n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

A powerful n8n custom node for PDF conversion with support for multiple formats. Convert Markdown, HTML, Text, DOCX, and Images to PDF with ease, or merge multiple PDFs into one.

🌟 Features

• Multiple Format Support: Convert various formats to PDF

  • 📝 Markdown to PDF - With theme support and Korean/CJK language support
  • 🌐 HTML to PDF - Full browser rendering with Chrome/Chromium
  • 📄 Text to PDF - Simple text conversion with formatting options
  • 📑 DOCX to PDF - Microsoft Word document conversion
  • 🖼️ Image to PDF - Convert images with layout options
  • 🔄 PDF Merge - Combine multiple PDFs into one

• Advanced Features:

  • 🌍 Multi-language Support - Full support for Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and other languages
  • 🎨 Theme Support - Multiple themes for Markdown (GitHub, Dark, Minimal)
  • 📊 Custom Styling - CSS customization for HTML/Markdown
  • 📄 Page Options - Headers, footers, page numbers
  • ⚡ High Performance - Optimized with Chrome/Chromium for quality and speed
  • 🔒 System Chrome Priority - Uses system Chrome/Chromium for better performance

📦 Installation

🐳 Docker Installation (Recommended for Production)

Quick Start with Docker Compose

1. Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'
services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    environment:
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=password
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - ./custom-nodes:/home/node/.n8n/custom
    command: >
      sh -c "
        apk add --no-cache chromium chromium-chromedriver ttf-liberation fontconfig &&
        npm install n8n-nodes-dante-pdf &&
        n8n start
      "

volumes:
  n8n_data:

2. Start the container:

docker-compose up -d

3. Access n8n at http://localhost:5678

Using Dockerfile (Custom Image)

Create a Dockerfile:

FROM docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
USER root
# Install Chromium for web automation
RUN apk add --no-cache chromium chromium-chromedriver
# Install Firefox and all required dependencies for PDF generation
RUN apk add --no-cache \
    firefox \
    firefox-esr \
    ttf-liberation \
    fontconfig \
    gcompat \
    libstdc++ \
    dbus \
    dbus-x11 \
    mesa-gl \
    mesa-dri-gallium \
    udev \
    xvfb
# Install Playwright globally
RUN npm install -g playwright-core
# Create symbolic links for Playwright to find browsers
RUN ln -sf /usr/bin/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-stable && \
    ln -sf /usr/bin/chromium-browser /usr/bin/chromium
# Set environment variables
ENV PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/usr/bin
ENV PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/usr/bin/chromium-browser
ENV PLAYWRIGHT_FIREFOX_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/usr/bin/firefox

USER node

# Install the PDF node
RUN npm install n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

# The package will automatically use system Chromium

Build and run:

docker build -t n8n-with-pdf .
docker run -d -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n n8n-with-pdf

💻 Windows Installation

Prerequisites for Windows

1. Install Node.js (18+ recommended):

   • Download from nodejs.org
   • Choose the LTS version

2. Install Chrome or Chromium:

   • Option A - Google Chrome (Recommended):

     Download from: https://www.google.com/chrome/

   • Option B - Chromium:

     Download from: https://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/download-chromium/

3. Install n8n globally:

   npm install -g n8n

4. Install the PDF node:

   cd %USERPROFILE%\.n8n\custom
   npm install n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

5. Verify Chrome is detected:

   # The package will automatically find Chrome at:
   # C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
   # or
   # C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

6. Start n8n:

   n8n start

Troubleshooting Windows

If Chrome is not detected:

# Set Chrome path explicitly (if needed)
set CHROME_PATH="C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

# Or install Playwright Chrome as fallback
cd %USERPROFILE%\.n8n\custom\node_modules\n8n-nodes-dante-pdf
npx playwright install chromium

🍎 macOS Installation

Prerequisites for macOS

1. Install Node.js (18+ recommended):

   # Using Homebrew
   brew install node
      
   # Or download from nodejs.org

2. Install Chrome or Chromium:

   • Option A - Google Chrome (Recommended):

     # Download from website
     open https://www.google.com/chrome/
          
     # Or using Homebrew
     brew install --cask google-chrome

   • Option B - Chromium:

     brew install --cask chromium

3. Install n8n globally:

   npm install -g n8n

4. Install the PDF node:

   cd ~/.n8n/custom
   npm install n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

5. Verify Chrome is detected:

   # The package will automatically find Chrome at:
   # /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome
   # or
   # /Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium

6. Start n8n:

   n8n start

Troubleshooting macOS

If Chrome is not detected:

# Check if Chrome is installed
ls -la "/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome"

# Install Playwright Chrome as fallback (if needed)
cd ~/.n8n/custom/node_modules/n8n-nodes-dante-pdf
npx playwright install chromium

🐧 Linux Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install Chrome
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable

