How to return a PDF file in Laravel

Introduction

Generating and returning PDF files in a web application is a common requirement. Laravel, being a robust PHP framework, provides seamless ways to create and deliver PDFs. In this tutorial, we’ll go through different methods of generating and returning PDF files in a Laravel application, complete with code examples and explanations.

Setting Up the Environment

Before diving into PDF generation, ensure that you have a Laravel project up and running. You will also need to install a package that allows you to work with PDFs; a popular choice is barryvdh/laravel-dompdf. To install it, run the following command:

composer require barryvdh/laravel-dompdf

After the installation, register the provider in config/app.php:

'providers' => [
    // ...
    Barryvdh\DomPDF\ServiceProvider::class,
],
'aliases' => [
    // ...
    'PDF' => Barryvdh\DomPDF\Facade::class,
],

Basic PDF Generation

Let’s begin by generating a simple PDF. You can create a route and a corresponding controller method like this:

Route::get('/pdf', '[email protected]');

In your controller:

use PDF;

class PdfController extends Controller
{
    public function show()
    {
        $pdf = PDF::loadView('pdfs.simple');
        return $pdf->download('simple.pdf');
    }
}

Create a view file resources/views/pdfs/simple.blade.php containing HTML, which will be converted to a PDF:

<h1>Hello, World!</h1>

Advanced PDF Customization

In real-world applications, you may want to customize your PDF with dynamic data, headers, footers, or even CSS styling. Let’s explore how you can achieve that.

Passing Data to PDF

Pass an array of data to the view:

$data = ['message' => 'Hello World'];
$pdf = PDF::loadView('pdfs.custom', $data);
return $pdf->download('custom.pdf');

In your view pdfs/custom.blade.php, you can then display this data:

≤h1>{{ $message }}</h1>

Styling Your PDF

Laravel DomPDF package allows you to style your PDF using CSS:

<style>
    body {
        font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif;
    }
    h1 {
        color: #4A90E2;
    }
</style>
<h1>{{ $message }}</h1>

Handling Large PDFs

If you’re dealing with large documents, you may need to stream the PDF to the user instead of forcing a download:

return $pdf->stream('large.pdf');

This serves the PDF inline, so it can be viewed within the browser.

Using Middleware

For more control, such as requiring user authentication before accessing a PDF, you can use Laravel middleware. Here’s how:

Route::get('/protected-pdf', '[email protected]')->middleware('auth');

This ensures that only authenticated users can access this route.

Saving PDFs on the Server

Sometimes, you might want to save the PDF to your server:

$pdf->save(storage_path('app/public/pdf_name.pdf'));
return response()->download(storage_path('app/public/pdf_name.pdf'));

This will save the PDF in the storage and then return it to the user.

Securing Your PDFs

You can also secure your PDFs with passwords and permissions:

$pdf = PDF::loadView('myPdfView');
$pdf->setEncryption('password');
return $pdf->download('secured.pdf');

This will encrypt the PDF with the specified password.

Testing PDF Generation

To make sure your PDF generation is flawless, you must write tests. You can use Laravel’s built-in testing functionality to make a request and assert that the response is a PDF:

$this->get('/pdf')->assertStatus(200)->assertHeader('Content-Type', 'application/pdf');

Conclusion

This tutorial covered the basics and more advanced options for generating and returning PDF files with Laravel. By adding a package like barryvdh/laravel-dompdf, you enhanced Laravel’s ability to generate custom PDF files that meet the needs of your application, which can lead to better data presentation and documentation for your users.