Surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf

6 min read Oct 03, 2024

How to Use surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf for Seamless PDF Conversion

Are you looking for a simple and efficient way to convert HTML content into PDFs on your Docker environment? surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf might be the solution you're looking for. This Docker image, based on the lightweight Alpine Linux, provides a powerful tool for generating PDFs from your HTML content with ease.

Why Use surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf?

surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf offers several advantages over other methods of PDF conversion:

Lightweight: Being based on Alpine Linux, this image has a minimal footprint, consuming less disk space and resources.
Simplicity: The image is ready to use, with wkhtmltopdf pre-installed, making it extremely straightforward to integrate into your Docker workflow.
Versatility: It can handle various HTML content, including web pages, local files, and even specific elements within the HTML structure.

Getting Started with surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf

Here's a step-by-step guide to using surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf for your PDF conversion needs:

Pulling the Image:

Begin by pulling the image from Docker Hub:
```
docker pull surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf
```
Running a Container:

To start a container and perform a conversion, use the following command:
```
docker run -it --rm \
  -v $(pwd):/app \
  surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf \
  wkhtmltopdf \
  /app/index.html \
  /app/output.pdf
```
Let's break down this command:
- -it : Allows interactive access to the container.
- --rm : Removes the container after it exits.
- -v $(pwd):/app : Mounts your current directory (where your HTML file is located) to the /app directory inside the container.
- surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf: Specifies the Docker image to use.
- wkhtmltopdf: Executes the wkhtmltopdf command.
- /app/index.html: Specifies the path to your input HTML file within the container.
- /app/output.pdf: Specifies the path and filename for the output PDF file.
Accessing the PDF:

After running the command, your converted PDF will be created in your current directory. You can now use it as needed.

Advanced Usage with surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf

For more advanced scenarios, you can use options with the wkhtmltopdf command to customize the PDF generation process:

Customizing Page Size and Orientation:

wkhtmltopdf --page-size A4 --orientation Landscape /app/index.html /app/output.pdf

Adding Headers and Footers:

wkhtmltopdf --header-html /app/header.html --footer-html /app/footer.html /app/index.html /app/output.pdf

Specifying Page Ranges:

wkhtmltopdf --page 2-4 /app/index.html /app/output.pdf

Controlling Margins and Image Quality:

wkhtmltopdf --margin-top 20mm --margin-bottom 20mm --image-quality 90 /app/index.html /app/output.pdf

Integrating surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf into Your Workflow

surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf can be seamlessly integrated into your existing Docker workflows using Dockerfile and docker-compose:

1. Dockerfile:

FROM surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf

COPY index.html /app/

CMD ["wkhtmltopdf", "/app/index.html", "/app/output.pdf"]

This Dockerfile builds a custom image based on surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf, copies your HTML file to the container, and runs wkhtmltopdf automatically upon container startup.

2. docker-compose.yml:

version: "3.7"
services:
  pdf-converter:
    image: surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf
    volumes:
      - ./:/app
    command: wkhtmltopdf /app/index.html /app/output.pdf

This docker-compose file defines a service named pdf-converter that uses surnet/alpine-wkhtmltopdf, mounts your current directory to the container, and executes the conversion command.