PDF generation

Syntax

pdfFile(html: $htmlContent, name: $filename,
    pageSize: $size, landscape: $landscape,
    pageWidth: $width, pageHeight: $height,
    marginLeft: $ml, marginRight: $mr,
    marginTop: $mt, marginBottom: $mb,
    resolution: $dpi
)

Description

Converts HTML content into a PDF document. The HTML is rendered as a PDF using the Flying Saucer library, which produces high-quality PDF output from well-formed XHTML.

This function accepts four types of input:

String: Plain HTML as a multi-line string literal (with triple quotes """...""")
HTML: HTML with embedded TLScript expressions (with HTML literal syntax with triple curly braces {{{...}}})
Structured text: Rich text content from WYSIWYG editor fields with embedded images. Images are automatically converted to BASE64 data URIs for PDF rendering
Binary data: Binary data with content type text/html or text/plain containing HTML markup

This function is particularly useful for creating reports, invoices or other documents that need to be generated dynamically from HTML templates and exported as PDF.

Important: The HTML must be well-formed XHTML. All tags must be properly closed, and self-closing tags should use XHTML syntax (e.g. <br/> instead of <br>).

Parameters

Name	Type	Type Description	Mandatory	Standard
html	String, HTMLFragment, StructuredText or binary data	The HTML content to be converted to PDF. Can be a simple string (with triple quotes `"""..."""`), an HTMLFragment (with triple curly braces `{{{...}}}` syntax with embedded TLScript expressions), a StructuredText from WYSIWYG editor fields (with automatically embedded BASE64 images) or a binary data with content type `text/html` or `text/plain`. Must be well-formed XHTML with all tags properly closed.	yes
name	Character string	The file name for the generated PDF. The extension .pdf is automatically added if not present.	no	document.pdf
pageSize	Character string	Default paper size. Supported values: `A0`, `A1`, `A2`, `A3`, `A4`, `A5`, `A6`, `LETTER`, `LEGAL`, `TABLOID`. If specified, `pageWidth` and `pageHeight` are automatically calculated based on the resolution. Values are not case sensitive.	no	A4 (if neither pageSize nor pageWidth/pageHeight is specified)
landscape	Boolean	If `true`, page width and height are swapped for landscape format. Works with both `pageSize` and user-defined `pageWidth`/`pageHeight` values.	no	false
pageWidth	Number/string	Override of the page width in pixels or size specification such as "15cm", "150mm", "7.5in". If specified, this takes precedence over the `pageSize` width.	no	null
pageHeight	Number/string	Override of the page height in pixels or size specification such as "15cm", "150mm", "7.5in". If specified, this takes precedence over the `pageHeight` height.	no	null
margin	Number/string	The left margin in pixels or size specification such as "1cm", "15mm", ".5in".	no	"15mm"
marginLeft	Number/string	The left margin in pixels or size specification such as "1cm", "15mm", ".5in".	no	null
marginRight	Number/string	The right margin in pixels or size specification such as "1cm", "15mm", ".5in".	no	null
marginTop	number	The top margin in pixels or size specification such as "1cm", "15mm", ".5in".	no	null
marginBottom	Number	The bottom margin in pixels or size specification such as "1cm", "15mm", ".5in".	no	null
resolution	Number	The rendering resolution in DPI (dots per inch). Higher values produce better quality, but larger files. This also influences how `pageSize` dimensions are calculated (e.g. A4 at 150 DPI = 1240x1754 px, A4 at 300 DPI = 2480x3508 px).	no	150

Return value

Type: BinaryData

Returns a binary data object containing the generated PDF with the content type application/pdf. Returns null if the HTML input is null or empty.

If the PDF generation fails, an RuntimeException with details of the error is triggered.

Examples

Simple PDF with from text

	pdfFile("""
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Hallo Welt</h1>
      <p>Dies ist ein aus HTML generiertes PDF.</p>
    </body>
  </html>
""")

Output: A PDF document with the name "document.pdf" containing "Hello world" as a heading and a text paragraph.

PDF with HTML fragment and dynamic content

	pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Rechnung für {$customer.get(`my.module:Customer#name`)}</h1>
      <p>Datum: {dateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd').format(now())}</p>
      <p>Betrag: {$invoice.get(`my.module:Invoice#amount`)}</p>
    </body>
  </html>
}}}, "rechnung-" + $invoice.get(`my.module:Invoice#number`))

Output: A PDF with dynamically generated content. The {{{...}}} syntax enables the embedding of TLScript expressions directly in the HTML, which are evaluated and securely HTML-encoded before the PDF is generated.

PDF with user-defined file name

	pdfFile("""
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Rechnung</h1>
      <p>Rechnung #12345</p>
    </body>
  </html>
""", "rechnung-12345")

Output: A PDF document with the name "rechnung-12345.pdf". The .pdf extension is added automatically.

