PHP

Last updated: 2026-06-29

The rust-pdf/rustpdf package wraps the rust-pdf C core with idiomatic, chainable classes over PHP's built-in FFI extension (PHP 8.1+, no compilation). It covers the whole product surface: vector graphics, embedded/subset fonts & Unicode text, paragraphs, images, PDF/A (1b–3a + A-4/4e/4f), tagged/accessible output, attachments, AcroForm fields, manipulation, text extraction, encryption and digital signatures.

Installation

Install from Packagist with Composer:

composer require rust-pdf/rustpdf

Requires PHP 8.1+ with the FFI extension. The package itself is pure PHP; the native library (libpdf_ffi) for your OS/architecture is fetched automatically on first use (see Native library). Verify it loaded:

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
echo RustPdf\Pdf::version(), "\n";   // native library version

extension=ffi
ffi.enable=true        ; or, hardened: ffi.enable=preload + ffi.preload=...

Quick start

A one-page document with a filled rectangle, saved to disk:

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use RustPdf\Document;

$doc = new Document();            // A4 by default
$doc->addPage()
    ->setFillRgb(0.86, 0.20, 0.18)
    ->rect(72, 640, 200, 120)     // x, y, width, height (points)
    ->fill()
    ->save('out.pdf');

Most methods return the document, so calls chain. toBytes() returns the PDF as a binary string instead of writing a file:

$doc  = new Document();
$font = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->setFillRgb(0.1, 0.1, 0.12)
    ->rect(0, 800, 595, 42)->fill()
    ->showText($font, 24, 72, 740, 'Olá, açúcar — café');
$data = $doc->toBytes();          // binary string
file_put_contents('out.pdf', $data);

Native library

The binding loads a prebuilt libpdf_ffi matching your platform. It is resolved in this order:

1. RUSTPDF_LIB: an absolute path to a library you provide (always wins);
2. the copy bundled into the package under lib/<os>-<arch>/;
3. a development build under target/{debug,release} (monorepo checkout);
4. lazy download of the matching prebuilt library on first use.

Because Composer runs install scripts only for the root project (never a dependency), the download cannot fire automatically on composer require. The lazy fetch (step 4) covers most setups with no configuration. If your production filesystem is read-only, fetch the library once at deploy/CI time instead:

php vendor/rust-pdf/rustpdf/bin/rustpdf-install-lib

Or wire it into your root composer.json:

"scripts": {
  "post-install-cmd": "@php vendor/rust-pdf/rustpdf/bin/rustpdf-install-lib",
  "post-update-cmd":  "@php vendor/rust-pdf/rustpdf/bin/rustpdf-install-lib"
}

Licensing & activation

Basic generation (everything above) is always free. The corporate features (PDF/A, digital signatures/PAdES, encryption, accessibility) require an active license token. Without one, those calls throw PdfException and produce no output.

Activation needs no rebuild. Easiest is an environment variable, auto-activated the first time a corporate feature is used:

export RUSTPDF_LICENSE="010f0000…"           # the token we email you
# or point at a file:
export RUSTPDF_LICENSE_FILE=/etc/rustpdf/license.txt

Or activate explicitly in code:

RustPdf\Pdf::activateLicense($token);   // throws PdfException if forged / expired / malformed

Coordinate system

• Units are points (1 pt = 1/72 inch). A4 is 595 × 842, US Letter 612 × 792.
• The origin (0, 0) is the bottom-left corner; y grows upward.
• For text, (x, y) is the baseline of the first glyph.
• Drawing/text always targets the most recently added page.

Handles & lifetime

Each Document/EditableDoc owns a native handle. It is freed automatically when the object is garbage-collected (__destruct), so explicit cleanup is optional. For long-running workers or tight loops, call close() to release it immediately.

• The core is Send but not Sync: never share one live handle across threads/processes. Build independent documents instead; each shares no state.
• Native errors are thread-local, so a failure in one request never clobbers another's.
• The license is process-global: activate once at startup.

Authoring: create & save

Creates an empty document (A4 default page size). The handle is freed on destruction or via close().

