From: HTML To: PDF

HTML to PDF — one API call instead of running your own Headless Chrome

Convert any HTML (incl. CSS, web fonts, images and tables) into a clean PDF. Optionally on your company stationery, optionally PDF/A-compliant — always without deploying your own browser.

What it does

The API accepts an HTML string (or a URL) and returns a PDF. The rendering engine handles modern CSS — Flexbox, Grid, web fonts, @media print — just like a recent Chromium, only server-side and stateless.

Minimal request

curl -X POST https://api.dokmatiq.com/v1/convert/html-to-pdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOKMATIQ_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "html": "<!doctype html><html><body><h1>Invoice 2026-0042</h1><p>Total: €960.00</p></body></html>",
    "format": "A4",
    "margins": { "top": "20mm", "bottom": "20mm", "left": "20mm", "right": "20mm" }
  }' \
  -o invoice.pdf

Response: Content-Type: application/pdf, status 200, body = finished PDF.

Common options

{
  "html": "...",
  "format": "A4",
  "orientation": "portrait",
  "margins": { "top": "20mm", "bottom": "20mm", "left": "20mm", "right": "20mm" },
  "header": { "html": "<div style=\"font-size:9pt\">Invoice 2026-0042</div>", "height": "15mm" },
  "footer": { "html": "<div style=\"font-size:9pt\">Page <span class=\"pageNumber\"></span> of <span class=\"totalPages\"></span></div>", "height": "15mm" },
  "outputProfile": "PDF/A-3b",
  "waitUntil": "networkidle0"
}

For stationery overlay: set the matching content areas in the DocGen request (stationery field) rather than in the HTML — keeping the HTML free of layout and letting the stationery be exactly what the design agency delivered.

Input limits

	Limit
Maximum HTML size	25 MB
Maximum response size	200 MB
Render timeout	60 s
External URLs (images, fonts)	follows `https://` and `data:`
JavaScript execution	opt-in via `executeJs: true`

By default the API renders without JavaScript execution — significantly faster and more predictable than a full headless browser. If you need dynamic content (charts, client-side rendering), enable it via a flag.

What it’s used for

Invoice PDFs from template engines like Liquid, Handlebars, Twig
Reports from dashboard templates that already render HTML
Email attachments (order confirmation, shipping notification) from existing mail templates
Business letters on company stationery, generated from CMS content
Datasheets, quotes, contracts from structured data

Comparison with alternatives

	Dokmatiq HTML-to-PDF	Own Headless Chrome	wkhtmltopdf	Pandoc
Setup time	1 API call	container, browser, queue	install binary	install binary
Modern CSS (Grid, Flex)	yes	yes	partial	limited via LaTeX
Web fonts	yes	yes	yes	limited
Scaling	API-side	on you	on you	on you
Stationery overlay	yes (via stationery)	build yourself	no	no
PDF/A output	direct flag	extra post-processing	extra post-processing	via LaTeX
JS rendering	opt-in	always	no	no

A self-hosted Chrome is almost always tempting — until the first pod goes OOM, a font request hangs, or Chrome ships a breaking update. That’s when the operational cost shows up.

Common pitfalls

Web fonts not loaded — force waitUntil: "networkidle0" or embed fonts as data: URLs
Page breaks ignored — set page-break-after: always or break-after: page (modern CSS) explicitly
Relative URLs — the API doesn’t know which domain the HTML originated from; switch images/fonts to absolute URLs
Header/footer too small — header and footer HTML render at a smaller scale; set font-size explicitly (at least 8–9pt)

Try it now

100 conversions per month for free. No credit card. Stateless REST — you send, you receive.

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