\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 14, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467 "2008-07-14T18:07:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/1 "2008-07-14T18:07:17Z")
I’ve got a big pile of documentation in the form of very simple HTML pages (nothing but text, a simple CSS, and links to other HTML files). I’d like to convert it to a PDF so it’s easier to send around, print, etc.
I found lots & lots & lots of places on the web that will convert one HTML file to a PDF, but nothing that will take a group of linked HTML files and put them in one big PDF, with the links working.
Technically, it’s not that hard of a challenge - just recognize the links, follow them to the specified .html file, import that file into the PDF and change the link to a PDF bookmark so it works.
Does anyone know of something that will do that?
---
**Author:**  [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/2 "2008-07-14T18:19:20Z")
Do you know anyone with Adobe Acrobat Pro? I used to have it on my machine when I was using InDesign, but sadly I’ve moved to another machine… As they could do it with ease.
Does Primo PDF allow for that kind of conversion? I remember that as a good program for converting to PDFs. Google Primo Pdf
---
**Author:**  [@onedayfishsale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onedayfishsale)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/3 "2008-07-14T18:27:53Z")
You might try “[pisa htmltopdf](http://www.htmltopdf.org/)”, or one of the other results that pop up in [a Google search](http://www.google.com/search?q=html2pdf).
---
**Author:**  [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/4 "2008-07-14T18:36:04Z")
Primo is what I use (though it is not without its problems). You could use the browser of your choice to render the HTML and then “print” it to Primo which produces a .pdf file.
---
**Author:**  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/5 "2008-07-14T18:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=the PC apeman]
Primo is what I use (though it is not without its problems). You could use the browser of your choice to render the HTML and then “print” it to Primo which produces a .pdf file.
[/QUOTE]
Will it find the multiple pages referred to in the HTML links and also print those?
That’s the functionality that all the ones I’ve found are missing.
---
**Author:**  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/6 "2008-07-14T19:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=One Day Fish Sale]
You might try “[pisa htmltopdf](http://www.htmltopdf.org/)”, or one of the other results that pop up in [a Google search](http://www.google.com/search?q=html2pdf).
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that’s what I did for two hours last night, before I started this thread. None that I could find had the functionality I needed.
---
**Author:**  [@onedayfishsale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onedayfishsale)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/7 "2008-07-14T22:24:43Z")
[QUOTE=Athena]
Yeah, that’s what I did for two hours last night, before I started this thread. None that I could find had the functionality I needed.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I didn’t read the OP very closely.
I could show you the basics of a Unix script that will do what you want. Let me know if that would be useful to you.
---
**Author:**  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/8 "2008-07-14T22:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=One Day Fish Sale]
Sorry, I didn’t read the OP very closely.
I could show you the basics of a Unix script that will do what you want. Let me know if that would be useful to you.
[/QUOTE]
Bleah, yeah, I can write a script or some code to do it. I was just hoping to find something already out there.
---
**Author:**  [@onedayfishsale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onedayfishsale)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/9 "2008-07-14T22:48:21Z")
If you didn’t come across [htmldoc](http://www.htmldoc.org/) in your search, you might want to give it a shot.
---
**Author:**  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/10 "2008-07-14T23:10:54Z")
I have Adobe Acrobat Pro and it has an option to create pdf from website url and a “get x levels/get entire site” option.
If you send me the link and tell me what you want grabbed, I’ll see what I can do with it.
My email’s in my profile.
---
**Author:**  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/11 "2008-07-15T01:35:34Z")
You can find several software programs that install a ‘PDF printer’ onto your machine. Then in any program that can print output, you switch from your regular printer to this PDF printer. Whatever would have been printed is instead stored as a PDF file on your machine.
I use PDFCreator, but there are many others available. Once you have installed one of these, you can simply use the print function in your browser to create PDF files of any HTML webpage. (As well as the word processor, spreadsheet program, etc. that you have on your machine.)
---
**Author:**  [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-html-to-pdf-converter/456467/12 "2008-07-15T19:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=Athena]
Will it find the multiple pages referred to in the HTML links and also print those?
That’s the functionality that all the ones I’ve found are missing.
[/QUOTE]
Well Primo doesn’t, no. But the HTML browser you use to print to Primo might. I’ve not tried it but in IE7 there is a “Print all linked documents” option in the print dialog.
PC