I'm using html2pdf to generate a pdf, can I hide the html so the user doesn't see it?

Question

I'm generating vouchers using the html2pdf library.

This works fine with the voucher showing as HTML in the page.

I have a button that triggers the html2pdf() function on click, prompting the user to accept the PDF download.

I would like for the HTML to not show on the page. I tried applying position: absolute; and placing the HTML away from the user's sight. Unfortunately, the PDF then renders as blank.

Is there a way to achieve this ?

Solution 1

Just toggle the display property of 'element-to-print' before and after the html2pdf call.

https://jsfiddle.net/bambang3128/u6o6ne41/10/

function toggleDisplay() {
  var element = document.getElementById('element-to-print');
  if (element.style.display == 'block') {
    element.style.display = 'none'
  } else {
    element.style.display = 'block'
  }

  console.log('toggleDisplay()');
}

function printPDF() {
  var element = document.getElementById('element-to-print');
  element.style.display = 'block'
  html2pdf(element);
  element.style.display = 'none'
  console.log('printPDF()');
}

<script src="https://rawgit.com/eKoopmans/html2pdf/master/dist/html2pdf.bundle.min.js"></script>
<div id="element-to-print" hidden>
  <h1>This is a hidden div</h1>
  This one is hidden div contents.
</div>
<p>
  Save the hidden element as PDF.
</p>
<button type="button" onclick="toggleDisplay();">Toggle Display!</button>
<button type="button" onclick="printPDF();">Click Me!</button>

Solution 2

If you want without showing content to user to download pdf, then use innerHTML

<div id="exportPdf" style="display: none"></div>

style="display: none" to div

var source = window.document.getElementById("exportPdf").innerHTML;

html2pdf().set(opt).from(source).save();

innerHTML will do the trick

Solution 3

Just hide the element by using the display:none propery. The element will not appear in the downloaded pdf.

Take this example:

function download() {
var element = document.getElementById("report");
// if you want to show the element in pdf
/*
  for showing element in pdf
  var hidden = document.querySelector('.hidden');
  hidden.style.display = "block";
*/

  html2pdf(element)
}

.hidden {
  display: none;
}

<script src="https://rawgit.com/eKoopmans/html2pdf/master/dist/html2pdf.bundle.min.js"></script>
<button onclick="download()">Download PDF</button>
<div id="report">
 <div class="hidden">Hidden Element</div>
 <div>Content to be shown in PDF</div>
</div>

Solution 4

Instead of passing an element, simply pass the HTML as a string:

html2pdf().from("<h1>Title</h1>").save();

In my case I'm using ReactJS, so I would do:

const htmlAsString = ReactDOMServer.renderToString(<Row>
    <Col md="6">Section 1</Col>
    <Col md="6">Section 2</Col>
</Row>);

html2pdf().from(htmlAsString).save();

View more solutions

Comments

[Josh C]

Html2pdf does not print hidden divs. You will end up with a blank pdf.

[Josh C]

Html2pdf does not print divs that are not visible on Chrome. You will end up with a blank pdf.

[Mnemo]

Yes it does not but based on the question, he wants to hide the print area, so he needs to trigger it by setting the display to none.

[Finlay Roelofs]

This is also helpful for when you show a toast when starting the export :)

[Albert Alberto]

Works like a charm

[Dgloria]

Well this totally not work if you have more than 1 line of code, and you must squeeze all of your css into the html inline. So I would say it isn't a sufficient solution.

[Maxime Lechevallier]

Did you try it ? I think I tried it by the time, and CSS were applied as expected. Obviously don't write your whole react element in renderToString, but break it down into small components.