How to Generate a PDF in React JS (Client and Server Methods)

The best method depends on what you are exporting. For a new report, invoice, or certificate built from structured data, use @react-pdf/renderer and compose a PDF-specific component tree. If you need to export an element that is already rendered in the browser, use a DOM-capture workflow such as html2canvas with jsPDF, while accepting that unsupported CSS and cross-origin assets can affect the result.

This guide shows a current React PDF workflow, browser and server output choices, a DOM-export alternative, troubleshooting, and a no-browser option for turning a public page into a PDF.

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Choose the right PDF strategy first

Do not treat these as interchangeable. A report component designed for react-pdf is not your normal HTML component, and a DOM capture is not a literal screenshot of every browser-rendered feature.

Generate a PDF document with @react-pdf/renderer

Install the current package

Install the package in the React project that will render the document:

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npm install @react-pdf/renderer --save

The package’s current v4 documentation uses React components for PDF layout. Package versions and APIs can change, so check the version installed in your lockfile when adapting this example.

Create the document component

Document is the root of the react-pdf tree. Its direct children should be Page elements. Put text in Text, grouping and layout in View, and styles in StyleSheet. The document also accepts metadata such as title and author.

import { Document, Page, Text, View, StyleSheet } from '@react-pdf/renderer';

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  page: {
    padding: 36,
    fontSize: 12,
  },
  section: {
    marginBottom: 12,
  },
  heading: {
    fontSize: 18,
    marginBottom: 8,
  },
});

export function ReportPdf({ title, body, author = 'Example application' }) {
  return (
    <Document title={title} author={author}>
      <Page size="A4" style={styles.page}>
        <View style={styles.section}>
          <Text style={styles.heading}>{title}</Text>
          <Text>{body}</Text>
        </View>
      </Page>
    </Document>
  );
}

This is a PDF layout tree, not ordinary browser markup. Use the renderer’s supported style properties and Flexbox-like layout model rather than assuming every web CSS property is available.

Display the PDF in the browser

Wrap the document component in PDFViewer when the user should see an embedded viewer:

import { PDFViewer } from '@react-pdf/renderer';
import { ReportPdf } from './ReportPdf';

export default function ReportPreview({ title, body }) {
  return (
    <PDFViewer style={{ width: '100%', height: '80vh' }}>
      <ReportPdf title={title} body={body} />
    </PDFViewer>
  );
}

Keep the viewer mounted only where a browser PDF preview is appropriate. For a download button or a generated object URL, use the browser-side PDF data methods documented for the exact package version you installed; older v2 manual pages are marked unmaintained and should not be copied into a v4 implementation without verification.

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Render a file or HTTP response on the server

For server-side generation, pass the same document component to the renderer’s file API and a destination path. In an HTTP handler, use its stream API and send the stream with an application/pdf response header. The choice is operational:

• Use a file API for a scheduled export, temporary file, or object-storage upload.
• Use a stream for an immediate download or API response without first writing a permanent file.
• Keep browser-only objects out of the document component when it must also render on a server.

Design the document as a pure function of its props. Fetch data before rendering, validate required fields, and pass serializable values such as strings, numbers, dates converted to display strings, and arrays of line items.

Build practical documents: pages, data, and assets

Use explicit page boundaries when necessary

Long content can flow across pages, but business documents often need deliberate sections. Use additional Page elements for a cover, summary, or appendix. Keep repeated headers and footers in components that are included consistently on each page, and test documents with short and unusually long values.

Keep web and PDF components separate

A responsive dashboard component may rely on browser CSS, event handlers, and interactive controls that have no meaning in a PDF. Create a PDF view model and a PDF component instead of attempting to serialize the entire DOM. This separation also makes server rendering possible.

Plan for fonts and images

Use assets that the runtime can read reliably and verify font registration and image loading in the environment where the PDF is produced. A document that looks correct in a local browser can fail in a server process if a relative path, protected URL, or browser-only API is used.

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Export an existing React DOM element

If the requirement is “export this card exactly as it appears on screen,” a DOM-capture workflow is more direct:

npm install html2canvas jspdf

import html2canvas from 'html2canvas';
import { jsPDF } from 'jspdf';

export async function downloadElementAsPdf(element) {
  const canvas = await html2canvas(element, {
    backgroundColor: '#ffffff',
    useCORS: true,
    scale: window.devicePixelRatio || 1,
  });

  const image = canvas.toDataURL('image PNG');
  const pdf = new jsPDF({
    orientation: canvas.width > canvas.height ? 'landscape' : 'portrait',
    unit: 'pt',
    format: 'a4',
  });

  const pageWidth = pdf.internal.pageSize.getWidth();
  const pageHeight = pdf.internal.pageSize.getHeight();
  const ratio = Math.min(pageWidth / canvas.width, pageHeight / canvas.height);
  const width = canvas.width * ratio;
  const height = canvas.height * ratio;

  pdf.addImage(image, 'PNG', (pageWidth - width) / 2, 0, width, height);
  pdf.save('export.pdf');
}

