Simple HTML to PDF python library error

Question

I'm using this pydf to convert HTML to a PDF on our server. This is an example that comes right from their docs that illustrates the problem:

import pydf

pdf = pydf.generate_pdf('<h1>this is html</h1>')
with open('test_doc.pdf', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(pdf)

When I go to run this file, I get the same error everytime:

(pdf) <computer>:<folder> <user>$ python pdf.py 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "pdf.py", line 3, in <module>
    pdf = pydf.generate_pdf('<h1>this is html</h1>')
  File "/Users/nilesbrandon/Projects/pdf/pdf/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pydf/wkhtmltopdf.py", line 121, in generate_pdf
    return gen_pdf(html_file.name, cmd_args)
  File "/Users/nilesbrandon/Projects/pdf/pdf/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pydf/wkhtmltopdf.py", line 105, in gen_pdf
    _, stderr, returncode = execute_wk(*cmd_args)
  File "/Users/nilesbrandon/Projects/pdf/pdf/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pydf/wkhtmltopdf.py", line 22, in execute_wk
    p = subprocess.Popen(wk_args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 710, in __init__
    errread, errwrite)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1335, in _execute_child
    raise child_exception

I'm running this in a virtualenv and my pip freeze is only the following:

python-pdf==0.30

Any idea what could be going wrong here?

georgexsh · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-18 03:42:36Z

2

As you are using macOS, you need to download a wkhtmltopdf binary by your own:

pydf comes bundled with a wkhtmltopdf binary which will only work on Linux amd64 architectures. If you're on another OS or architecture your milage may vary, it is likely that you'll need to supply your own wkhtmltopdf binary and point pydf towards it by setting the WKHTMLTOPDF_PATH variable.

answered Dec 18, 2017 at 3:42

georgexsh

16.8k3 gold badges45 silver badges71 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

qarthandso Over a year ago

Could you explain some steps I need to take to download a wkhtmltopdf binary on my own? Not sure where to start with that.

georgexsh Over a year ago

first download wkhtmltopdf from its website or with homebrew-cask, then set a env variable WKHTMLTOPDF_PATH=/usr/local/bin/wkhtmltopdf.

qarthandso Over a year ago

still having the issue actually.

georgexsh Over a year ago

@qarthandso what is your new issue?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Simple HTML to PDF python library error

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related