Generate PDF in Python using pdfkit and Make Available via Flask API Endpoint
In this article, we will explore how to generate a PDF in Python using the pdfkit library and make it available via a Flask API endpoint. PDF generation is a common requirement in various web applications, and with tools like pdfkit and Flask, it becomes easier to achieve this functionality.
Installing pdfkit
To get started, first install the pdfkit library in your Python environment. You can do this using the following pip command:
pip install pdfkit
Generating PDF using pdfkit
Once pdfkit is installed, you can use it to generate PDFs from HTML or URLs. Here’s an example of how you can generate a PDF from HTML:
import pdfkit
# HTML content
html = "
Hello, World!
"
# Generate PDF from HTML
pdfkit.from_string(html, 'output.pdf')
In the above example, we have created a simple HTML content and then used pdfkit to generate a PDF file named ‘output.pdf’ from that HTML.
Setting up a Flask API Endpoint
Next, we will create a Flask API endpoint to serve the generated PDF. Here’s an example of how you can do this:
from flask import Flask, send_file
import pdfkit
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route('/generate-pdf', methods=['GET'])
def generate_pdf():
# Generate PDF from HTML
html = "
Hello, World!
"
pdfkit.from_string(html, 'output.pdf')
# Return the generated PDF
return send_file('output.pdf', as_attachment=True)
In the above code, we have created a Flask app and defined a route ‘/generate-pdf’ that generates a PDF from a simple HTML content and returns it as an attachment using the send_file method.
Testing the API Endpoint
Finally, we can test the API endpoint by making a GET request to ‘/generate-pdf’ and downloading the generated PDF. You can use tools like Postman or simply enter the URL in your browser to test the endpoint.
Conclusion
Generating PDFs in Python and making them available via a Flask API endpoint is a useful feature for many web applications. With the help of pdfkit and Flask, it becomes easy to achieve this functionality and serve PDFs dynamically. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily incorporate PDF generation and serving into your Python web applications.
Lovely. Can you help in attaching generated PDF in outlook for emailing.
Amazing, to the point vid! Thank you
fantastic video. thanks!