-document, however they all seem to use their own, and rather incomplete rendering engine, resulting in poor quality. Recently QT 4.4 was released with a WebKit widget (WebKit is the engine of Apples Safari, which is a fork of the KDE KHtml), and making a good tool became very easy.<\/p>\n

\tSoftware features<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \t\tCross platform.<\/li>\n
  2. \t\tOpen source.<\/li>\n
  3. \t\tConvert any web pages into PDF documents using webkit.<\/li>\n
  4. \t\tYou can add headers and footers.<\/li>\n
  5. \t\tTOC generation.<\/li>\n
  6. \t\tBatch mode conversions.<\/li>\n
  7. \t\tCan run on Linux server with an XServer (the X11 client libs must be installed).<\/li>\n
  8. \t\tCan be directly used by PHP or Python via bindings to libwkhtmltox.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \tDownload wkhtmltopdf<\/h2>\n

    \tVisit this page<\/a> to grab wkhtmltopdf for Linux \/ MS-Windows \/ Apple Mac OS X. You can also use the wget command<\/a> as follows:
    \t$ wget http:\/\/wkhtmltopdf.googlecode.com\/files\/wkhtmltopdf-0.11.0_rc1-static-amd64.tar.bz2<\/code>
    \tSample outputs:<\/p>\n

     Resolving wkhtmltopdf.googlecode.com... 74.125<\/span>.135<\/span>.82<\/span>, 2404<\/span>:6800<\/span>:4001<\/span>:c01::52<\/span> Connecting to wkhtmltopdf.googlecode.com|74.125<\/span>.135<\/span>.82<\/span>|:80<\/span>... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200<\/span> OK Length: 11175276<\/span> (<\/span>11M)<\/span> [<\/span>application\/octet-stream]<\/span><\/span> Saving to: `wkhtmltopdf-0.11<\/span>.0_rc1-static-amd64.tar.bz2'   100<\/span>%[<\/span>======================================>]<\/span><\/span> 1<\/span>,11<\/span>,75<\/span>,276<\/span>  480K\/s   in 23s   2012<\/span>-10<\/span>-04<\/span> 01<\/span>:21<\/span>:43<\/span> (<\/span>477<\/span> KB\/s)<\/span> - `wkhtmltopdf-0.11<\/span>.0_rc1-static-amd64.tar.bz2' saved [<\/span>11175276<\/span>\/11175276<\/span>]<\/span><\/span>  <\/pre>\n
     \tInstall wkhtmltopdf under Linux<\/h2>\n
     \tType the following tar command to extract files<\/a>:
     \t$ tar xvf wkhtmltopdf-0.11.0_rc1-static-amd64.tar.bz2<\/code>
     \tSample outputs:<\/p>\n
     wkhtmltopdf-amd64<\/pre>\n
     \tInstall the same in your private ~\/bin\/<\/kbd> directory or in \/usr\/local\/bin<\/kbd> directory:
     \t$ mv wkhtmltopdf-amd64 ~\/bin\/
     \tln -s ~\/bin\/wkhtmltopdf-amd64 ~\/bin\/html2pdf<\/code>
     \tOR
     \t$ sudo mv wkhtmltopdf-amd64 \/usr\/local\/bin\/
     \tln -s \/usr\/local\/bin\/wkhtmltopdf-amd64 \/usr\/local\/bin\/html2pdf<\/code><\/p>\n
     \tHow do I use wkhtmltopdf?<\/h2>\n
     \tThe syntax is as follows:<\/p>\n
       html2pdf http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/path\/to\/url.html output.pdf html2pdf http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/blog\/print\/url-slut.html output.pdf html2pdf -option1  -option2 http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/blog\/print\/url-slut.html output.pdf  <\/pre>\n
     \tExample: Simple html to pdf file<\/h3>\n
     \tIn this example, convert out bash for loop page<\/a> to a pdf file:
     \t$ html2pdf http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/faq\/bash-for-loop\/print\/ \/tmp\/bash.for.loop.pdf<\/code>
     \tSample outputs:<\/p>\n
     Loading pages (1\/6) Counting pages (2\/6) Resolving links (4\/6) Loading headers and footers (5\/6) Printing pages (6\/6) Done <\/pre>\n
     \tTo view generated pdf file click here<\/a>. Verify pdf file, enter:
     \t$ file \/tmp\/bash.for.loop.pdf <\/code>
     \tSample outputs:<\/p>\n
     \/tmp\/bash.for.loop.pdf: PDF document, version 1.4<\/pre>\n
     \tUse the pdfinfo command<\/a> to prints the contents of the 'Info' dictionary (plus some other useful information) from a Portable Document Format (PDF) file:
     \t$ pdfinfo \/tmp\/bash.for.loop.pdf <\/code>
     \tSample outputs:<\/p>\n
     Title:          Frequently Asked Questions About Linux \/ UNIX » Bash For Loop Examples » Print Creator: Producer:       wkhtmltopdf CreationDate:   Thu Oct  4 01:29:33 2012 Tagged:         no Pages:          4 Encrypted:      no Page size:      595 x 842 pts (A4) File size:      98792 bytes Optimized:      no PDF version:    1.4 <\/pre>\n
     \tGrayscale pdf<\/h3>\n
     \tThe following PDF will be generated in grayscale:
     \t$ html2pdf -g http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/faq\/bash-for-loop\/print\/ bash.for.loop.pdf<\/code><\/p>\n
     \tSet orientation to Landscape or Portrait<\/h3>\n
     \tUse the following syntax:
     \t$ html2pdf -O Landscape http:\/\/www.cyberciti.biz\/faq\/bash-for-loop\/print\/ bash.for.loop.pdf<\/code>
     \tWhere,<\/p>\n