Styled report with dynamic file name

	pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <head>
      <style>
        body \{ font-family: Arial, sans-serif; \}
        h1 \{ color: #333366; \}
        table \{ border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; \}
        th, td \{ border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 8px; \}
        th \{ background-color: #4CAF50; color: white; \}
      </style>
    </head>
    <body>
      <h1>Verkaufsbericht</h1>
      <p>Erstellt am: {dateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd').format(now())}</p>
      <table>
        <tr>
          <th>Produkt</th>
          <th>Menge</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>Widget A</td>
          <td>150</td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </body>
  </html>
}}}, "verkaufsbericht-" + dateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd').format(now()))

Output: A styled PDF report with the name "sales-report-2025-10-22.pdf", including table, embedded CSS styles and dynamic date.

Dynamic content with iteration

	pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Rechnungspositionen</h1>
      <ul>
        {$items.map(item -> {{{
          <li>{item.get(`my.module:Item#name`)} - {item.get(`my.module:Item#price`)}</li>
        }}})}
      </ul>
    </body>
  </html>
}}})

Output: A PDF with a dynamically generated list of invoice items.

PDF from StructuredText (WYSIWYG content)

	// WYSIWYG-Editor-Inhalt in PDF konvertieren
pdfFile($object.get(`my.module:Article#content`), name: "artikel.pdf")

Output: A PDF generated from StructuredText content. All embedded images in the WYSIWYG field are automatically converted to BASE64 data URIs and inserted into the PDF.

Use of standard paper formats

	// US Letter Papierformat
pdfFile("""
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>US Letter Dokument</h1>
      <p>Dieses Dokument verwendet das US Letter Papierformat.</p>
    </body>
  </html>
""", name: "letter-doc.pdf", pageSize: "LETTER")

Output: A PDF with US Letter paper size (216 x 279 mm) at the standard resolution of 150 DPI.

Landscape format

	// A4 Querformat für breite Inhalte
pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Breiter Bericht</h1>
      <table style="width: 100%">
        <tr>
          <th>Spalte 1</th>
          <th>Spalte 2</th>
          <th>Spalte 3</th>
          <th>Spalte 4</th>
          <th>Spalte 5</th>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </body>
  </html>
}}}, name: "breiter-bericht.pdf", pageSize: "A4", landscape: true)

Output: A PDF in A4 landscape format (297 x 210 mm), ideal for wide tables or diagrams.

Custom page size and resolution

	// US Letter-Format bei 200 DPI mit benutzerdefinierten Rändern
pdfFile("""
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Hochqualitativer Bericht</h1>
      <p>Dieses Dokument wird mit höherer Auflösung gerendert.</p>
    </body>
  </html>
""", name: "bericht.pdf", pageSize: "LETTER", resolution: 200,
    marginLeft: 100, marginRight: 100, marginTop: 100, marginBottom: 100)

Output: A PDF with US letter page size at 200 DPI and 100 pixel margins on all pages.

Minimum margins for maximum content

	// A4 mit minimalen Rändern
pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Ganzseitiger Inhalt</h1>
      <p>Dies verwendet minimale Ränder, um den Inhaltsbereich zu maximieren.</p>
    </body>
  </html>
}}}, name: "vollseite.pdf", pageSize: "A4",
    marginLeft: 20, marginRight: 20, marginTop: 20, marginBottom: 20)

Output: A PDF with A4 page size and minimum 20-pixel margins (approx. 3.4mm at 150 DPI).

Large formats with A3

	// A3 für große Diagramme
pdfFile({{{
  <html>
    <body>
      <h1>Architekturdiagramm</h1>
      <!-- Großer Diagramminhalt -->
    </body>
  </html>
}}}, name: "diagramm.pdf", pageSize: "A3")

Output: A PDF with A3 page size (297 x 420 mm), suitable for large diagrams or posters.

Technical information

Standard settings: Standard page size is A4 (1240x1754 pixels at 150 DPI = 210mm x 297mm)
Standard paper formats: The pageSize parameter supports A0 to A6 as well as LETTER, LEGAL and TABLOID. Dimensions are calculated automatically based on the resolution
Landscape format: At landscape: true, width and height are swapped. This works regardless of whether pageSize or user-defined dimensions are used
Resolution: Standard resolution is 150 DPI, suitable for most print and screen views. Higher values (e.g. 300 DPI) produce better quality but larger files
Margins: Standard margins are 15mm (left, right, top) and 10mm (bottom). Margins are given in pixels at the selected resolution
Page size calculations:
- A4 at 150 DPI: 1240 x 1754 pixels
- US Letter at 150 DPI: 1275 x 1650 pixels
- A4 at 300 DPI: 2480 x 3508 pixels
- Formula: Pixel = (millimeter / 25.4) × DPI
CSS support: Basic CSS2 styles are supported. Complex CSS3 features may not be rendered correctly
Images: External images require accessible URLs. Base64 encoded images are supported
Fonts: Standard fonts are available. Custom fonts may require additional configuration
Named parameters: Use named parameters for more clarity (e.g. pageSize: "A4", landscape: true). This avoids specifying null for unused positional parameters