HTML to PDF
Turn an HTML file into a PDF, with its styles, pictures and links.
Checking that the servers are available…
Pro. Runs on our servers: encrypted in transit, deleted automatically.
Quick facts
- Takes
- HTML files (.html, .htm, .xhtml), up to twenty at a time, each up to 20 MB. Pictures, styles and fonts count when they are inside the file.
- Gives
- A PDF of each file on A4 or Letter, or at the size the page’s own print styles ask for, with its text, tables, pictures and links, bookmarks from its headings, and tags for screen readers.
- Runs
- On our servers: a headless Chromium with JavaScript off prints the file, and the job is deleted as soon as the result is fetched.
- Plan
- Pro: 200 tasks a day on our servers, and a task that fails is not counted. The tools that run in your browser stay free.
- Isolated
- The browser that prints cannot reach the internet or our network: host names resolve to nothing, the only requests answered are for the file itself, scripts never run, links that would run code are removed, and it starts without any of the servers’ credentials.
A browser that prints and does nothing else
The file is opened the way your browser would open it, read as XML when it is XHTML and as HTML otherwise, and printed with its own print styles: a page that sets its paper and margins with @page keeps them, and one that does not gets A4 or Letter with 12 mm margins. Links to other sites stay clickable, links to parts of the page lead there inside the PDF, and every heading becomes a bookmark.
Nothing outside the file is fetched. A picture written into the page as a data address is printed; one linked from another site is replaced by its description, so the PDF says what was there instead of leaving a gap. For a page that is on the web, use Web page to PDF, which visits the address instead.
Measured on our sample file
| File | HTML | Pages | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| care-guide.html | 5.4 kB | 62 kB | 3 | 11.1 s |
Read it as what a file costs: the PDF is bigger than the HTML because it carries the fonts the page is set in, and the time is the browser starting, loading and printing. The first job after the servers have been idle takes longer, because a machine is started for it; the jobs after it take seconds.
What it cannot do
- Fetch pictures, styles or fonts from the web. Only what is inside the file is used; a picture linked from elsewhere is replaced by its description.
- Run the page's scripts. A page that builds its content with JavaScript prints what the HTML itself holds.
- Take a page together with its folder of pictures. Pictures must be inside the file, as data addresses.
If something goes wrong
- The document could not be converted. Check that it opens in its own program, then try again.
- Open the file in a browser to check that it shows; a file that is not HTML cannot be printed.
- Today's tasks are used up
- Pro runs 200 tasks a day on our servers, counted from midnight UTC, and a task that fails is not counted. The count starts again the next day.
About HTML to PDF
HTML to PDF prints an HTML file as a PDF, the way a browser prints it: with its styles, tables, pictures and links. Handy for reports and pages exported from other software. The file is printed on our servers by a browser that runs none of its scripts.
How to use HTML to PDF
Add the HTML file.
Choose the paper size; a browser on our servers prints the page.
Download the PDF.
Frequently asked questions
- Are pictures and styles kept?
- Yes, when they are inside the file: styles written in the page, and pictures as data addresses. Nothing is fetched from the web, so a picture linked from another site is replaced by its description.
- Do scripts in the page run?
- No. Scripts never run, which keeps the conversion safe; a page that builds its content with scripts prints what the file itself contains.
- Can I convert a web address instead?
- Use Web page to PDF for a public address. This tool takes a file from your computer.
- Which page size is used?
- The size the page asks for in its print styles; otherwise the A4 or Letter you choose, with 12 mm margins.
- Are links kept?
- Yes. Links to other sites stay clickable, and links to parts of the page lead there in the PDF.