generating 5,000,000+ PDFs/month
HTML to PDF API - Command Line Tool
Convert web pages and HTML documents to PDF from the command line using the Pdfcrowd API v2.
Installation
Install the application from PyPI$ pip install pdfcrowd
You can learn more about other install options here.
Authentication
Authentication is needed in order to use the Pdfcrowd API. The credentials used for accessing the API are your Pdfcrowd username and the API key. You can sign up for the Pdfcrowd API here.
Examples
Convert a web page to a PDF file
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ "http://www.example.com" > example.pdf
Convert a local HTML file to a PDF file
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ "/path/to/MyLayout.html" > MyLayout.pdf
Convert a string containing HTML to a PDF file
echo -n "<html><body><h1>Hello World!</h1></body></html>" | \ html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" - > HelloWorld.pdf
Advanced Examples
Customize the page size and the orientation
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -page-size "Letter" \ -orientation "landscape" \ -no-margins \ "http://www.example.com" > letter_landscape.pdf
Put the source URL in the header and the page number in the footer
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -header-height "15mm" \ -footer-height "10mm" \ -header-html "<a class='pdfcrowd-source-url' data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a>" \ -footer-html "<center><span class='pdfcrowd-page-number'></span></center>" \ -margin-top "0mm" \ -margin-bottom "0mm" \ "http://www.example.com" > header_footer.pdf
Zoom the HTML document
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -scale-factor 300 \ "http://www.example.com" > zoom_300.pdf
Set PDF metadata
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -author "Pdfcrowd" \ -title "Hello" \ -subject "Demo" \ -keywords "Pdfcrowd,demo" \ "http://www.example.com" > with_metadata.pdf
Create a Powerpoint like presentation from an HTML document
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -page-layout "single-page" \ -page-mode "full-screen" \ -initial-zoom-type "fit-page" \ -orientation "landscape" \ -no-margins \ "https://pdfcrowd.com/doc/api/" > slide_show.pdf
Convert an HTML document section
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -element-to-convert "#main" \ "https://pdfcrowd.com/doc/api/" > html_part.pdf
Inject an HTML code
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -custom-javascript "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)" \ "http://www.example.com" > html_inject.pdf
Renderer debugging - highlight HTML elements
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -custom-javascript "libPdfcrowd.highlightHtml(false, true, true, false)" \ "http://www.example.com" > highlight_background.pdf
Renderer debugging - borders with spacing around HTML elements
html2pdf -user-name "your_username" -api-key "your_apikey" \ -custom-javascript "libPdfcrowd.highlightHtml(true, false, true, true)" \ "http://www.example.com" > highlight_borders.pdf
Tips & Tricks
html2pdf Manual
Conversion from HTML to PDF.
usage: html2pdf [options] source
Conversion from HTML to PDF.
positional arguments:
source Source to be converted. It can be URL, path to a local
file or '-' to use stdin as an input text.
optional arguments:
-user-name USER_NAME Your user name at pdfcrowd.com.
-api-key API_KEY Your API key at pdfcrowd.com.
-page-size PAGE_SIZE Set the output page size. Allowed values are A2, A3,
A4, A5, A6, Letter.
-page-width PAGE_WIDTH
Set the output page width. The safe maximum is 200in
otherwise some PDF viewers may be unable to open the
PDF. Can be specified in inches (in), millimeters
(mm), centimeters (cm), or points (pt).
-page-height PAGE_HEIGHT
Set the output page height. Use -1 for a single page
PDF. The safe maximum is 200in otherwise some PDF
viewers may be unable to open the PDF. Can be -1 or
specified in inches (in), millimeters (mm),
centimeters (cm), or points (pt).
-page-dimensions PAGE_DIMENSIONS
Set the output page dimensions. PAGE_DIMENSIONS must
contain 2 values separated by a semicolon. Set the
output page width. The safe maximum is 200in otherwise
some PDF viewers may be unable to open the PDF. Can be
specified in inches (in), millimeters (mm),
centimeters (cm), or points (pt). Set the output page
height. Use -1 for a single page PDF. The safe maximum
is 200in otherwise some PDF viewers may be unable to
open the PDF. Can be -1 or specified in inches (in),
millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or points (pt).
-orientation ORIENTATION
Set the output page orientation. Allowed values are
landscape, portrait.
-margin-top MARGIN_TOP
Set the output page top margin. Can be specified in
inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or
points (pt).
-margin-right MARGIN_RIGHT
Set the output page right margin. Can be specified in
inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or
points (pt).
-margin-bottom MARGIN_BOTTOM
Set the output page bottom margin. Can be specified in
inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or
points (pt).
-margin-left MARGIN_LEFT
Set the output page left margin. Can be specified in
inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or
points (pt).
-no-margins Disable margins.