Pages & vector graphics

Graphics state and path operators mirror PDF's content-stream model. Colors are RGB in 0.0–1.0.

$doc = new Document();
$doc->addPage()
    ->setStrokeRgb(0.10, 0.45, 0.90)->setLineWidth(3)
    ->rect(72, 600, 300, 160)->stroke()
    ->setFillRgb(0.95, 0.77, 0.06)
    ->rect(120, 640, 120, 80)->fill()
    ->save('shapes.pdf');

Fonts & text

Fonts are embedded and subsetted, with HarfBuzz-quality shaping, kerning and full Unicode (Type0/CIDFontType2 with ToUnicode, so text extracts and copies correctly, provided the embedded font covers those characters). Register a font once, then reference it by its integer id.

headingLevel (1–6) tags the run as H1–H6 in an accessible document (see Accessibility); leave it 0 for ordinary text.

$doc     = new Document();
$regular = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
// …or from bytes you already have in memory:
// $regular = $doc->addFont(file_get_contents('Roboto-Regular.ttf'));

$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($regular, 28, 72, 760, 'Invoice #1024')
    ->showText($regular, 12, 72, 720, '日本語 · Ελληνικά · العربية')
    ->save('text.pdf');

Paragraphs

The paragraph layer wraps, aligns and justifies text inside a fixed width (greedy line breaking using shaped glyph widths).

use RustPdf\{Document, Align};

$intro =
  'A long paragraph that wraps to the given width and is justified '
  . 'automatically; extra space is distributed between words.';

$doc = new Document();
$f   = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->paragraph($f, 12, 72, 700, 451, $intro, Align::Justify)
    ->save('paragraph.pdf');

See the Align enum for the alignment options.

Images

JPEGs are embedded verbatim (DCTDecode, no re-encode). PNGs are decoded and re-encoded (FlateDecode); alpha becomes an /SMask, palette becomes an Indexed color space. Register an image once, draw it many times.

$doc  = new Document();
$logo = $doc->addImageFile('logo.png');
$doc->addPage()
    ->drawImage($logo, 72, 680, 160, 90)
    ->save('with_image.pdf');

PDF/A licensed

Produce archival-grade output. pdfa() defaults to A-2b; pass a PdfaLevel for a specific level. An embedded sRGB ICC profile, output intent, XMP metadata and document /ID are added automatically; A-1b also forces PDF 1.4 and emits a /CIDSet, and A-4 (ISO 19005-4) is based on PDF 2.0.

use RustPdf\{Document, PdfaLevel};

$doc = new Document();
$doc->pdfa(PdfaLevel::A2b)->setInfo(title: 'Q3 Report', author: 'Acme Inc.');
$f = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($f, 20, 72, 760, 'Archival report')
    ->save('report_pdfa.pdf');   // throws PdfException without a PDF/A license

Accessibility (Tagged PDF / PDF/UA) licensed

tagged() builds a logical structure tree (PDF/UA-1). Combine with pdfa(PdfaLevel::A2a) for archival and accessible output. Use headingLevel on showText for H1–H6, and figure(..., alt) for described images.

use RustPdf\{Document, PdfaLevel};

$doc = new Document();
$doc->pdfa(PdfaLevel::A2a)->tagged()->setInfo(title: 'Accessible report');
$f = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($f, 26, 72, 760, 'Annual report', 1)   // H1
    ->showText($f, 14, 72, 720, 'Overview', 2)         // H2
    ->showText($f, 11, 72, 690, 'Body paragraph of the section…');
$chart = $doc->addImageFile('chart.png');
$doc->figure($chart, 72, 520, 300, 150, 'Revenue grew 18% year over year')
    ->save('accessible.pdf');

Attachments (PDF/A-3) licensed

PDF/A-3 allows embedding arbitrary source files (e.g. the XML behind an e-invoice). Each attachment carries a MIME type and an AFRelationship.

use RustPdf\{Document, PdfaLevel, AFRelationship};

