How to generate PDF file using PHP ? - ❤️PHP Tutorials In 2024

In this article, we will learn how to generate PDF files with PHP by using FPDF. It is a free PHP class that contains many functions for creating and modifying PDFs. The FPDF class includes many features like page formats, page headers, footers, automatic page break, line break, image support, colors, links, and many more.

Approach:

You need to download the FPDF class from the FPDF website and include it in your PHP script.

require('fpdf/fpdf.php');

Instantiate and use the FPDF class according to your need as shown in the following examples.

$pdf=new FPDF();

Example 1: The following example generates a PDF file with the given text in the code. The file can be downloaded or previewed as needed.

PHP

<?php 
    
ob_end_clean(); 
require('fpdf/fpdf.php'); 
  
// Instantiate and use the FPDF class  
$pdf = new FPDF(); 
  
//Add a new page 
$pdf->AddPage(); 
  
// Set the font for the text 
$pdf->SetFont('Arial', 'B', 18); 
  
// Prints a cell with given text  
$pdf->Cell(60,20,'Hello w3wiki!'); 
  
// return the generated output 
$pdf->Output(); 
  
?>

Output:

Example 2: The following example helps in understanding the setting of the page header and footer along with printing many lines on different pages of PDF files.

PHP

<?php 
  
require('fpdf/fpdf.php'); 
  
class PDF extends FPDF { 
  
    // Page header 
    function Header() { 
          
        // Add logo to page 
        $this->Image('gfg1.png',10,8,33); 
          
        // Set font family to Arial bold  
        $this->SetFont('Arial','B',20); 
          
        // Move to the right 
        $this->Cell(80); 
          
        // Header 
        $this->Cell(50,10,'Heading',1,0,'C'); 
          
        // Line break 
        $this->Ln(20); 
    } 
  
    // Page footer 
    function Footer() { 
          
        // Position at 1.5 cm from bottom 
        $this->SetY(-15); 
          
        // Arial italic 8 
        $this->SetFont('Arial','I',8); 
          
        // Page number 
        $this->Cell(0,10,'Page ' .  
            $this->PageNo() . '/{nb}',0,0,'C'); 
    } 
} 
  
// Instantiation of FPDF class 
$pdf = new PDF(); 
  
// Define alias for number of pages 
$pdf->AliasNbPages(); 
$pdf->AddPage(); 
$pdf->SetFont('Times','',14); 
  
for($i = 1; $i <= 30; $i++) 
    $pdf->Cell(0, 10, 'line number ' 
            . $i, 0, 1); 
$pdf->Output(); 
  
?>

Output: