Laravel6 - Add digital signature certification in PDF
TCPDF is an open-source PHP library and the only PHP-based library that includes complete support for UTF-8 Unicode and right-to-left languages, including the bidirectional algorithm.
In this article, we will step by step create PDF file with digital signature certificate in TCPDF library.
Step 1: Create Laravel project
First create Laravel project from the Terminal using bellow command.
composer create-project laravel/laravel tcpdf
Step 2: Install TCPDF library
We wil use elibyy/tcpdf-laravel package which makes simple and easy to use TCPDF in Laravel. You can also direct Install TCPDF package and use.
First go to the project root directory in Terminal and run the command.
composer require elibyy/tcpdf-laravel
It will install library in the vendor folder.
Step 3: Configure package
Open config/app.php file and add provider class in the providers array.
'providers' => [
//...
Elibyy\TCPDF\ServiceProvider::class,
]
Also add facade class in the aliases array.
'aliases' => [
//...
'PDF' => Elibyy\TCPDF\Facades\TCPDF::class
]
Step 4: Create new route
Now create route in routes/web.php file. Add this bellow line to create new URL.
<?php
Route::get('/tcpdf', 'HomeController@createPDF')->name('createPDF');
Step 5: Create new controller class and method
Now create a new controller class with the bellow command.
php artisan make:controller HomeController
And add createPDF method in the HomeController.php. Don't forget to use PDF class in the top of the class declaration.
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use PDF;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class HomeController extends Controller
{
/**
* Where to redirect users after login.
*
* @var string
*/
public function createPDF(Request $request)
{
// set certificate file
$certificate = 'file://'.base_path().'/public/tcpdf.crt';
// set additional information in the signature
$info = array(
'Name' => 'TCPDF',
'Location' => 'Office',
'Reason' => 'Testing TCPDF',
'ContactInfo' => 'http://www.tcpdf.org',
);
// set document signature
PDF::setSignature($certificate, $certificate, 'tcpdfdemo', '', 2, $info);
PDF::SetFont('helvetica', '', 12);
PDF::SetTitle('Hello World');
PDF::AddPage();
// print a line of text
$text = view('tcpdf');
// add view content
PDF::writeHTML($text, true, 0, true, 0);
// add image for signature
PDF::Image('tcpdf.png', 180, 60, 15, 15, 'PNG');
// define active area for signature appearance
PDF::setSignatureAppearance(180, 60, 15, 15);
// save pdf file
PDF::Output(public_path('hello_world.pdf'), 'F');
PDF::reset();
dd('pdf created');
}
}
See the available class methods to customize your PDF file. Output() method will save PDF file in the passed location.
Also check certificate location variable is prefix with 'file://', otherwise it will return bellow error.
Step 6: Create blade view
We are also adding content of the blade file. I have added blade file in the view() method. You can also direct add html view content or via view() method. Here is my resource/views/tcpdf.blade.php file sample file.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<title>TCPDF</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>
This is a <b color="#FF0000">digitally signed document</b> using the default (example) <b>tcpdf.crt</b> certificate.<br />To validate this signature you have to load the <b color="#006600">tcpdf.fdf</b> on the Arobat Reader to add the certificate to <i>List of Trusted Identities</i>.<br /><br />For more information check the source code of this example and the source code documentation for the <i>setSignature()</i> method.<br /><br />
</p>
<a href="http://www.tcpdf.org">www.tcpdf.org</a>
</body>
</html>
Step 7: Generate PDF file
That's it. Now run your Laravel project with php artisan serve command and open your route URL in the browser. A new PDF file is generated in the public folder.
To check if the certificate is installed perfectly, open PDF file in the Adobe reader in Windows operating system and click on the image bellow in the PDF document. It will load certificate.
Conclusion
There are so many features and customizations available in TCPDF. You can check I hope you will like this article. Also please follow us on Twitter and Like our Facebook page for updates.
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