HTML to PDF Ruby Examples

This page contains various examples of using the HTML to PDF API in Ruby. The examples are complete and fully functional. Read more about how to convert HTML to PDF in Ruby.

Basic examples
Advanced examples
Template rendering examples

Basic examples

Convert a web page to a PDF file

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "example.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a web page to in-memory PDF

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and store the result into the "pdf" variable
    pdf = client.convertUrl("http://www.example.com")

    # at this point the "pdf" variable contains PDF raw data and
    # can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a web page and write the resulting PDF to an output stream

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # create an output stream for the conversion result
    output_stream = open("example.pdf", "wb")

    # run the conversion and write the result into the output stream
    client.convertUrlToStream("http://www.example.com", output_stream)

    # close the output stream
    output_stream.close()
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a local HTML file to a PDF file

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertFileToFile("/path/to/MyLayout.html", "MyLayout.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a local HTML file to in-memory PDF

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and store the result into the "pdf" variable
    pdf = client.convertFile("/path/to/MyLayout.html")

    # at this point the "pdf" variable contains PDF raw data and
    # can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a local HTML file and write the resulting PDF to an output stream

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # create an output stream for the conversion result
    output_stream = open("MyLayout.pdf", "wb")

    # run the conversion and write the result into the output stream
    client.convertFileToStream("/path/to/MyLayout.html", output_stream)

    # close the output stream
    output_stream.close()
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a string containing HTML to a PDF file

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("<html><body><h1>Hello World!</h1></body></html>", "HelloWorld.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a string containing HTML to in-memory PDF

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # run the conversion and store the result into the "pdf" variable
    pdf = client.convertString("<html><body><h1>Hello World!</h1></body></html>")

    # at this point the "pdf" variable contains PDF raw data and
    # can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a string containing HTML and write the resulting PDF to an output stream

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # create an output stream for the conversion result
    output_stream = open("HelloWorld.pdf", "wb")

    # run the conversion and write the result into the output stream
    client.convertStringToStream("<html><body><h1>Hello World!</h1></body></html>", output_stream)

    # close the output stream
    output_stream.close()
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Get info about the current conversion

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setDebugLog(true)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertFileToFile("/path/to/MyLayout.html", "MyLayout.pdf")
    
    # print URL to the debug log
    puts "Debug log url: #{client.getDebugLogUrl()}"
    
    # print the number of available conversion credits in your account
    puts "Remaining credit count: #{client.getRemainingCreditCount()}"
    
    # print the number of credits consumed by the conversion
    puts "Consumed credit count: #{client.getConsumedCreditCount()}"
    
    # print the unique ID of the conversion
    puts "Job id: #{client.getJobId()}"
    
    # print the total number of pages in the output document
    puts "Page count: #{client.getPageCount()}"
    
    # print the size of the output in bytes
    puts "Output size: #{client.getOutputSize()}"
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Advanced examples

Customize the page size and the orientation

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setPageSize("Letter")
    client.setOrientation("landscape")
    client.setNoMargins(true)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "letter_landscape.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Put the source URL in the header and the page number in the footer

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setHeaderHeight("15mm")
    client.setFooterHeight("10mm")
    client.setHeaderHtml("<a class='pdfcrowd-source-url' data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a>")
    client.setFooterHtml("<center><span class='pdfcrowd-page-number'></span></center>")
    client.setMarginTop("0")
    client.setMarginBottom("0")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "header_footer.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create fillable PDF form

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setEnablePdfForms(true)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("<html><body>Enter name:<input type=text></body></html>", "form.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Zoom the HTML document

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setScaleFactor(300)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "zoom_300.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Set PDF metadata

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setAuthor("Pdfcrowd")
    client.setTitle("Hello World")
    client.setSubject("Demo")
    client.setKeywords("Pdfcrowd,demo")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "with_metadata.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create a Powerpoint like presentation from an HTML document

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setPageLayout("single-page")
    client.setPageMode("full-screen")
    client.setInitialZoomType("fit-page")
    client.setOrientation("landscape")
    client.setNoMargins(true)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("https://pdfcrowd.com/api/", "slide_show.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert an HTML document section

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setElementToConvert("#main")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("https://pdfcrowd.com/api/", "html_part.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Inject an HTML code

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setCustomJavascript("el=document.createElement('h2'); el.textContent='Hello from Pdfcrowd API'; el.style.color='red'; el_before=document.getElementsByTagName('h1')[0]; el_before.parentNode.insertBefore(el, el_before.nextSibling)")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "html_inject.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Convert a responsive web page as it appears on a large device

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setViewportWidth(992)
    client.setRenderingMode("viewport")
    client.setSmartScalingMode("viewport-fit")
    client.setNoMargins(true)

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("https://getbootstrap.com/", "bootstrap.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create an in-memory archive (ZIP) and convert it

require "pdfcrowd"
require "zip"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # create ZIP archive
    in_stream = Zip::OutputStream.write_buffer do |zip_io|
        # add HTML content to the archive
        zip_io.put_next_entry("index.html")
        zip_io.write "<html>
            <head>
                <style>
                 @font-face
                 {
                     font-family: 'OpenSans';
                     src: url(fonts/OpenSans.ttf) format('truetype');
                 }
        
                 h1
                 {
                     font-family: OpenSans;
                 }
                </style>
            </head>
            <body>
                <h1>Hello World</h1>
                <img src='images/logo.png'>
            </body>
        </html>"

        # add required local files to the archive
        zip_io.put_next_entry("fonts/OpenSans.ttf")
        File.open("/your-path-to/fonts/OpenSans.ttf", "rb") do |in_file|
            zip_io.write in_file.read
        end
        zip_io.put_next_entry("images/logo.png")
        File.open("/your-path-to/images/logo.png", "rb") do |in_file|
            zip_io.write in_file.read
        end
    end

    in_stream.rewind

    # create an output stream for the conversion result
    output_stream = open("HelloFromZip.pdf", "wb")

    # run the conversion and write the result into the output stream
    client.convertStreamToStream(in_stream, output_stream)

    # close the output stream
    output_stream.close()
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Renderer debugging - highlight HTML elements

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setCustomJavascript("libPdfcrowd.highlightHtmlElements({backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 191, 0, 0.1)', borderColor:null})")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "highlight_background.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Renderer debugging - borders with spacing around HTML elements

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setCustomJavascript("libPdfcrowd.highlightHtmlElements({borderColor: 'orange', backgroundColor: null, padding: '4px', margin: '4px'})")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertUrlToFile("http://www.example.com", "highlight_borders.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Template rendering Examples

Create PDF from JSON data

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setDataString('{
            "name": "World",
            "product": "Pdfcrowd API"
        }')

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("Hello {{ name }} from {{ product }}", "output.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create PDF from XML data

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setDataString('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
        <data>
          <name>World</name>
          <product>Pdfcrowd API</product>
        </data>')

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("Hello {{ data.name }} from {{ data.product }}", "output.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create PDF from YAML data

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setDataString("name: World
product: Pdfcrowd API")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("Hello {{ name }} from {{ product }}", "output.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end

Create PDF from CSV data

require "pdfcrowd"

begin
    # create the API client instance
    client = Pdfcrowd::HtmlToPdfClient.new("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    # configure the conversion
    client.setDataString("name,product
World,Pdfcrowd API")

    # run the conversion and write the result to a file
    client.convertStringToFile("Hello {{ name }} from {{ product }}", "output.pdf")
rescue Pdfcrowd::Error => why
    # report the error
    STDERR.puts "Pdfcrowd Error: #{why}"

    # rethrow or handle the exception
    raise
end