HTML to PDF: the complete guide
Every mainstream way to turn HTML into PDF, tested with the same two documents: 9 renderers across PHP, Python, Node, and headless Chromium. Real results.
Blog
Notes from the build.
Engineering write-ups, product updates, and the occasional opinion about why file conversion is harder than it looks.
The LibreOffice headless cheatsheet
Convert DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, CSV, and HTML from the command line with LibreOffice: verified filters, CSV options, batch timings, and the concurrency trap.
HTML to PDF in Node: Puppeteer vs jsPDF
Puppeteer against our test invoice and chart report, the Ubuntu sandbox error you'll hit on a real server, and what jsPDF is actually for.
HTML to PDF in Python: WeasyPrint tested
We rendered the same invoice and chart report through WeasyPrint 69 and xhtml2pdf 0.2.17. WeasyPrint surprised us. Real output, real timings, downloadable PDFs.
HTML to PDF in PHP: dompdf, mpdf, TCPDF
One invoice rendered through dompdf, mpdf, TCPDF, and headless Chromium: real output, real timings, working fixes, and when each option is the right call.
wkhtmltopdf is deprecated: 2026 migration
The wkhtmltopdf repo is archived yet distros still ship it. What it renders in 2026 (tested), why staying is a risk, and a flag-by-flag migration map.
July update: URL input and webhooks
Convert from a URL, HMAC-signed webhooks managed via the API, metadata passthrough, richer payloads, and animated GIF/WebP to every video format.
Paperplane is now Converterer
Why the HTML-to-PDF service you knew as Paperplane is now Converterer, what's the same, what's expanded, and how the rebrand affects existing API users.
Print CSS basics in 10 minutes
A practical walk through @media print, page-break properties, the @page rule, and the small set of CSS you need for clean printable pages and PDFs in 2026.
Modern HTML to PDF conversion
What changed in HTML-to-PDF between 2019 and 2026: headless Chrome, Playwright vs Puppeteer, serverless rendering, paged.js, and when to use an API.