Use Playwright’s page.pdf() on a page loaded with your HTML, set displayHeaderFooter: true, and provide a headerTemplate, a footerTemplate, or both. The method returns a PDF buffer; add path to save a file. Playwright’s PDF export is Chromium-only, so use a Chromium browser for this workflow. Playwright Page API · PDF Export documentation
Generate the PDF with repeating header and footer content
This Node.js example assumes page is a Playwright Page that has already loaded the HTML you want to print. The templates use Playwright’s injected classes for the document title, date, page number, and page count.
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const pdf = await page.pdf({
path: 'output.pdf',
format: 'A4',
displayHeaderFooter: true,
headerTemplate: `
<div style="width:100%; font-size:9px; padding:0 12mm;">
<span class="title"></span>
<span style="float:right" class="date"></span>
</div>`,
footerTemplate: `
<div style="width:100%; font-size:9px; text-align:center;">
<span class="pageNumber"></span> / <span class="totalPages"></span>
</div>`,
margin: { top: '18mm', bottom: '18mm', left: '12mm', right: '12mm' },
printBackground: true,
});page.pdf() returns a PDF buffer, so you can use pdf directly if you do not need a file. The path option writes the PDF to disk as well. See the Page API reference for the current options in your installed Playwright version.
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Header and footer display is off unless you enable displayHeaderFooter. Templates are HTML strings; the documented injected classes are date, title, url, pageNumber, and totalPages. Use the same kind of markup for a footer as for a header.
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- Template scripts are not evaluated.
- Styles from the page do not carry into the templates. Give template elements their own inline styles or other self-contained styling.
- Reserve room for the running header and footer with top and bottom margins. Paper margins default to zero, and unlabeled numeric margin values are interpreted as pixels.
Choose print media, paper size, and appearance
Print CSS or screen CSS
page.pdf() uses print CSS media by default. If the page should use its screen styles instead, call await page.emulateMedia({ media: 'screen' }) before generating the PDF. Print output can adjust colors; use -webkit-print-color-adjust in your document CSS when preserving exact colors matters.
Paper dimensions and orientation
Set a paper format such as A4 or Letter, or provide width and height. If you set format, it takes precedence over width and height. If the document has a CSS @page size that should control output, set preferCSSPageSize: true; otherwise Playwright scales content to fit the selected paper size. Set landscape: true for landscape orientation.
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Backgrounds, scale, and page ranges
Background graphics are omitted by default; enable printBackground: true when they belong in the PDF. The default scale is 1, and the documented range is 0.1 to 2. Use pageRanges to export selected pages rather than the entire document. These options are documented in the Page API reference.
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Run PDF export in Chromium
Playwright’s dedicated PDF Export documentation states that PDF generation is Chromium-only. Do not expect this page.pdf() workflow to produce PDFs in Firefox or WebKit. Configure a Chromium browser for the export task and check the documentation for the Playwright version in your project, since API details can change over time.
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Troubleshoot missing or incorrect output
- No header or footer appears: make sure
displayHeaderFooter: trueis set and that the relevant template string is not empty. - The body overlaps the running content: increase the top or bottom margin to create space for the header or footer.
- Template styling looks different from page styling: page styles are not visible inside templates. Put the needed styles directly in the template.
- Template JavaScript has no effect: scripts in header and footer templates are not evaluated; provide the markup and values through supported template content instead.
- Background graphics are missing: set
printBackground: true. - The output uses unexpected page styles: PDF export defaults to print media. Emulate screen media before calling
page.pdf()only if screen styling is intended. - The paper size differs from CSS:
formatoverrides explicit width and height. To let CSS@pagesizing take priority, setpreferCSSPageSize: true. - PDF export is unavailable in your browser project: use Chromium; Playwright documents PDF generation as Chromium-only.
Or skip the browser setup
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can Playwright put both a header and footer on each PDF page?
Yes. Enable displayHeaderFooter and provide both headerTemplate and footerTemplate.
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Can I use Playwright’s PDF export in Firefox or WebKit?
No. Playwright’s PDF Export documentation specifies Chromium-only PDF generation.
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