pdf2htmlEX

Pros of pdf.js

• Pure JavaScript implementation, runs directly in web browsers
• Actively maintained by Mozilla with frequent updates
• Extensive browser compatibility and integration with web technologies

Cons of pdf.js

• May have slower rendering performance for complex PDFs
• Limited ability to preserve exact layout and formatting of original PDF

Code comparison

pdf.js:

PDFJS.getDocument(url).then(function(pdf) {
  pdf.getPage(1).then(function(page) {
    var scale = 1.5;
    var viewport = page.getViewport(scale);
    // Render page on canvas
  });
});

pdf2htmlEX:

void HTMLRenderer::process(PDFDoc * doc) {
  xref = doc->getXRef();
  catalog = doc->getCatalog();
  for(int i = 1; i <= doc->getNumPages(); ++i) {
    doc->displayPage(output_dev, i, 72, 72, 0, true, false, false);
  }
}

Key differences

• pdf.js focuses on in-browser rendering, while pdf2htmlEX converts PDFs to HTML/CSS
• pdf2htmlEX aims for higher fidelity conversion but requires server-side processing
• pdf.js offers more flexibility for web integration and interactive features
• pdf2htmlEX may provide better performance for static content and offline use

Pros of pdfparser

• Pure PHP implementation, making it easier to integrate into PHP projects
• Focuses on extracting text and metadata from PDFs
• Lightweight and doesn't require external dependencies

Cons of pdfparser

• Limited to text extraction and metadata parsing
• Doesn't preserve the visual layout of the original PDF
• May struggle with complex PDF structures or heavily formatted documents

Code Comparison

pdf2htmlEX (C++):

void HTMLRenderer::process(const string& filename) {
    xpdf::PDFDoc doc(filename.c_str());
    for (int i = 1; i <= doc.getNumPages(); ++i) {
        processPage(&doc, i);
    }
}

pdfparser (PHP):

$parser = new \Smalot\PdfParser\Parser();
$pdf = $parser->parseFile('document.pdf');
$text = $pdf->getText();
$metadata = $pdf->getDetails();

pdf2htmlEX is designed to convert PDFs to HTML, preserving layout and formatting, while pdfparser focuses on extracting text and metadata from PDFs. pdf2htmlEX is written in C++ and requires external dependencies, making it more complex to set up but potentially faster. pdfparser is a pure PHP solution, easier to integrate into PHP projects but with more limited functionality.

Pros of dompdf

• Generates PDF files from HTML and CSS, allowing for dynamic PDF creation
• Supports a wide range of CSS properties and features
• Actively maintained with regular updates and bug fixes

Cons of dompdf

• Limited support for complex layouts and advanced CSS features
• May have performance issues with large or complex documents
• Requires PHP, which can be a limitation for some environments

Code Comparison

dompdf:

require_once 'dompdf/autoload.inc.php';
$dompdf = new Dompdf();
$dompdf->loadHtml('<h1>Hello, World!</h1>');
$dompdf->render();
$dompdf->stream("document.pdf");

pdf2htmlEX:

pdf2htmlEX input.pdf output.html

Additional Notes

pdf2htmlEX is a tool for converting PDF files to HTML, while dompdf focuses on generating PDF files from HTML and CSS. They serve different purposes, making a direct comparison challenging. pdf2htmlEX is useful for making existing PDF documents web-accessible, while dompdf is better suited for creating new PDF documents from web content.

Pros of iText

• Comprehensive Java library for creating and manipulating PDFs
• Actively maintained with regular updates and extensive documentation
• Supports a wide range of PDF features and functionalities

Cons of iText

• Commercial license required for many use cases
• Steeper learning curve due to its extensive API
• Primarily focused on PDF creation and manipulation, not HTML conversion

Code Comparison

iText (Java):

PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(new PdfWriter(dest));
Document document = new Document(pdf);
document.add(new Paragraph("Hello World!"));
document.close();

pdf2htmlEX (Command-line):

pdf2htmlEX input.pdf output.html

Key Differences

• pdf2htmlEX is specifically designed for converting PDF to HTML, while iText is a more general-purpose PDF library
• iText offers programmatic control over PDF creation and manipulation, whereas pdf2htmlEX is primarily a command-line tool
• pdf2htmlEX is open-source and free to use, while iText requires a commercial license for many applications

Use Cases

• Choose iText for creating, editing, or manipulating PDFs programmatically in Java applications
• Opt for pdf2htmlEX when you need a simple, open-source solution for converting PDF files to HTML format

Pros of pypdf

• Pure Python implementation, making it easier to install and use across different platforms
• More actively maintained with regular updates and bug fixes
• Broader functionality for PDF manipulation, including merging, splitting, and extracting text

Cons of pypdf

• Generally slower performance compared to pdf2htmlEX, especially for large PDFs
• Less accurate rendering of complex PDF layouts and formatting
• Limited support for converting PDFs to HTML format

Code Comparison

pypdf:

from pypdf import PdfReader

reader = PdfReader("example.pdf")
page = reader.pages[0]
text = page.extract_text()
print(text)

pdf2htmlEX:

pdf2htmlEX input.pdf output.html

Note: pdf2htmlEX is primarily used via command-line interface, while pypdf is a Python library used within Python scripts.