$xml = file_get_contents('invoice.xml');
$doc = new Document();
$doc->pdfa(PdfaLevel::A3b)->setInfo(title: 'E-invoice 1024');
$f = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($f, 18, 72, 760, 'Invoice 1024')
    ->attachFile('invoice.xml', 'text/xml', $xml,
                 AFRelationship::Source, 'Structured invoice data')
    ->save('einvoice.pdf');

ZUGFeRD / Factur-X e-invoices licensed

Turn the document into a ZUGFeRD / Factur-X electronic invoice: the embedded XML (the Cross-Industry Invoice) is attached as factur-x.xml, the file is marked PDF/A-3, and the Factur-X identification is written into the XMP metadata. The visible PDF is the human-readable invoice; the embedded XML is its machine-readable twin. Validates as PDF/A-3 + Factur-X under veraPDF.

use RustPdf\{Document, FacturxProfile};

$xml = file_get_contents('factur-x.xml');         // your Cross-Industry Invoice XML
$doc = new Document();
$doc->setInfo(title: 'Invoice INV-2026-001');
$f = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($f, 18, 72, 760, 'Invoice INV-2026-001');
$doc->facturx($xml, FacturxProfile::EN16931);
$doc->save('einvoice.pdf');        // PDF/A-3 + Factur-X; needs a PDF/A license

See the FacturxProfile enum for the conformance levels (Minimum … Extended).

AcroForm fields

Build interactive forms with generated appearance streams (no NeedAppearances). Rectangles are [x0, y0, x1, y1] arrays; page is a 0-based page index. Dotted names ("a.b.c") create hierarchical fields.

$doc = new Document();
$doc->addPage()
    ->textField('applicant.name', 0, [72, 700, 320, 720], '')
    ->checkbox('agree', 0, [72, 660, 88, 676], false)
    ->dropdown('plan', 0, [72, 620, 240, 640],
               ['Starter', 'Pro', 'Enterprise'], 1)
    ->radioGroup('billing', 0, [
        [[72, 580, 88, 596], 'monthly'],
        [[140, 580, 156, 596], 'annual'],
    ], 1)
    ->save('form.pdf');

Fill and flatten fields later with EditableDoc.

Hyperlinks free

Add clickable link rectangles to the current page: a web link opens a URL; an internal link jumps to another page (optionally scrolling so a given top y-coordinate sits at the top of the view).

$doc = new Document();
$f   = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
$doc->addPage()
    ->showText($f, 14, 72, 760, 'Visit rustpdf.dev (see page 2)')
    ->linkUri([72, 756, 320, 776], 'https://rustpdf.dev/')   // web link
    ->linkToPage([330, 756, 430, 776], 1, 800)               // jump to page 2
    ->addPage()
    ->save('links.pdf');

Rectangles are [x0, y0, x1, y1] arrays in points; pageIndex is 0-based.

Bookmarks / outline free

Build a navigable document outline. A Bookmark has a title, a target page and an optional top; nest children with ->child(...). A document with bookmarks opens with the outline pane shown.

use RustPdf\{Document, Bookmark};

$doc = new Document();
$f   = $doc->addFontFile('Roboto-Regular.ttf');
for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
    $doc->addPage();
}
$doc->addBookmark(
    (new Bookmark('Chapter 1', 0, 820))
        ->child(new Bookmark('Section 1.1', 1))
        ->child(new Bookmark('Section 1.2', 2)));
$doc->addBookmark(new Bookmark('Chapter 2', 2));
$doc->save('outline.pdf');

Metadata

Sets the document information dictionary (and, for PDF/A, the matching XMP). Pass only the fields you need; named arguments keep it readable.

