After including the library file, we create an FPDF object. The
FPDF() constructor is used here with the
default values: pages are in A4 portrait and the measure unit is
millimeter. It could have been specified explicitly with:
$pdf=new FPDF('P','mm','A4');
It is possible to use landscape (
L
), other page formats (such as
Letter
and
Legal
) and measure units (
pt
,
cm
,
in
).
There is no page for the moment, so we have to add one with
AddPage(). The origin is at the
upper-left corner and the current position is by default placed at 1 cm
from the borders; the margins can be changed with
SetMargins().
Before we can print text, it is mandatory to select a font
with
SetFont(), otherwise the document
would be invalid. We choose Arial bold 16:
$pdf->SetFont('Arial','B',16);
We could have specified italics with I, underlined with U or a regular
font with an empty string (or any combination). Note that the font size
is given in points, not millimeters (or another user unit); it is the
only exception. The other standard fonts are Times, Courier, Symbol and
ZapfDingbats.
We can now print a cell with
Cell(). A cell is a rectangular area,
possibly framed, which contains some text. It is output at the current
position. We specify its dimensions, its text (centered or aligned), if
borders should be drawn, and where the current position moves after it
(to the right, below or to the beginning of the next line). To add a
frame, we would do this:
$pdf->Cell(40,10,'Hello World !',1);
To add a new cell next to it with centered text and go to the next
line, we would do:
$pdf->Cell(60,10,'Powered by FPDF.',0,1,'C');
Remark : the line break can also be done with
Ln(). This method allows to specify in
addition the height of the break.
Finally, the document is closed and sent to the browser with
Output(). We could have saved it in a
file by passing the desired file name.
Caution: in case when the PDF is sent to the browser, nothing
else must be output, not before nor after (the least space or carriage
return matters). If you send some data before, you will get the error
message: "Some data has already been output to browser, can't send PDF
file". If you send after, your browser may display a blank page.