WebToPDF Components and Deployment
Estimated Reading Time: 3 MinutesThis article applies to the Windows version of Datalogics Adobe PDF Library (APDFL) 21. Feature availability, component filenames, file sizes, and deployment requirements may differ on other platforms or in other APDFL versions.
Description
WebToPDF converts web pages and HTML content to PDF. It supports web content that uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it useful for producing PDFs from web-based documents and layouts.
Applications can use this feature to create PDF versions of online content, HTML reports, or documents generated from web templates.
WebToPDF is provided through a separate installer and is added to an APDFL installation when this capability is needed.
Samples
In an installation with WebToPDF, the sample is located at:
CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\ConvertWebToPDF\ConvertWebToPDF.cpp
It renders a web page to PDF. The investigation used self-contained HTML with CSS and JavaScript to avoid dependence on a live website.
Public sample (github): ConvertWebToPDF
Files
Paths are relative to the SDK root. Sizes are uncompressed file lengths, rounded to two decimal places. Sizes and savings may vary by SDK build.
| File or directory | Size (MB) |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\DL210WebToPDF.ppi | 0.34 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\WebToPDFServer.exe | 0.99 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\WebToPDFHelper.exe | 0.74 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\libcef.dll | 256.60 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\chrome_elf.dll | 2.67 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\chrome_100_percent.pak | 0.69 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\chrome_200_percent.pak | 1.17 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\resources.pak | 14.21 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\icudtl.dat | 10.37 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\v8_context_snapshot.bin | 0.69 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\locales\en-US.pak | 0.57 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\d3dcompiler_47.dll | 4.52 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\dxcompiler.dll | 24.49 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\dxil.dll | 1.43 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\libEGL.dll | 0.49 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\libGLESv2.dll | 7.50 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\vk_swiftshader.dll | 5.20 |
| CPlusPlus\Binaries\vulkan-1.dll | 0.92 |
| Total | 333.61 |
These files comprise the WebToPDF plug-in, server and helper programs, and Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) payload. The locales directory in the inspected installation contains only en-US.pak. Other installer versions or additional locales change the total.
Omitting the Feature When Unused
If WebToPDF is unused, its separate installer can be left uninstalled. In a deployment that already includes the feature, omit all listed WebToPDF and CEF files together, provided no other retained product component uses them. The combined saving is 333.61 MB.
With the complete payload absent, tested PDF opening, text extraction, rendering, saving, reopening, and library shutdown succeeded with matching results. PDFs previously produced by WebToPDF remained usable. Positive HTML conversion produced a readable one-page PDF.
Application considerations
Remove unconditional WebToPDF calls when the feature is omitted. For optional installation, check the WebToPDF function table and the result of WebToPDFInitialize. A present plug-in does not establish readiness: missing server or CEF files caused initialization failure. The APIs expose diagnostics for these failures. Complete final WebToPDFShutdown before APDFL termination when the feature has been used.
Retain APDFL's icuuc78.dll and icudt78.dll; they are distinct from Chromium's icudtl.dat. Retain other core dependencies and required font, CMap, Unicode, and color-profile resources. Validate the final product's retained workflows in an isolated deployment.
How to Get Additional Help
Contact Datalogics Tech Support
Fetch the answers quickly using our AI assistant Scout, available for any language. Scout also opens access to our MCP server, connecting APDFL with your favorite AI tools for faster and easier coding.