Custom Template Image Support in your PDFs
Introduction​
The PDF engine Gravity PDF uses, mPDF, supports the following image formats:
png
with transparency or alpha channeljpg
orjpeg
gif
with transparencysvg
bmp
wmf
To display images in your PDF template use the standard <img src="" />
HTML tag.
The software will accept a URL or absolute path to the image file, although we've found using an absolute path to the image offers better cross-server compatibility, and it's the recommended solution.
Performance​
Images can slow the PDF generation time. If you are rendering an image heavy document and it is taking considerable time to generate you can optimise the process by:
- Run your images through a compression service like TinyPNG and/or resize the image to a smaller format.
- Use absolute paths to the images
- Use JPG images over the other file types as they are quicker to process
- PNGs with no alpha channel or transparency come in a close second to JPGs.
Float Support​
There is partial support for floating images in mPDF, however, the following limitations apply:
- You can only have one floated image left, and one floated right per container.
- Unlike your browser (which will overflow the image out of the container), the containing HTML element is extended at the bottom if necessary to enclose the floated image.
- Floats are ignored if the image is too wide for the container, inside a table, or
page-break-inside: avoid
is set.
Further Reading​
View the mPDF documentation for more information about image support.