Easily Convert PDF to HTML in PHP (Tutorial)

In this article, I’ll show you how I use our BuildVu library to convert PDF files into HTML. As a developer, I’ve found BuildVu to be the best tool for turning PDFs into clean, browser-friendly HTML content.

If you want to learn more about the PDF format or why converting PDF to HTML is so beneficial, I’ve also linked some detailed articles that explain these topics.

HTML for PHP Developers

PHP is widely used for building dynamic websites, and converting PDFs to HTML allows developers to display PDF content directly within a browser. Efficient PDF to HTML conversion allows PHP developers to automate workflows such as invoice generation, report display, and content extraction.

Convert PDF to HTML using PHP

Although the services can be accessed with standard HTTP requests, this tutorial uses our open-source PHP IDRCloudClient, which offers a straightforward PHP wrapper for the REST API.

Prerequisites

To install the idrsolutions-php-client package using Composer, execute the following command:

composer require idrsolutions/idrsolutions-php-client

Code Examples

Here is a basic code example demonstrating how to generate HTML from PDF. Configuration options and advanced features are detailed below:

 ‘input’ => IDRCloudClient::INPUT_UPLOAD,

‘file’ => __DIR__ . ‘path/to/file.pdf’

);


$results = IDRCloudClient::convert(array(

‘endpoint’ => $endpoint,

‘parameters’ => $parameters

));


IDRCloudClient::downloadOutput($results, __DIR__ . ‘/’);


echo $results[‘downloadUrl’];

Return result to a callback url

The BuildVu Microservice supports a callback URL to send the status upon conversion completion, eliminating the need to constantly poll the service. You can provide the callback URL to the parameters array as demonstrated below:

$parameters = array(

//’token’ => ‘Token’, // Required only when connecting to the IDRsolutions trial and cloud subscription service

‘input’ => IDRCloudClient::INPUT_UPLOAD,

‘callbackUrl’ => ‘http://listener.url’,

‘file’ => __DIR__ . ‘path/to/file.pdf’

);

Configuration Options

The BuildVu API allows for conversion customization using a stringified JSON object with key-value pair configuration options. Add these settings to the parameters array. A comprehensive list of options for converting PDF files to HTML or SVG can be found here.

‘settings’ => ‘{"key":"value","key":"value"}’

Upload by URL

In addition to uploading a local file, you can provide a URL for the BuildVu Microservice to download and convert. Simply replace the input and file values in the parameters array with the following.

‘input’ => IDRCloudClient.DOWNLOAD

‘url’ => ‘http://exampleURL/exampleFile.pdf’

Using Authentication

If you require authentication for your BuildVu Microservice, provide username and password when converting and downloading HTML from PDF. Add two variables named username and password to the parameters array, as shown below.

‘username’ => ‘Username_If_Required’,

‘password’ => ‘Password_If_Required’,

In such cases, you’ll also need to provide the authentication values to the downloadOutput method.

IDRCloudClient::downloadOutput($results, __DIR__ . ‘/’,’newFileName’,’username’,’password’);

BuildVu allows you to