4 posts tagged with "nodejs pdf generation library"

If your Node.js app needs to generate or modify PDFs, pdf-lib is worth a look. It is one of several Node.js PDF libraries, each with different trade-offs. PDF‑lib is a pure JavaScript library for creating and modifying PDF documents. Unlike many alternatives, PDF-lib doesn't rely on native dependencies, making it lightweight and easy to integrate into any Node.js project. This guide covers PDF generation with PDF-lib in Node.js – from basic documents to invoices and forms.

PDFKit is a JavaScript library that generates PDF documents programmatically in Node.js. It works without converting HTML – you build documents from scratch using a canvas-like API for vector graphics, text, images, and tables. This guide covers PDFKit setup, text styling, custom fonts, colors, images, tables, invoice generation, Express.js integration, and document security.

Many server-side applications need to generate PDFs – invoices, reports, statements, certificates. PDFMake is one of the most popular Node.js PDF generation libraries: it works without native dependencies, uses a declarative JSON syntax for document definitions, and runs in both browser and server environments.

This guide covers PDFMake setup in Node.js, document structure, tables, images, watermarks, Express.js integration, and a full invoice example.

Picking a Node.js PDF generation library isn't straightforward. There are browser-based tools that convert HTML to PDF, programmatic builders that create documents from scratch, and cloud APIs that handle everything remotely. This guide compares the five most downloaded libraries with actual npm numbers and working code examples.