Call the function with a reference to the element:

const node = document.querySelector('#invoice');
if (node) {
  await downloadElementAsPdf(node);
}

Use the correct MIME string in production: canvas.toDataURL('image/png'). The example’s layout scales one captured canvas to one PDF page. For tall content, split the canvas into page-height slices or use a pagination strategy; otherwise the lower part may be clipped or reduced until it is hard to read.

Know what DOM capture cannot promise

html2canvas does not actually take a screenshot of the page; it builds a representation based on the properties it reads from the DOM. Unsupported CSS, pseudo-elements, filters, complex positioning, videos, and browser-specific rendering can therefore differ from the live page. Cross-origin images and other resources can taint the canvas unless they are same-origin or served with permissive CORS headers (or handled through an allowed proxy). Test real fonts, image URLs, page breaks, and target browsers before making a fidelity guarantee.

Browser versus server generation

Choose browser generation when

• The user needs an immediate preview or download from data already in the page.
• The document does not contain secrets that should leave your server.
• You can tolerate work occurring on the user’s device.

Choose server generation when

• You need a consistent output for emailed invoices, archival, or automated jobs.
• Data access belongs on the server.
• You want to stream a PDF from an API with an application/pdf header.

Whichever runtime you select, keep the PDF component deterministic. Log input validation failures separately from rendering failures, and return a useful HTTP status instead of an HTML error page with a PDF content type.

Common errors and fixes

Performance, reliability, and cost considerations

• Large images increase memory use in both browser and server generation. Resize images to their intended print dimensions before embedding them.
• High device-pixel-ratio DOM captures produce sharper output but consume more memory. Choose a scale deliberately and test mobile devices.
• Long reports should be tested with the maximum realistic row count, long translated strings, missing optional fields, and slow image requests.
• For repeatable exports, prefer react-pdf’s document model over capturing a changing UI. It avoids depending on scroll position, animations, overlays, and incidental page state.
• Do not report a successful download merely because a request returned status 200. Confirm that the response body is a PDF and that rendering completed before exposing it to the user.

Or skip the browser setup

If the input is a public web page rather than structured application data, ScreenshotNeo can return a screenshot or PDF from one API request. It accepts cookie and consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be disabled. Bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and the response identifies the page and billing result in X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. An MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.

For the API syntax and all options, see the ScreenshotNeo documentation. The same endpoint can produce a PDF; the example below follows the documented request shape:

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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

Replace the URL with the page you need and choose the PDF output option described in the documentation. The service also supports full-page capture with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element capture, dark mode, device presets, custom viewport and retina scale, paper size, margins, landscape mode, page ranges, custom CSS and JavaScript, clicks, selector or network-idle waits, request and resource blocking, headers, cookies, user agents, authorization, timezone, geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, configurable-TTL caching, signed links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture for up to 100 URLs per call, usage reporting, and an OpenAPI specification. Parameter names used by other screenshot APIs are accepted to ease migration.

The Free plan includes 1,000 shots each month without a card. Paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots; every feature is available on every plan, and yearly billing provides two months free. Create a free ScreenshotNeo account to try it.

Which method should you ship?

• Use @react-pdf/renderer for invoices, reports, certificates, and any PDF whose layout is part of your application.
• Use html2canvas and jsPDF only when exporting an existing DOM element is more important than perfect CSS fidelity.
• Use server rendering for controlled, repeatable files and browser rendering for interactive previews and user-initiated downloads.
• Use ScreenshotNeo when the source is an external page and you want a managed capture pipeline rather than installing and operating a browser.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use normal HTML tags inside a react-pdf document?

No. Build the PDF tree with react-pdf primitives such as Document, Page, View, and Text. Keep ordinary HTML in the surrounding React interface.

Does html2canvas work in Node.js?

No. It depends on browser APIs, so use it in a browser or choose a server-capable PDF renderer.

Why does my captured PDF differ from the web page?

DOM capture reconstructs the page from readable DOM and CSS properties; unsupported styles, fonts, animations, and cross-origin resources can change the result.

Should I use an old react-pdf v2 tutorial?

Not without checking it against the installed version. Older advanced documentation is explicitly unmaintained; follow the current v4 API for new work.

Quick Recap

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