-page-margins PAGE_MARGINS
Set the output page margins. PAGE_MARGINS must contain
4 values separated by a semicolon. Set the output page
top margin. Set the output page right margin. Set the
output page bottom margin. Set the output page left
margin. All values can be specified in inches (in),
millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or points (pt).
-header-url HEADER_URL
Load an HTML code from the specified URL and use it as
the page header. The following classes can be used in
the HTML. The content of the respective elements will
be expanded as follows: pdfcrowd-page-count - the
total page count of printed pages pdfcrowd-page-number
- the current page number pdfcrowd-source-url - the
source URL of a converted document The following
attributes can be used: data-pdfcrowd-number-format -
specifies the type of the used numerals Arabic
numerals are used by default. Roman numerals can be
generated by the roman and roman-lowercase values
Example: <span class='pdfcrowd-page-number' data-
pdfcrowd-number-format='roman'></span> data-pdfcrowd-
placement - specifies where to place the source URL,
allowed values: The URL is inserted to the content
Example: <span class='pdfcrowd-source-url'></span>
will produce <span>http://example.com</span> href -
the URL is set to the href attribute Example: <a class
='pdfcrowd-source-url' data-pdfcrowd-
placement='href'>Link to source</a> will produce <a
href='http://example.com'>Link to source</a> href-and-
content - the URL is set to the href attribute and to
the content Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-source-url'
data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a> will
produce <a
href='http://example.com'>http://example.com</a> The
supported protocols are http:// and https://.
-header-html HEADER_HTML
Use the specified HTML code as the page header. The
following classes can be used in the HTML. The content
of the respective elements will be expanded as
follows: pdfcrowd-page-count - the total page count of
printed pages pdfcrowd-page-number - the current page
number pdfcrowd-source-url - the source URL of a
converted document The following attributes can be
used: data-pdfcrowd-number-format - specifies the type
of the used numerals Arabic numerals are used by
default. Roman numerals can be generated by the roman
and roman-lowercase values Example: <span class
='pdfcrowd-page-number' data-pdfcrowd-number-
format='roman'></span> data-pdfcrowd-placement -
specifies where to place the source URL, allowed
values: The URL is inserted to the content Example:
<span class='pdfcrowd-source-url'></span> will produce
<span>http://example.com</span> href - the URL is set
to the href attribute Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-
source-url' data-pdfcrowd-placement='href'>Link to
source</a> will produce <a
href='http://example.com'>Link to source</a> href-and-
content - the URL is set to the href attribute and to
the content Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-source-url'
data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a> will
produce <a
href='http://example.com'>http://example.com</a> The
string must not be empty.
-header-height HEADER_HEIGHT
Set the header height. Can be specified in inches
(in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or points
(pt).
-footer-url FOOTER_URL
Load an HTML code from the specified URL and use it as
the page footer. The following classes can be used in
the HTML. The content of the respective elements will
be expanded as follows: pdfcrowd-page-count - the
total page count of printed pages pdfcrowd-page-number
- the current page number pdfcrowd-source-url - the
source URL of a converted document The following
attributes can be used: data-pdfcrowd-number-format -
specifies the type of the used numerals Arabic
numerals are used by default. Roman numerals can be
generated by the roman and roman-lowercase values
Example: <span class='pdfcrowd-page-number' data-
pdfcrowd-number-format='roman'></span> data-pdfcrowd-
placement - specifies where to place the source URL,
allowed values: The URL is inserted to the content
Example: <span class='pdfcrowd-source-url'></span>
will produce <span>http://example.com</span> href -
the URL is set to the href attribute Example: <a class
='pdfcrowd-source-url' data-pdfcrowd-
placement='href'>Link to source</a> will produce <a
href='http://example.com'>Link to source</a> href-and-
content - the URL is set to the href attribute and to
the content Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-source-url'
data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a> will
produce <a
href='http://example.com'>http://example.com</a> The
supported protocols are http:// and https://.
-footer-html FOOTER_HTML
Use the specified HTML as the page footer. The
following classes can be used in the HTML. The content
of the respective elements will be expanded as
follows: pdfcrowd-page-count - the total page count of
printed pages pdfcrowd-page-number - the current page
number pdfcrowd-source-url - the source URL of a
converted document The following attributes can be
used: data-pdfcrowd-number-format - specifies the type
of the used numerals Arabic numerals are used by
default. Roman numerals can be generated by the roman
and roman-lowercase values Example: <span class
='pdfcrowd-page-number' data-pdfcrowd-number-
format='roman'></span> data-pdfcrowd-placement -
specifies where to place the source URL, allowed
values: The URL is inserted to the content Example:
<span class='pdfcrowd-source-url'></span> will produce
<span>http://example.com</span> href - the URL is set
to the href attribute Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-
source-url' data-pdfcrowd-placement='href'>Link to
source</a> will produce <a
href='http://example.com'>Link to source</a> href-and-
content - the URL is set to the href attribute and to
the content Example: <a class='pdfcrowd-source-url'
data-pdfcrowd-placement='href-and-content'></a> will
produce <a
href='http://example.com'>http://example.com</a> The
string must not be empty.
