1. Engine & Edition Matrix
NextPDF ships as three editions built on one shared engine core. A document generated on Core keeps rendering correctly after an upgrade — editions add capability, they never change behavior.
| Capability | Core | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTML/CSS rendering & tables | Included | Included | Included |
| Vector drawing & shapes | Included | Included | Included |
| Digital signatures (PAdES B-B / B-T) | Included | Included | Included |
| Interactive charts | — | Included | Included |
| Tagged, accessible output (PDF/UA) | — | — | Included |
| PDF/A archival profiles | — | — | Included |
| AES-256 encryption & permissions | — | — | Included |
| Fast Web View (linearization) | — | — | Included |
Every edition renders the matrix above through the same Document API — upgrading changes what is available, never how you call it.
2. Five-Minute Integration
Every NextPDF document follows the same three calls: create, write, save. The example below produces a complete, valid PDF file on a fresh PHP 8.4 installation.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $chapter2Intro); $doc->bookmark('2.1 Install', level: 1); $section21 = <<<'HTML'2.1 Install
Add the engine to any Composer-managed project. No native PHP extensions are required for the Core feature set.
| composer require nextpdf/core |
2.2 Render Your First PDF
This script creates a page, writes HTML content, and saves a PDF — the same three calls scale from a single page to a 500-page report.
|
<?php use NextPDF\Core\Document; $doc = Document::createStandalone(); $doc->setTitle('Quarterly Report'); $doc->addPage(); $doc->writeHtml('<h1>Hello, NextPDF</h1>'); $doc->save('report.pdf'); |
The sample above calls Document::createStandalone(), addPage(), writeHtml(), and save().
3. Conformance & Archival
Every NextPDF document is a conformant ISO 32000-2 (PDF 2.0) file by construction. The engine also supports the long-term-preservation and accessibility profiles regulated industries require.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $chapter3Intro); $doc->bookmark('3.1 Long-Term Archival', level: 1); $section31 = <<<'HTML'3.1 Long-Term Archival
PDF/A output embeds every font and color profile the document needs, so an archived file renders identically decades after it was produced — without depending on external resources.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $section31); $doc->bookmark('3.2 Accessibility', level: 1); $section32 = <<<'HTML'3.2 Accessibility
Tagged output exposes headings, tables, and reading order to assistive technology, meeting the structural requirements of PDF/UA.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $section32); $doc->bookmark('3.3 Digital Signatures', level: 1); $section33 = <<<'HTML'3.3 Digital Signatures
PAdES signatures attach cryptographic proof of authorship and, at the B-T level, a timestamp that survives certificate expiry.
| Standard | Scope |
|---|---|
| ISO 32000-2:2020 | Base document format (PDF 2.0) |
| ISO 19005 (PDF/A) | Long-term archival fidelity |
| ISO 14289 (PDF/UA) | Structured, accessible output |
| ETSI EN 319 142 (PAdES) | Digital signature profiles B-B / B-T / B-LT |
Every profile above builds on the same Document API from Chapter 2 — no separate SDK, extension, or configuration file to learn.
4. Operations
Each document instance is self-contained, so NextPDF renders concurrently across queue workers and serverless handlers without shared mutable state.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $chapter4Intro); $doc->bookmark('4.1 Deployment Pipeline', level: 1); $section41 = <<<'HTML'4.1 Deployment Pipeline
A typical production pipeline composes the document, validates its structure, applies a digital signature, and delivers the finished file:
Compose → Validate → Sign → Deliver
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $section41); $doc->bookmark('4.2 Monitoring & Support SLA', level: 1); $section42 = <<<'HTML'4.2 Monitoring & Support SLA
Priority support plans include a 4-hour response SLA and direct engineering escalation for regulated production workloads.
Together, deterministic rendering, worker-safe isolation, and a monitored SLA are why regulated pipelines standardize on NextPDF for document delivery that cannot drift between runs.
HTML; $doc->writeHtml(SampleTemplate::sharedCss() . $css . $section42); $output = \getenv('NEXTPDF_SAMPLE_OUTPUT') ?: __DIR__ . '/../output/handbook.pdf'; $doc->save($output); echo "Created: {$output}\n";