pdfkit

1.0.0 · maintenance · verified Thu Apr 09

pdfkit is a Python wrapper for `wkhtmltopdf`, a command-line tool that renders HTML content into PDF documents using the WebKit engine. It provides an easy-to-use API to convert HTML from URLs, local files, or raw strings into PDF. While the `pdfkit` library itself is at version 1.0.0, its core dependency, `wkhtmltopdf`, was archived in January 2023, meaning `pdfkit` relies on an unmaintained external tool.

Warnings

breaking The underlying `wkhtmltopdf` project, which `pdfkit` wraps, was archived in January 2023 and is no longer maintained. While `pdfkit` may still function with existing `wkhtmltopdf` binaries, this poses long-term risks for security, compatibility, and new feature development.
Fix: Be aware of the upstream status. For new projects, consider actively maintained alternatives like Playwright, WeasyPrint, or dedicated PDF generation APIs if long-term support is critical.
gotcha Common `IOError: 'No wkhtmltopdf executable found'` occurs if `wkhtmltopdf` is not installed or not in the system's PATH. `pdfkit` cannot function without it.
Fix: Install `wkhtmltopdf` separately (e.g., via `brew`, `apt-get`, or direct download for Windows) and ensure its executable's directory is included in your system's PATH. Alternatively, specify the full path to the `wkhtmltopdf` binary using `pdfkit.configuration(wkhtmltopdf='/path/to/wkhtmltopdf_binary')`.
gotcha Installing `wkhtmltopdf` via `apt-get` on Debian/Ubuntu often provides a version with reduced functionality (compiled without QT patches). This version lacks features like outlines, headers, footers, and table of contents.
Fix: For full functionality, download a static binary from the official `wkhtmltopdf.org` website instead of using `apt-get`.
gotcha Non-ASCII characters (e.g., special symbols, accented letters) in HTML can lead to rendering issues or blank output in PDFs.
Fix: Ensure your HTML content explicitly includes `<meta charset="utf-8">` within the `<head>` section. Also, specify `encoding='UTF-8'` in `pdfkit` options if necessary.
breaking Starting with `pdfkit` version 1.0.0, the `--quiet` option is passed to `wkhtmltopdf` by default, suppressing its output to stdout/stderr. This can make debugging difficult.
Fix: To view `wkhtmltopdf`'s output for debugging purposes, pass `options={'enable-javascript': True, 'no-stop-slow-scripts': True}` or `verbose=True` to the `pdfkit.from_*` calls to disable the quiet mode or get detailed output.

Install

pip install pdfkit Install Python package
sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf Debian/Ubuntu (limited features)
brew install homebrew/cask/wkhtmltopdf macOS
Download installer from wkhtmltopdf.org and add to PATH Windows (recommended)

Imports

pdfkit
```
import pdfkit
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates converting an HTML string to a PDF file. Ensure `wkhtmltopdf` is installed and its executable is discoverable in your system's PATH. For URLs or local files, use `pdfkit.from_url` or `pdfkit.from_file` respectively.

import pdfkit
import os

# Ensure wkhtmltopdf is in your PATH or specify its path
# config = pdfkit.configuration(wkhtmltopdf='/usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf')
# For simplicity in quickstart, assumes wkhtmltopdf is in PATH.

html_content = """
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>My PDF Document</title>
    <style>
        body { font-family: sans-serif; }
        h1 { color: #333; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Hello from PDFKit!</h1>
    <p>This is a simple HTML string converted to a PDF.</p>
    <p>Current directory: {}</p>
</body>
</html>
""".format(os.getcwd())

output_filename = 'example.pdf'
pdfkit.from_string(html_content, output_filename)
print(f"PDF generated: {output_filename}")

# Example from URL
# pdfkit.from_url('http://google.com', 'google.pdf')

# Example from file
# with open('input.html', 'w') as f:
#     f.write('<h1>Test File</h1>')
# pdfkit.from_file('input.html', 'file.pdf')

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