-footer-height FOOTER_HEIGHT
Set the footer height. Can be specified in inches
(in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or points
(pt).
-print-page-range PRINT_PAGE_RANGE
Set the page range to print. A comma seperated list of
page numbers or ranges.
-page-watermark PAGE_WATERMARK
Apply the first page of the watermark PDF to every
page of the output PDF. The file path to a local
watermark PDF file. The file must exist and not be
empty.
-multipage-watermark MULTIPAGE_WATERMARK
Apply each page of the specified watermark PDF to the
corresponding page of the output PDF. The file path to
a local watermark PDF file. The file must exist and
not be empty.
-page-background PAGE_BACKGROUND
Apply the first page of the specified PDF to the
background of every page of the output PDF. The file
path to a local background PDF file. The file must
exist and not be empty.
-multipage-background MULTIPAGE_BACKGROUND
Apply each page of the specified PDF to the background
of the corresponding page of the output PDF. The file
path to a local background PDF file. The file must
exist and not be empty.
-exclude-header-on-pages EXCLUDE_HEADER_ON_PAGES
The page header is not printed on the specified pages.
List of physical page numbers. Negative numbers count
backwards from the last page: -1 is the last page, -2
is the last but one page, and so on. A comma seperated
list of page numbers.
-exclude-footer-on-pages EXCLUDE_FOOTER_ON_PAGES
The page footer is not printed on the specified pages.
List of physical page numbers. Negative numbers count
backwards from the last page: -1 is the last page, -2
is the last but one page, and so on. A comma seperated
list of page numbers.
-page-numbering-offset PAGE_NUMBERING_OFFSET
Set an offset between physical and logical page
numbers. Integer specifying page offset.
-no-background Do not print the background graphics.
-disable-javascript Do not execute JavaScript.
-disable-image-loading
Do not load images.
-disable-remote-fonts
Disable loading fonts from remote sources.
-block-ads Try to block ads. Enabling this option can produce
smaller output and speed up the conversion.
-default-encoding DEFAULT_ENCODING
Set the default HTML content text encoding. The text
encoding of the HTML content.
-http-auth HTTP_AUTH Set credentials to access HTTP base authentication
protected websites. HTTP_AUTH must contain 2 values
separated by a semicolon. Set the HTTP authentication
user name. Set the HTTP authentication password.
-use-print-media Use the print version of the page if available (@media
print).
-no-xpdfcrowd-header Do not send the X-Pdfcrowd HTTP header in Pdfcrowd
HTTP requests.
-cookies COOKIES Set cookies that are sent in Pdfcrowd HTTP requests.
The cookie string.
-verify-ssl-certificates
Do not allow insecure HTTPS connections.
-fail-on-main-url-error
Abort the conversion if the main URL HTTP status code
is greater than or equal to 400.
-fail-on-any-url-error
Abort the conversion if any of the sub-request HTTP
status code is greater than or equal to 400 or if some
sub-requests are still pending. See details in a debug
log.
-custom-javascript CUSTOM_JAVASCRIPT
Run a custom JavaScript after the document is loaded.
The script is intended for post-load DOM manipulation
(add/remove elements, update CSS, ...). String
containing a JavaScript code. The string must not be
empty.
-custom-http-header CUSTOM_HTTP_HEADER
Set a custom HTTP header that is sent in Pdfcrowd HTTP
requests. A string containing the header name and
value separated by a colon.
-javascript-delay JAVASCRIPT_DELAY
Wait the specified number of milliseconds to finish
all JavaScript after the document is loaded. The
maximum value is determined by your API license. The
number of milliseconds to wait. Must be a positive
integer number or 0.
-element-to-convert ELEMENT_TO_CONVERT
Convert only the specified element from the main
document and its children. The element is specified by
one or more CSS selectors. If the element is not
found, the conversion fails. If multiple elements are
found, the first one is used. One or more CSS
selectors separated by commas. The string must not be
empty.
-element-to-convert-mode ELEMENT_TO_CONVERT_MODE
Specify the DOM handling when only a part of the
document is converted. Allowed values are cut-out,
remove-siblings, hide-siblings.
-wait-for-element WAIT_FOR_ELEMENT
Wait for the specified element in a source document.
The element is specified by one or more CSS selectors.
The element is searched for in the main document and
all iframes. If the element is not found, the
conversion fails. Your API license defines the maximum
wait time by "Max Delay" parameter. One or more CSS
selectors separated by commas. The string must not be
empty.
