About HTML to PDF
A web page changes. Prices move, articles are edited, and pages vanish. Keeping a record of how a page looked on a particular day means turning it into a document, and a PDF is the usual choice because it holds the layout still.
This tool converts a saved .html or .htm file into a PDF. You save the page from your browser, hand the file to the tool, and get a PDF with the page as it was written. This conversion runs on our conversion service rather than in your browser, because an office suite cannot run in a web page. The file is uploaded, converted and deleted as soon as the answer has been sent back. It is free, and there is no account.
How to convert an HTML file to PDF
- Save the page. In your browser, use "Save page as" and choose a single HTML file or "Webpage, HTML only". If you wrote the page yourself, use that file.
- Choose the .html or .htm file in the tool, or drop it on the page.
- Press the convert button. The file is sent to the conversion service and returned as a PDF.
- Look at the preview. Check that images, styles and fonts appear as you expect.
- Save the PDF. If the page looks plain, see the limits below: the page’s styling and pictures may not have travelled with the file.
When you would use it
- Keeping a record of a web page, such as an order confirmation, a policy, or a listing as it stood on a particular date.
- Turning an HTML invoice or report you generated into a document you can send.
- Archiving an article that you want to keep in a stable form.
- Producing a printable copy of a web page whose own print layout is poor.
- Making a PDF from an HTML email or template for a client to review.
What it will not do
- It converts the one file you give it. Images, stylesheets and fonts that live in other files or on other websites are not fetched for you, so a page saved as "HTML only" can lose its pictures and some of its styling.
- It does not capture a live address. You cannot paste a link; you give it a saved file.
- Pages that build themselves with scripts after loading may convert as the saved file shows them, which can be blank or partial.
- The layout is a print-style layout. It is not guaranteed to match a browser’s screen view at any width.
- Files over about 50 megabytes are refused, and the service lets you run only two conversions at a time.
How it compares
Every browser can "Print" a page to PDF directly, and for a page you are looking at that is often the quickest and most accurate route, since the browser has the page, its images and its styles in memory. This tool is for a file rather than a page you have open, such as HTML you wrote or received.
Screenshot-style capture tools capture a long image of the page, which cannot be searched or selected. A conversion keeps the text as text.
Tips
- Prefer "complete" or single-file saves where your browser offers them. They bundle images and styles so the page survives the trip.
- Test with a simple page first if you are building your own template.