How to print a PDF from the browser using JavaScript

In this article, we will explore three different methods to print a PDF from the browser using JavaScript.

Method 1: Using the PDF.js library #

1. PDF.js is a popular JavaScript library for rendering and displaying PDF files in the browser.
2. To print a PDF using PDF.js, we need to first render the PDF on the page and then use the built-in browser print functionality.
3. This method is suitable when you want to have control over the PDF rendering and other customizations.

Method 2: Using the window.print() method #

1. If you want to print the entire browser window, including the displayed PDF, you can use the window.print() method directly.
2. This approach doesn't offer control over the PDF document specifically, as it prints the entire visible content of the page.

Method 3: Converting PDF to HTML and then printing #

This method might be useful if you want to handle PDF rendering on the server-side and convert it to HTML for client-side printing.

Conclusions: #

In this article, we explored three different methods to print a PDF from the browser using JavaScript. We learned that:

Method 1 utilizes the PDF.js library for custom rendering and control over the PDF content.

Method 2 directly uses the window.print() method to print the entire browser window, including the displayed PDF.

Method 3 involves converting the PDF to HTML and then printing the HTML content using window.print().