PDF to HTML PHP Examples

Complete PHP examples for common PDF to HTML tasks. See the PHP SDK guide for installation and result handling.

You can run the examples below with the displayed API credentials. Update the input URLs and filenames as needed. Each PHP example can be copied and run independently.

Basic examples

Choose file, in-memory, or output-stream handling for the HTML result. Stream examples use a binary file stream as their destination.

The memory variants return UTF-8 bytes. Decode them when your application needs a text string.

Convert a PDF file

Upload an existing logo.pdf file.

Save to a file

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->convertFileToFile('logo.pdf', 'logo.html');

Keep in memory

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$html_bytes = $client->convertFile('logo.pdf'); // binary string
echo strlen($html_bytes), PHP_EOL;

Write to a stream

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$output_stream = fopen('logo.html', 'wb');
if ($output_stream === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot open stream');
}
try {
    $client->convertFileToStream('logo.pdf', $output_stream);
    if (!fflush($output_stream)) {
        throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot flush output stream');
    }
} finally {
    fclose($output_stream);
}

Convert a URL

Fetch a PDF from its URL.

Save to a file

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->convertUrlToFile(
    'https://your-server.com/invoice.pdf', 'invoice.html'
);

Keep in memory

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$html_bytes = $client->convertUrl('https://your-server.com/invoice.pdf'); // binary string
echo strlen($html_bytes), PHP_EOL;

Write to a stream

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$output_stream = fopen('invoice.html', 'wb');
if ($output_stream === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot open stream');
}
try {
    $client->convertUrlToStream(
        'https://your-server.com/invoice.pdf', $output_stream
    );
    if (!fflush($output_stream)) {
        throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot flush output stream');
    }
} finally {
    fclose($output_stream);
}

Convert raw PDF bytes

Read logo.pdf as binary data. In an application, pass the bytes you already hold in memory instead.

Save to a file

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$pdf_data_1 = file_get_contents('logo.pdf'); // binary string
if ($pdf_data_1 === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot read binary input');
}
$client->convertRawDataToFile($pdf_data_1, 'logo.html');

Keep in memory

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$pdf_data_1 = file_get_contents('logo.pdf'); // binary string
if ($pdf_data_1 === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot read binary input');
}
$html_bytes = $client->convertRawData($pdf_data_1); // binary string
echo strlen($html_bytes), PHP_EOL;

Write to a stream

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$output_stream = fopen('logo.html', 'wb');
if ($output_stream === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot open stream');
}
try {
    $pdf_data_1 = file_get_contents('logo.pdf'); // binary string
    if ($pdf_data_1 === false) {
        throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot read binary input');
    }
    $client->convertRawDataToStream($pdf_data_1, $output_stream);
    if (!fflush($output_stream)) {
        throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot flush output stream');
    }
} finally {
    fclose($output_stream);
}

Read from an input stream

Open logo.pdf as a binary input stream and save the result to logo.html.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$input_stream = fopen('logo.pdf', 'rb');
if ($input_stream === false) {
    throw new \RuntimeException('Cannot open stream');
}
try {
    $client->convertStreamToFile($input_stream, 'logo.html');
} finally {
    fclose($input_stream);
}

Customize the HTML output

These examples upload report.pdf, a document with text, images, and vector graphics.

Convert selected pages

Convert pages 1 and 3 of report.pdf into excerpt.html.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setPrintPageRange('1,3');
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'excerpt.html');

Export HTML with separate assets

Save the HTML, stylesheets, fonts, and images in report.zip. Extract the archive and serve its HTML with the accompanying files, preserving their relative paths.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setCssMode('separate');
$client->setFontMode('separate');
$client->setForceZip(true);
$client->setImageMode('separate');
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'report.zip');

Customize the document preview

Scale pages to 75% and change the background, page spacing, and corners in preview.html. Use !important to override the generated background and margin rules.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setCustomCss(
    '#page-container { background: #eaf0f6 !important; } .page { margin: 24px auto !important; border-radius: 8px; }'
);
$client->setScaleFactor(75);
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'preview.html');

Avoid naming conflicts

Prefix generated IDs, CSS classes, and font names with report_ in namespaced.html. This helps avoid naming conflicts when integrating the converted content into another page; adjust the surrounding layout separately.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setHtmlNamespace('report_');
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'namespaced.html');

Reduce image resolution

Render page graphics at 72 DPI instead of the default 144 DPI and save smaller.html. Lower resolution can reduce file size at the cost of image detail; text remains HTML text.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setDpi(72);
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'smaller.html');

Preserve vector graphics with SVG

Use SVG for page graphics in vector.html, preserving vector shapes when zooming. Raster images in the PDF remain raster images within the SVG.

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$client = new \Pdfcrowd\PdfToHtmlClient('demo', 'demo');

$client->setImageFormat('svg');
$client->convertFileToFile('report.pdf', 'vector.html');