Crate html2pdf 

html2pdf

Just a CLI over the headless_chrome crate to create PDF.

Install

Need the Rust toolchain: https://rustup.rs/.

cargo install html2pdf

Usage

html2pdf path/to/file.html

To remove logs, set the env var RUST_LOG to none :

RUST_LOG="none" html2pdf path/to/file.html

Options

Just run html2pdf --help :

Generate a PDF from a local HTML file using a headless chrome

Usage: html2pdf [OPTIONS] <INPUT>

Arguments:
  <INPUT>  Input HTML file

Options:
  -o, --output <OUTPUT>      Output file. By default, just change the input extension to PDF
      --landscape            Use landscape mode
      --background           Allow print background
      --wait <WAIT>          Time to wait in ms before printing. Examples: 150ms, 10s
      --wait-for <WAIT_FOR>  When to consider the page ready for printing. Supported values:
                             navigation, load, network-idle [default: navigation]
      --header <HEADER>      HTML template for the print header
      --footer <FOOTER>      HTML template for the print footer
      --paper <PAPER>        Paper size. Supported values: A4, Letter, Legal, A3, Tabloid, A2, A1,
                             A0, A5, A6
      --scale <SCALE>        Scale, default to 1.0
      --range <RANGE>        Paper ranges to print, e.g. '1-5, 8, 11-13'
      --margin <MARGIN>      Margin in inches. '0.4' applies to all sides, '0.4 0.4' is
                             top/bottom then left/right, '0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4' is top, right,
                             bottom, left
      --disable-sandbox      Disable Chrome sandbox. Not recommended, unless running on docker
  -h, --help                 Print help
  -V, --version              Print version

Waiting for the page to be ready

By default the PDF is printed as soon as navigation completes. When the page pulls in web fonts, images or data, that can be too early. --wait-for waits for a browser lifecycle milestone instead:

Value	Waits until
navigation	navigation completes (default, the historical behaviour)
load	the load event, i.e. sub-resources have been fetched
network-idle	the network has gone quiet, i.e. fonts, images and XHR have settled

If the milestone is never reached (a page that polls forever, say), html2pdf warns and prints anyway rather than hanging. --wait is still available and applies after --wait-for settles.

Library

html2pdf is also a library. The API is async and runs on tokio:

use html2pdf::{html_to_pdf, BrowserOptions, PaperSize, PdfOptions, WaitFor};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), html2pdf::Error> {
    html_to_pdf(
        "input.html",
        "output.pdf",
        PdfOptions {
            paper: Some(PaperSize::A4),
            print_background: true,
            ..PdfOptions::default()
        },
        BrowserOptions {
            wait_for: WaitFor::NetworkIdle,
            ..BrowserOptions::default()
        },
    )
    .await
}

Structs

BrowserOptions

How the browser is launched, and when the page is considered ready to print.

Margin

Margin definition in inches (top, right, bottom, left)

Options

Generate a PDF from a local HTML file using a headless chrome

PdfOptions

PDF printing options, independent of the browser backend.

Enums

Error

The html2pdf Error

PaperSize

Paper size

WaitFor

When to consider the page ready for printing.

Functions

html_to_pdf

Run HTML to PDF with a headless browser

run

Run HTML to PDF with a headless browser