# Or install Chromium
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

# Install n8n and the PDF node
npm install -g n8n
cd ~/.n8n/custom
npm install n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

# Start n8n
n8n start

Manual Installation (Development)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dante-pdf/n8n-nodes-dante-pdf.git
cd n8n-nodes-dante-pdf

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build and link to n8n
npm run build
npm run link

# Start n8n
n8n start

🚀 Browser Configuration

Priority Order

The package searches for browsers in this order:

1. System Chrome/Chromium (Recommended)

   • Windows: C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
   • macOS: /Applications/Google Chrome.app
   • Linux: /usr/bin/chromium or /usr/bin/google-chrome

2. Playwright Chrome (Fallback - not available on Alpine Linux)

   • Automatically downloaded if system Chrome not found
   • Not compatible with Alpine Linux (musl libc)

Verify Installation

After installation, verify the browser setup:

// In n8n, create a test workflow with DantePDF node
{
  "operation": "convertToPdf",
  "conversionType": "textToPdf",
  "inputType": "text",
  "textContent": "Test PDF Generation"
}

🚀 Usage

Basic Workflow Example

1. Add a DantePDF node to your workflow
2. Select the operation: Convert to PDF
3. Choose conversion type (e.g., Markdown to PDF)
4. Configure options:
   • Input source (text, file, or binary data)
   • Format options (A4, Letter, etc.)
   • Theme (for Markdown)
   • Additional settings

Markdown to PDF

// Node configuration
{
  "operation": "convertToPdf",
  "conversionType": "markdownToPdf",
  "inputType": "text",
  "markdownContent": "# Hello World\n\nThis is **markdown** content.",
  "markdownOptions": {
    "format": "A4",
    "theme": "github",
    "displayHeaderFooter": true
  }
}

HTML to PDF

// Node configuration
{
  "operation": "convertToPdf",
  "conversionType": "htmlToPdf",
  "inputType": "text",
  "htmlContent": "<h1>Hello World</h1><p>HTML content</p>",
  "htmlOptions": {
    "format": "A4",
    "printBackground": true,
    "waitUntil": "networkidle"
  }
}

🎨 Markdown Themes

The node includes 4 built-in themes for Markdown conversion:

• Default - Clean and professional
• GitHub - GitHub-style markdown rendering
• Dark - Dark mode theme
• Minimal - Simple, typography-focused

🌏 Language Support

Full support for international languages including:

• 🇰🇷 Korean (한국어)
• 🇨🇳 Chinese (中文)
• 🇯🇵 Japanese (日本語)
• And many more...

The node automatically handles font embedding for proper rendering of all languages.

⚙️ Configuration Options

Common Options

• format: Page size (A4, A3, A5, Letter, Legal, Tabloid)
• landscape: Landscape orientation
• displayHeaderFooter: Show header and footer
• scale: Scale of the webpage rendering (0.1 - 2)

Markdown Specific

• theme: Visual theme
• printBackground: Print background graphics
• pageRanges: Page ranges to print (e.g., '1-5, 8, 11-13')

HTML Specific

• waitUntil: When to consider navigation succeeded
• waitFor: Wait for specific element or timeout
• executeScript: JavaScript to execute before conversion

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• n8n 1.0+
• TypeScript 5+

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run tests
npm test

# Lint
npm run lint

# Format code
npm run format

Project Structure

n8n-nodes-dante-pdf/
├── src/
│   ├── nodes/          # n8n node definitions
│   ├── converters/     # Format converters
│   ├── utils/          # Utility functions
│   └── types.ts        # TypeScript types
├── test/               # Test files
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
npm test

# Test specific converter
node test/test-markdown-converter.js
node test/test-html-converter.js

# Test with Korean content
node test/test-korean-converter.js

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Browser Not Found

• Windows: Ensure Chrome is installed in the default location or set CHROME_PATH environment variable
• macOS: Check if Chrome.app exists in Applications folder
• Linux: Install chromium-browser package
• Docker: Ensure Chromium is installed in the container

Alpine Linux / Docker Issues

• Must use system Chromium (Playwright browsers don't work with musl libc)
• Install required packages: apk add chromium chromium-chromedriver ttf-liberation fontconfig

Font Issues

• Install additional fonts for better rendering
• Docker: apk add font-noto font-noto-cjk
• Ubuntu: apt-get install fonts-noto fonts-noto-cjk
• macOS: Fonts are usually pre-installed

📝 License

MIT

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

🐛 Known Issues

• Large files (>50MB) may cause memory issues
• Some complex CSS animations may not render in HTML to PDF
• Alpine Linux requires system Chromium (Playwright incompatible)

📮 Support

• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• 📺 YouTube: Dante Labs
• 🎥 Tutorials: Check out our YouTube channel for tutorials and guides

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Playwright for reliable PDF generation
• Uses marked for Markdown parsing
• Powered by pdf-lib for PDF manipulation

Made with ❤️ for the n8n community