3 ms·

Maybe this isn't the same but it's a relatively few lines of code to use puppeteer to use an actual browser to render pages to PDFs/PNGs. Advantages would be ev

Maybe this isn't the same but it's a relatively few lines of code to use puppeteer to use an actual browser to render pages to PDFs/PNGs. Advantages would be everything is supported. Every new feature in CSS, HTML, SVG, Canvas2D, WebGL, WebGPU, etc... (though for WebGL/WebGPU you might need to pass in some flags to use llvmpipe/mesa/warp etc... Asking your favorite LLM will give you da codez PS: I'm not trying to discount this tool. I'm only pointing out an alternative that might be useful

sammycage 1y ago
That’s a good point. Using Puppeteer or a headless browser gives you essentially full web platform support. The tradeoff is that it comes with a heavier runtime and more moving parts (Chromium, Node, etc.). PlutoPrint aims to be much lighter: no browser dependency, just a compact C++ engine with a Python wrapper. It does not cover the entire browser feature set but it is fast, portable, and easy to drop into projects without the overhead of a full browser.
- nicoburns 1y ago
  Interesting. I was not aware of PlutoBook! We're doing a very similar thing (custom lightweight engine) over at https://github.com/DioxusLabs/blitz https://github.com/DioxusLabs/blitz. We have more of a focus on UI, but there's definitely overlap (we support rendering to image, but don't have pagination/fragmentation implemented). Have you run the WPT tests against your engine to test spec conformance?
- realitysballs 1y ago
  Excellent response
- nutjob2 1y ago
  Your approach is also more predictable. Trying to figure out why Chromium is doing something strange with a complicated page is not practical, while a simple, lean package like this means you can look at the code, trace it and patch it if need be.
- specproc 1y ago
  I did this for a project recently, using Firefox and Selenium. It totally worked, but was very heavy on the dependencies and felt very clumsy. This is exactly what I was looking for a few months ago. I might revisit that project with it.
slig 1y ago
Exactly what I was wondering. I use puppeteer to render these [1] printable puzzles pages, and I use SVG, JavaScript to dynamically resize the text to fit a page, etc. Just works. [1]: https://ahapdf.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/samplers/logic-games-sampler.pdf https://ahapdf.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/samplers/logi... (PDF)
strbean 1y ago
Gotenberg[0] wraps up Chromium nicely for this purpose. However, at scale, spinning up Chromium for each PDF you want to generate is painful. I'd definitely consider a solution like PlutoPrint. 0: https://gotenberg.dev/ https://gotenberg.dev/

sammycage 1y ago

That’s a good point. Using Puppeteer or a headless browser gives you essentially full web platform support. The tradeoff is that it comes with a heavier runtime and more moving parts (Chromium, Node, etc.). PlutoPrint aims to be much lighter: no browser dependency, just a compact C++ engine with a Python wrapper. It does not cover the entire browser feature set but it is fast, portable, and easy to drop into projects without the overhead of a full browser.

nicoburns 1y ago
Interesting. I was not aware of PlutoBook! We're doing a very similar thing (custom lightweight engine) over at https://github.com/DioxusLabs/blitz https://github.com/DioxusLabs/blitz. We have more of a focus on UI, but there's definitely overlap (we support rendering to image, but don't have pagination/fragmentation implemented). Have you run the WPT tests against your engine to test spec conformance?
realitysballs 1y ago
Excellent response
nutjob2 1y ago
Your approach is also more predictable. Trying to figure out why Chromium is doing something strange with a complicated page is not practical, while a simple, lean package like this means you can look at the code, trace it and patch it if need be.
specproc 1y ago
I did this for a project recently, using Firefox and Selenium. It totally worked, but was very heavy on the dependencies and felt very clumsy. This is exactly what I was looking for a few months ago. I might revisit that project with it.

slig 1y ago

Exactly what I was wondering. I use puppeteer to render these [1] printable puzzles pages, and I use SVG, JavaScript to dynamically resize the text to fit a page, etc. Just works. [1]: https://ahapdf.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/samplers/logic-games-sampler.pdf https://ahapdf.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/samplers/logi... (PDF)

strbean 1y ago

Gotenberg[0] wraps up Chromium nicely for this purpose. However, at scale, spinning up Chromium for each PDF you want to generate is painful. I'd definitely consider a solution like PlutoPrint. 0: https://gotenberg.dev/ https://gotenberg.dev/