-viewport VIEWPORT Set the viewport size. The viewport is the user's
visible area of the page. VIEWPORT must contain 2
values separated by a semicolon. Set the viewport
width in pixels. The viewport is the user's visible
area of the page. The value must be in a range
96-7680. Set the viewport height in pixels. The
viewport is the user's visible area of the page. Must
be a positive integer number.
-rendering-mode RENDERING_MODE
Sets the rendering mode. The rendering mode. Allowed
values are default, viewport.
-scale-factor SCALE_FACTOR
Set the scaling factor (zoom) for the main page area.
The scale factor. The value must be in a range 10-500.
-header-footer-scale-factor HEADER_FOOTER_SCALE_FACTOR
Set the scaling factor (zoom) for the header and
footer. The scale factor. The value must be in a range
10-500.
-disable-smart-shrinking
Disable the intelligent shrinking strategy that tries
to optimally fit the HTML contents to a PDF page.
-linearize Create linearized PDF. This is also known as Fast Web
View.
-encrypt Encrypt the PDF. This prevents search engines from
indexing the contents.
-user-password USER_PASSWORD
Protect the PDF with a user password. When a PDF has a
user password, it must be supplied in order to view
the document and to perform operations allowed by the
access permissions. The user password.
-owner-password OWNER_PASSWORD
Protect the PDF with an owner password. Supplying an
owner password grants unlimited access to the PDF
including changing the passwords and access
permissions. The owner password.
-no-print Disallow printing of the output PDF.
-no-modify Disallow modification of the ouput PDF.
-no-copy Disallow text and graphics extraction from the output
PDF.
-title TITLE Set the title of the PDF. The title.
-subject SUBJECT Set the subject of the PDF. The subject.
-author AUTHOR Set the author of the PDF. The author.
-keywords KEYWORDS Associate keywords with the document. The string with
the keywords.
-page-layout PAGE_LAYOUT
Specify the page layout to be used when the document
is opened. Allowed values are single-page, one-column,
two-column-left, two-column-right.
-page-mode PAGE_MODE Specify how the document should be displayed when
opened. Allowed values are full-screen, thumbnails,
outlines.
-initial-zoom-type INITIAL_ZOOM_TYPE
Specify how the page should be displayed when opened.
Allowed values are fit-width, fit-height, fit-page.
-initial-page INITIAL_PAGE
Display the specified page when the document is
opened. Must be a positive integer number.
-initial-zoom INITIAL_ZOOM
Specify the initial page zoom in percents when the
document is opened. Must be a positive integer number.
-hide-toolbar Specify whether to hide the viewer application's tool
bars when the document is active.
-hide-menubar Specify whether to hide the viewer application's menu
bar when the document is active.
-hide-window-ui Specify whether to hide user interface elements in the
document's window (such as scroll bars and navigation
controls), leaving only the document's contents
displayed.
-fit-window Specify whether to resize the document's window to fit
the size of the first displayed page.
-center-window Specify whether to position the document's window in
the center of the screen.
-display-title Specify whether the window's title bar should display
the document title. If false , the title bar should
instead display the name of the PDF file containing
the document.
-right-to-left Set the predominant reading order for text to right-
to-left. This option has no direct effect on the
document's contents or page numbering but can be used
to determine the relative positioning of pages when
displayed side by side or printed n-up
-debug-log Turn on the debug logging. Details about the
conversion are stored in the debug log.
-tag TAG Tag the conversion with a custom value. The tag is
used in conversion statistics. A value longer than 32
characters is cut off. A string with the custom tag.
-use-http Specifies if the client communicates over HTTP or
HTTPS with Pdfcrowd API.
-user-agent USER_AGENT
Set a custom user agent HTTP header. It can be usefull
if you are behind some proxy or firewall. The user
agent string.
-proxy PROXY Specifies an HTTP proxy that the API client library
will use to connect to the internet. PROXY must
contain 4 values separated by a semicolon. The proxy
hostname. The proxy port. The username. The password.
-retry-count RETRY_COUNT
Specifies the number of retries when the 502 HTTP
status code is received. The 502 status code indicates
a temporary network issue. This feature can be
disabled by setting to 0. Number of retries wanted.
produced by: www.pdfcrowd.comTroubleshooting
- Check API Status Codes in case of the error code is returned.
-
You can use
-debug-logto get detailed info about the conversion, such as conversion errors, time, console output. -
You can use our JavaScript library to resolve rendering problems,
such as missing content or blank pages.
Just use-custom-javascriptwithlibPdfcrowd.highlightHtml(borders, backgrounds, labels, noZeroSpace)method call to visualize all HTML elements. See example. - Take a look at the FAQ section.