Why convert PHP to PDF?
People convert PHP-generated pages to PDF to share invoices, reports, or data exports in a fixed, printable format that needs no live server or browser to view. A .pdf preserves the rendered layout exactly as it appeared at the moment of capture.
How to convert PHP to PDF
Dompdf OPEN-SOURCE
Install via Composer, buffer your PHP page's HTML with ob_start(), pass it to a Dompdf instance, and call render() then stream() or output() to write the .pdf.
mPDF OPEN-SOURCE
Install via Composer, create an Mpdf object, pass your HTML with WriteHTML(), and call Output() to save the .pdf; mPDF has stronger UTF-8 and table support than Dompdf.
TCPDF OPEN-SOURCE
Build the PDF page by page using API calls such as Cell() and MultiCell(); more verbose than HTML-based libraries but gives precise layout control.
About these formats
.PHP
PHP Script / Hypertext Preprocessor Source File
A PHP file is plain-text server-side source code written in PHP, the language behind WordPress and most content management systems. To read or edit it, open it in a text editor such as VS…
Open .PHP details →
.PDF
Portable Document Format
A PDF (Portable Document Format) is a fixed-layout document that looks identical on every device - fonts, images, and layout are all embedded. Open it in any browser or the built-in viewer…
Open .PDF details →Quality & what to watch
- A
.phpfile is plain-text source code with no layout until PHP executes it, so there is no direct file-to-file converter for.phpto.pdf. - When using the browser Print method, dynamic data such as database results and session values is frozen at the moment of capture.
- PHP libraries (Dompdf, mPDF, TCPDF) convert HTML and CSS to PDF server-side without requiring a browser.
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert a .php file to PDF without running a server?
.php file is source code that produces no visible output until PHP executes it on a server.
