Practical Method to Set Font Styles for Specific Fields Using mPDF in PHP

Introduction

When generating PDF files with PHP, it is often necessary to apply unique font styles to specific fields. This article will guide you through how to use the mPDF library to achieve customized font styling for designated fields.

Installing the mPDF Library

First, install the mPDF library. It is recommended to use Composer for installation. Run the following command in your project root directory terminal:

composer require mpdf/mpdf

This command will add the mPDF library to your project automatically, allowing you to use it easily.

Creating a PDF Object

After installation, create an mPDF instance to start manipulating PDF documents. Example code:

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
$mpdf = new \Mpdf\Mpdf();

This code includes the autoload file and creates a new mPDF object.

Configuring Font Styles for Specific Fields

Next, prepare an array to define the fields that need styling along with their style options. The following example sets the field "Hello World" to have red font color, bold, and italic style:

$fields = [
    'Hello World' => [
        'font_color' => 'red',
        'font_style' => 'B',
        'font_italic' => 'I',
    ],
];

In this array, keys represent the field content, and values contain style settings including font color, font weight, and italicization.

Applying Font Styles to the PDF

Loop through the array and use mPDF methods to apply the styles to each corresponding text:

foreach ($fields as $field => $style) {
    $mpdf->WriteHTML("{$field}", 2);
    $mpdf->SetFont('', $style['font_style'] . $style['font_italic']);
    $mpdf->SetTextColor($style['font_color']);
}

This code uses WriteHTML to insert text, SetFont to set the font style, and SetTextColor to set the font color.

Generating and Saving the PDF File

After setting content and styles, call the Output method to create and save the PDF file:

$mpdf->Output('output.pdf', 'F');

This will save the PDF file named output.pdf in the current directory.

Conclusion

This article demonstrated how to use PHP’s mPDF library to apply font colors, bold, and italic styles to specific fields in a PDF document. The guide covers the entire process from installing mPDF, creating a PDF object, setting field styles, to generating the final file. We hope this helps you customize your PDFs more effectively.