HTML to PDF Converter — Convert a URL or HTML string to PDF

Converts a public URL or raw HTML into a PDF using a real headless Chrome (not an approximate renderer). No third-party API keys, no login.

What it does

• Accepts a URL (navigates to it and exports the page as rendered) or raw HTML (renders it directly) — one or the other, not both.
• Returns the PDF as a downloadable file (pdfUrl) plus metadata (size, page format, orientation).
• Supports page size (A4/Letter/Legal), landscape orientation, and whether to print CSS backgrounds/colors.

Who it's for

• Generating reports, invoices or receipts as PDF from HTML built by another system (e.g. a backend that builds the HTML and needs the final PDF).
• Saving a PDF copy of a public page (e.g. terms and conditions, an article) with the real layout, not plain text.

Input

Field	Type	Required	Description
url	string	One of the two	Public http(s) URL to convert. Takes precedence over html if both are present.
html	string	One of the two	Raw HTML to convert (max 5 MB). Pre-filled with a sample document (so the actor's daily automated test always has input to run); ignored automatically if url is also filled in.
format	string	No (default A4)	A4, Letter or Legal.
landscape	boolean	No (default false)	Landscape orientation.
printBackground	boolean	No (default true)	Print CSS backgrounds and colors.

Precedence: you need url OR html. If you send only one, that one is used. If you send both (for example because you filled in url but left the html field's sample prefill in place), url wins and html is silently ignored — except a WARN is logged and the output/RUN-SUMMARY include ignoredHtml: true so it's traceable. The run only fails if neither field is provided.

{ "url": "https://example.com" }

or

{ "html": "<h1>Report</h1><p>Content</p>", "landscape": true }

Output

{
  "source": "url",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "ignoredHtml": false,
  "format": "A4",
  "landscape": false,
  "printBackground": true,
  "sizeBytes": 35496,
  "pdfUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<storeId>/records/OUTPUT.pdf",
  "generatedAt": "2026-09-20T03:39:59.236Z"
}

ignoredHtml is true only when both url and html were sent and html was discarded in favor of url (see Precedence above).

The PDF file is stored in the run's Key-Value Store; pdfUrl is the direct download link (public, as long as storage hasn't expired per the account's plan).

Pricing

Pay-per-event, provisional. Starting reference: USD 0.01 per document generated (03-plan.md §2).

How to call it

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cuantic-data~html-to-pdf-converter/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

Terms and limits

See ./TERMS.md: uses real Chrome via Puppeteer (Apache License 2.0), rendering only the content the user supplies.

FAQ

Can I send both url and html, in case one fails? You can, but it won't try both: if both are provided, url is used and html is ignored (with a warning in the log and ignoredHtml: true in the output). It's not a way to get a fallback — just send the one you want converted.

Found a bug? Email cuanticwindows@gmail.com — we reply within 72 hours.

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See build/README.md for how to run tests and publish this Actor.