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SelectPDF Alternative

Question
#1

Is bubble working on a selectPDF alternative that is compatible with the new responsive engine?

Is there a plugin that works as well as selectPDF in terms of quality and maintaining text and vector elements as well as page sizes without cutting things off?

SelectPDF had been working great for us, but lately its been very unstable and I’ve not been able to figure out the cause.

1 Like
#2

I just started using SelectPDF, it seems fine with the new Responsive however it’s loading really slow. It’s being unreliable for me because I’m generating PDFs that could be 40 pages long. It seems like their webpage renderer doesn’t really “wait” for all data so I’m getting PDFs with missing text.

I’m currently experimenting with CloudConvert’s API to convert a page to PDF. I really liked they have an option to wait for their browser’s network traffic to hit 0 for a period of time before rendering the page. Plus their max time per job is 5 hours.

I’m just experimenting for now with it but right now I’m figuring out how to authorize their browser to view the page, since my data types are private. I need a way for the user to be logged in on their browser I guess?

I am dying for a “flawless” PDF solution from Bubble that is server-side rendered

#3

I have been using PDF Conjurer and it is super fast on the browser side. Not so fast on the backend workflow. It’s a bit difficult to learn. Totally worth it though. Designing the pdf is much more difficult but I was able to create a pdf in a day or two of learning.

Clean page breaks. :+1:

Hope that helps! :blush:

#4

Hi there.
SelectPDF has its limitations. Im trying to do multiple page reports and i cant seem to do it on SP, it onlu prints current page with all its elemtns and menu. Im trying to use a HTML elemnt as iframe with the exact report template and data i want but i dont see an option in SP to take the HTML raw data from HTML element as the only source to build the PDF. Im avoiding using API pdf because i would love to have the template on the page and allow the user to modify its content and then download. Similar to forms web app like Jotforms where you can create a PDF template and see it .

As i see it i have 3 options:

  1. Learn Javascript and somehow modify the plugin
  2. Use an external API with templates like CraftmyPDF
  3. Use conjurePDF to build with Workflows a custom pdf.

ANy ideas?

#5

So like I mentioned in my last comment, I user CloudConvert and I do “Capture website” to turn a page into a PDF. They do have HTML to PDF, I’m wondering if that is what you want? You just send an API call and send the HTML you already made? Then it processes it and send back to PDF either as a response or a webhook.

#6

Hi,
You mean to create an custom API call to send the HTML raw data inside the element?

So far i have been using the PS plugin from bubble an I haven’t seen that option (only external page and internal pages) not API calls (need yet to learn how to use those, new-user here).

#7

So if you already have HTML with the exact layout and data and everything, in theory you could make a request using the API Connector to their HTML to PDF endpoint and it would just respond back with your PDF file (once you set up CloudConvert account, credit card, etc)

I have an internal page where I have the layout set up how I want, so I use their Capture a website endpoint.

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