$doc->setInfo(
    title: 'Q3 Report',
    author: 'Acme Inc.',
    subject: 'Quarterly results',
    keywords: 'finance, q3',
);

Manipulation: load an existing PDF

EditableDoc parses an existing document (classic & xref streams, object streams, all standard filters, RC4/AES decryption) into an editable model. Pages are a flat list; the page tree is rebuilt on output.

use RustPdf\EditableDoc;

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('in.pdf');
echo $ed->pageCount(), "\n";
$ed->close();

// encrypted input:
$sec = EditableDoc::loadFile('secured.pdf', 'user-or-owner-pw');
$sec->save('plain.pdf');

Pages: merge, split, reorder, rotate

$a = EditableDoc::loadFile('a.pdf');
$b = EditableDoc::loadFile('b.pdf');
$a->merge($b);                         // a now has a's pages followed by b's
$a->rotatePage(0, 90);
$a->reorderPages(array_reverse(range(0, $a->pageCount() - 1)));
$a->save('merged.pdf');

$subset = $a->extractPages([0, 2]);    // pages 1 and 3
$subset->save('subset.pdf');

Metadata, overlay & form fill

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('form.pdf');
$ed->setInfo('Title', 'Filled form');
$found = $ed->fillTextField('applicant.name', 'Jane Doe');
printf("filled: %s | title: %s\n", $found ? 'yes' : 'no', $ed->getInfo('Title'));
$ed->save('filled.pdf');

Form fill & flatten free

Fill the fields of an existing AcroForm and (optionally) flatten them: filling generates a fresh appearance stream (no NeedAppearances), and flattening bakes every widget's appearance into the page content and removes the interactive form entirely.

use RustPdf\EditableDoc;

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('form.pdf');
print_r($ed->fieldNames());          // ['applicant.name', 'agree', 'plan', ...]
$ed->fillTextField('applicant.name', 'Jane Doe');
$ed->setCheckbox('agree', true);
$ed->setRadio('billing', 'annual');
$ed->setChoice('plan', 'Pro');
$ed->flattenForms();                 // optional: make it non-editable
$ed->save('filled.pdf');

Watermarks free

Stamp a diagonal text watermark or a centered image watermark across every page, drawn semi-transparently over the existing content. Text uses the standard Helvetica font, so keep it to WinAnsi (Latin-1) for stamps like "CONFIDENTIAL".

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('report.pdf');
$ed->watermarkText('CONFIDENTIAL', opacity: 0.25, rotationDeg: 45.0)
   ->save('stamped.pdf');

Redaction licensed

True redaction: the text and graphics whose origin falls inside a rectangle are removed from the content stream (not just covered), so the data is gone from the file and is no longer extractable. Opaque black boxes are then painted over the regions.

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('statement.pdf');
// rects = array of [x0, y0, x1, y1] on that page
$ed->redact(0, [[60, 590, 400, 620], [60, 540, 400, 570]]);
$ed->save('redacted.pdf');     // throws PdfException without a redaction license

Convert to PDF/A licensed

Convert an existing PDF to archival PDF/A (a basic profile: A-1b, A-2b or A-3b). An sRGB output intent, PDF/A XMP metadata (synced with /Info) and a document /ID are added. Fails if any font is not embedded (PDF/A requires every font embedded) or a level-A profile is requested.

use RustPdf\{EditableDoc, PdfaLevel};

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('in.pdf');
$ed->convertToPdfa(PdfaLevel::A2b)   // throws PdfException if fonts aren't embedded
   ->save('archival.pdf');           // veraPDF: PDF/A-2b compliant

Optimize & compact

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('big.pdf');
$ed->optimize()->compact(true)->save('small.pdf');

Encryption licensed

Apply standard-handler encryption at output. AES-256 (V5/R6) uses OS-CSPRNG keys/IVs.

use RustPdf\{EditableDoc, Encryption};

$ed = EditableDoc::loadFile('in.pdf');
$ed->encrypt(Encryption::Aes256, owner: 'owner-secret', readOnly: true)
   ->save('secured.pdf');          // throws PdfException without an Encryption license

See the Encryption enum for RC4 / AES-128 / AES-256.

