How to Save HTML Content as PDF with Preserved CSS Styling?

Saving HTML Content with CSS as PDF

In web development, preserving visual aesthetics is crucial, even when exporting content to different formats. This can present challenges when attempting to save HTML elements as PDFs, as the CSS styling may be lost during the conversion process.

For cases where it's imperative to retain CSS in saved PDFs, consider utilizing the following approach:

1. Create a New Window: Open a new browser window dedicated to saving the content as a PDF.
2. Append HTML and CSS: Append the HTML code of the element you wish to save to the document body of the new window. Additionally, include any CSS styling necessary for the element's appearance.
3. Focus and Print: Focus on the new window and initiate the printing process. In the system print dialog, select the option to "Print to file."

This method effectively preserves CSS styling by ensuring that the element's appearance is faithfully rendered when saved as a PDF. Here's a JavaScript snippet that demonstrates the approach:

<code class="javascript">$("#save").click(function() {
  var text = $("#output")[0].outerHTML;
  // `styles`: `style` element; 
  // or `String` "<style>.light{color:#0af;}</style>" ;
  // alternatively , add `style` attribute to `pre` element directly,
  // e.g., `<pre style="color:#0af;">`
  var styles = $("style")[0].outerHTML;
  var popup = window.open("", "popup");
  // append `text`:`pre` element `styles`:`style` element
  // at `popup` `document.body`
  popup.document.body.innerHTML = text + styles;
  popup.focus();
  popup.print();
});

By adopting this approach, you can efficiently save HTML elements as PDFs while maintaining their visual aesthetics through CSS styling.

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