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Batch generate PDFs from templates

Written by

Bernardo Palos

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To batch generate PDFs from templates, you can follow these steps using various tools or programming approaches, depending on your preference:

1. Using Python (with ReportLab or WeasyPrint)

a. Using ReportLab:

  • ReportLab is a powerful Python library for generating PDFs. You can use it to create PDFs from templates with dynamic content.

Steps:

  1. Install ReportLab:

    bash
    pip install reportlab

  2. Create a Python script that loads your template (HTML or custom format), injects data, and generates PDFs in a batch.

Example Code:

python
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas

def generate_pdf(template_data, output_filename):
    c = canvas.Canvas(output_filename, pagesize=letter)
    c.drawString(100, 750, f"Name: {template_data['name']}")
    c.drawString(100, 730, f"Address: {template_data['address']}")
    c.save()

# Data for batch processing
data_list = [
    {'name': 'John Doe', 'address': '123 Main St'},
    {'name': 'Jane Smith', 'address': '456 Oak St'},
    {'name': 'Alice Johnson', 'address': '789 Pine St'}
]

# Loop to create PDFs for each entry
for index, data in enumerate(data_list):
    output_filename = f"output_{index + 1}.pdf"
    generate_pdf(data, output_filename)

This example generates PDFs using ReportLab, where you loop through a list of data (data_list) and create a separate PDF for each entry.

b. Using WeasyPrint (for HTML-based templates):

  • If your templates are in HTML format, you can use WeasyPrint, which converts HTML to PDF.

Steps:

  1. Install WeasyPrint:

    bash
    pip install weasyprint

  2. Example code for generating PDFs from HTML templates:

python
import weasyprint

def generate_pdf_from_html(template_html, output_filename):
    weasyprint.HTML(string=template_html).write_pdf(output_filename)

# HTML template with placeholders
template_html = """
<html>
<body>
    <h1>Name: {{name}}</h1>
    <p>Address: {{address}}</p>
</body>
</html>
"""

# Data for batch processing
data_list = [
    {'name': 'John Doe', 'address': '123 Main St'},
    {'name': 'Jane Smith', 'address': '456 Oak St'},
    {'name': 'Alice Johnson', 'address': '789 Pine St'}
]

# Loop to create PDFs
for index, data in enumerate(data_list):
    populated_template = template_html.replace('{{name}}', data['name']).replace('{{address}}', data['address'])
    output_filename = f"output_{index + 1}.pdf"
    generate_pdf_from_html(populated_template, output_filename)

In this example, WeasyPrint is used to convert a string-based HTML template into a PDF. The placeholders are replaced with actual data, and then the HTML is converted to a PDF.

2. Using a Template Engine (Jinja2 with Python)

You can combine Jinja2 templating with PDF generation libraries. Jinja2 can handle the dynamic content rendering, and then you can render the HTML and convert it to a PDF.

  1. Install dependencies:

    bash
    pip install jinja2 weasyprint

  2. Example code:

python
from jinja2 import Template
import weasyprint

# Jinja2 template for HTML
html_template = """
<html>
<body>
    <h1>Name: {{ name }}</h1>
    <p>Address: {{ address }}</p>
</body>
</html>
"""

# Data for batch processing
data_list = [
    {'name': 'John Doe', 'address': '123 Main St'},
    {'name': 'Jane Smith', 'address': '456 Oak St'},
    {'name': 'Alice Johnson', 'address': '789 Pine St'}
]

# Generate PDF from template for each data entry
for index, data in enumerate(data_list):
    template = Template(html_template)
    rendered_html = template.render(name=data['name'], address=data['address'])
    output_filename = f"output_{index + 1}.pdf"
    weasyprint.HTML(string=rendered_html).write_pdf(output_filename)

3. Using Google Docs API or Microsoft Word Automation (with Python)

If you are using word documents as templates (Google Docs or Word files), you can automate the generation process by interacting with their respective APIs or using Python libraries like python-docx.

a. Google Docs API:

  • You can use the Google Docs API to create a document from a template by replacing placeholders in the document, then converting it to PDF.

    • For this, you would need to set up OAuth and use the Google API Python client.

b. Using python-docx:

  • If you have .docx files as templates, you can manipulate them using python-docx and save them as PDFs (using a PDF converter like comtypes or win32com).

4. Using Online Tools or Batch Converters

There are also some online tools and software for batch PDF generation:

  • PDF.co: Allows you to generate PDFs from templates using their API.

  • Integromat (Make) or Zapier: You can automate the process using these tools, linking your data source (Google Sheets, Airtable, etc.) to a PDF template.

5. Using LaTeX (for highly formatted documents)

If your templates involve complex layouts or technical content, LaTeX can be a powerful tool for generating batch PDFs. You would use LaTeX templates and then pass data into them using scripts (like Python).

Let me know if you want more details on any of these methods!

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