Output & incremental update

$original = file_get_contents('in.pdf');
$ed = EditableDoc::load($original);
$ed->setInfo('Subject', 'reviewed');
$incremental = $ed->toBytesIncremental($original);   // original bytes preserved verbatim
file_put_contents('reviewed.pdf', $incremental);

Digital signatures licensed

Sign a PDF with a PKCS#7 detached signature via an incremental update (the original bytes are preserved). Keys and certificates are passed as DER binary strings. pades: true switches to PAdES-B-B.

use RustPdf\Pdf;

$pdf     = file_get_contents('contract.pdf');
$keyDer  = file_get_contents('signing-key.pkcs8.der');   // PKCS#8 private key (DER)
$certDer = file_get_contents('signing-cert.der');        // X.509 certificate (DER)

$signed = Pdf::sign($pdf, $keyDer, $certDer,
    reason: 'Approved', location: 'New York',
    name: 'Jane Doe', pades: true);
file_put_contents('contract.signed.pdf', $signed);
// Verify in a shell: pdfsig contract.signed.pdf  →  "Signature is Valid."

Timestamp & DSS (PAdES LTV) licensed

Build long-term-validation signatures offline. addDss appends a Document Security Store (/DSS with certs/CRLs, PAdES-B-LT); timestamp appends an RFC 3161 document timestamp (/DocTimeStamp, PAdES-B-LTA).

$signed = file_get_contents('contract.signed.pdf');

// B-LT: embed validation material (caller supplies DER certs/CRLs)
$lt = Pdf::addDss($signed, [$certDer], [$crlDer]);

// B-LTA: add a document timestamp signed by a TSA key/cert
$lta = Pdf::timestamp($lt, $tsaKeyDer, $tsaCertDer);
file_put_contents('contract.lta.pdf', $lta);

Validate signatures licensed

Validate every signature in a PDF: each report recomputes the /ByteRange digest, parses the CMS, and checks that the cryptographic signature is valid, that the messageDigest matches the covered bytes, and whether the signature covers the whole document.

Each entry is an associative array with keys field_name, sub_filter, signer, covers_whole_document, digest_valid, signature_valid, is_valid and byte_range. The field_name and signer may be null when absent. An empty array means the document is unsigned. Signature validation is a licensed feature: this call requires an active license (signatures) even when the document is unsigned — it is not available on the free tier.

use RustPdf\Pdf;

$data = file_get_contents('contract.signed.pdf');
foreach (Pdf::verifySignatures($data) as $sig) {
    printf("%s valid: %s | covers whole doc: %s\n",
        $sig['signer'],
        $sig['is_valid'] ? 'yes' : 'no',
        $sig['covers_whole_document'] ? 'yes' : 'no');
}

Text & image extraction

Extract a document's text, mapping shown glyph codes back to Unicode through each font's ToUnicode map, with space/line inference. Raster images can be pulled out too: JPEGs are written verbatim as .jpg, everything else as .png. The output directory is created automatically if it does not already exist.

use RustPdf\Pdf;

$data = file_get_contents('report.pdf');
echo Pdf::extractText($data);

$n = Pdf::extractImagesToDir($data, 'out_images/');   // returns how many were written
echo "wrote $n image(s)\n";

Render a page to an image licensed

Rasterize a page to a PNG image. A native Rust renderer (built on tiny-skia, with no headless browser) interprets the page content stream, painting real glyph outlines, vector graphics, images, color and transparency. Page rendering is a Pro feature; page_count is free.

$data = file_get_contents("report.pdf");
echo Pdf::pageCount($data) . " page(s)\n";
file_put_contents("page1.png", Pdf::renderPageToPng($data, 0, 150.0));

Enums

All enums are PHP 8.1 backed enums in the RustPdf namespace.

PdfaLevel

Align

AFRelationship

Encryption

FacturxProfile

Error handling

Every failing native call throws PdfException (a RuntimeException) carrying the status (PdfStatus) code and the library's last-error message. License failures (missing/expired/forged token, or a feature the token doesn't grant) surface here too. Token activation failures carry the dedicated license status code (12); a gated build, sign or encrypt call instead reports that operation’s own status (for example Serialize = 4 or Sign = 10) with the same “requires a valid license” message.

use RustPdf\{Document, PdfException};

try {
    $doc = new Document();
    $doc->pdfa()->setInfo(title: 'x')->addPage()->save('out.pdf');
} catch (PdfException $e) {
    fprintf(STDERR, "failed: %d %s\n", $e->status, $e->getMessage());
    // e.g. PdfStatus=4 (Serialize): feature 'pdfa' requires a valid license
}

Utilities