pdfjs-dist vs react-pdf vs react-native-pdf
PDF Rendering Libraries Comparison
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What's PDF Rendering Libraries?

PDF rendering libraries are essential tools in web development that allow developers to display PDF documents within web applications. These libraries provide functionalities to parse, render, and interact with PDF files, enabling users to view and manipulate documents seamlessly without requiring external applications. Each library has its unique features and use cases, catering to different environments such as web browsers and mobile applications.

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pdfjs-dist3,666,57750,43835.2 MB40316 days agoApache-2.0
react-pdf1,442,60210,032552 kB384 months agoMIT
react-native-pdf337,2671,653286 kB3512 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: pdfjs-dist vs react-pdf vs react-native-pdf

Rendering Capabilities

  • pdfjs-dist:

    pdfjs-dist is a robust library that can render PDF documents directly in the browser using HTML5 canvas. It supports a wide range of PDF features, including text, images, annotations, and form fields. The library allows for detailed customization of the rendering process, making it suitable for applications that require precise control over PDF display.

  • react-pdf:

    react-pdf allows developers to create PDF documents using React components, making it easy to define the structure and content of the PDF. It supports features like text styling, images, and layout customization, enabling developers to generate dynamic PDFs based on application data.

  • react-native-pdf:

    react-native-pdf provides native rendering of PDF files on mobile devices, ensuring high performance and responsiveness. It supports various features like pinch-to-zoom, scrolling, and page navigation, tailored for mobile user experiences. The library can handle large PDF files efficiently, making it ideal for mobile applications that require PDF viewing.

Use Cases

  • pdfjs-dist:

    pdfjs-dist is best suited for web applications that need to display and interact with PDF documents, such as document viewers, online editors, or educational platforms. Its ability to render PDFs in the browser makes it a versatile choice for various web-based projects.

  • react-pdf:

    react-pdf is perfect for applications that need to generate PDF documents on the fly, such as invoicing systems, report generators, or any application that requires dynamic PDF creation based on user input or data.

  • react-native-pdf:

    react-native-pdf is specifically designed for mobile applications, making it ideal for apps that require PDF viewing capabilities, such as e-readers, document management systems, or any mobile app that needs to display PDF content seamlessly.

Integration and Compatibility

  • pdfjs-dist:

    pdfjs-dist can be easily integrated into any web application, regardless of the framework used. It is compatible with modern web browsers and can be used alongside other libraries and frameworks, providing flexibility in development.

  • react-pdf:

    react-pdf is built for React applications, allowing for easy integration with existing React components and state management. It leverages the React ecosystem, making it a natural choice for developers familiar with React.

  • react-native-pdf:

    react-native-pdf is designed specifically for React Native, ensuring compatibility with mobile platforms. It integrates well with other React Native components and libraries, making it a seamless addition to mobile projects.

Performance

  • pdfjs-dist:

    pdfjs-dist is optimized for performance in web environments, utilizing Web Workers to offload rendering tasks and improve responsiveness. It can handle large PDF files efficiently, although performance may vary based on the complexity of the PDF and the browser's capabilities.

  • react-pdf:

    react-pdf's performance is dependent on the complexity of the PDF being generated. Since it creates PDFs on the client side, larger or more complex documents may take longer to render, but it allows for real-time updates based on application state.

  • react-native-pdf:

    react-native-pdf offers high performance on mobile devices by leveraging native rendering capabilities. It ensures smooth scrolling and quick loading times, even for large PDF files, providing a seamless user experience on mobile platforms.

Community and Support

  • pdfjs-dist:

    pdfjs-dist has a large and active community, with extensive documentation and resources available for developers. It is widely used in various applications, ensuring a wealth of knowledge and support for troubleshooting and development.

  • react-pdf:

    react-pdf benefits from the React community, with good documentation and examples available. It is actively maintained, ensuring that developers have access to updates and support for creating PDF documents in their applications.

  • react-native-pdf:

    react-native-pdf has a growing community within the React Native ecosystem. While it may not be as extensive as pdfjs-dist, it offers sufficient documentation and community support for mobile developers looking to implement PDF viewing features.

How to Choose: pdfjs-dist vs react-pdf vs react-native-pdf
  • pdfjs-dist:

    Choose pdfjs-dist if you need a powerful and flexible PDF rendering solution that works directly in the browser. It is ideal for web applications that require extensive PDF manipulation and rendering capabilities, as it provides a comprehensive API for working with PDF documents.

  • react-pdf:

    Choose react-pdf if you want to create PDF documents programmatically in a React application. This library allows you to define PDF documents using React components, making it easy to generate and customize PDFs directly from your React code.

  • react-native-pdf:

    Choose react-native-pdf if you are developing a mobile application using React Native and need to display PDF files. This library is optimized for mobile environments, offering a native experience for rendering PDFs and supporting various features like zooming and scrolling.

Similar Npm Packages to pdfjs-dist

pdfjs-dist is a popular library for rendering PDF documents in web applications using JavaScript. It is built on top of Mozilla's PDF.js project, which allows developers to display PDF files directly in the browser without needing any external plugins. With pdfjs-dist, you can easily integrate PDF viewing capabilities into your applications, making it a go-to choice for projects that require PDF manipulation and rendering.

While pdfjs-dist is a robust solution for PDF rendering, there are alternatives that offer different functionalities and use cases. Here are a couple of notable alternatives:

  • pdf-lib is a powerful library for creating and modifying PDF documents in JavaScript. Unlike pdfjs-dist, which focuses on rendering existing PDFs, pdf-lib allows developers to create new PDF documents from scratch or modify existing ones. You can add text, images, and shapes, as well as manipulate pages and metadata. If your project requires generating or editing PDFs programmatically, pdf-lib is an excellent choice due to its comprehensive API and ease of use.

  • pdf-parse is a lightweight library designed for extracting text and metadata from PDF files. It is particularly useful for server-side applications where you need to analyze or process PDF content. pdf-parse focuses on parsing PDF documents and returning their textual content, making it ideal for applications that require text extraction rather than rendering. If your goal is to extract information from PDFs rather than display them, pdf-parse is a suitable alternative.

For a detailed comparison of these packages, check out the following link: Comparing pdf-lib vs pdf-parse vs pdfjs-dist.

Similar Npm Packages to react-pdf

react-pdf is a popular library for rendering PDF documents in React applications. It allows developers to display PDF files directly in their web applications without the need for external plugins or viewers. With react-pdf, you can easily load and render PDF documents, manage page navigation, and customize the appearance of the PDF viewer. This makes it an excellent choice for applications that require document viewing capabilities, such as e-commerce platforms, educational tools, or any application that needs to display reports or invoices.

An alternative to react-pdf is @react-pdf/renderer. This library is designed for generating PDF documents using React components. Unlike react-pdf, which focuses on rendering existing PDF files, @react-pdf/renderer allows developers to create PDFs from scratch by defining the document structure using React components. This can be particularly useful for applications that need to generate reports, invoices, or any other documents dynamically based on user input or data from APIs.

Both libraries serve different purposes within the PDF ecosystem in React. If your goal is to display existing PDF files, react-pdf is the way to go. On the other hand, if you need to create and generate PDF documents programmatically, @react-pdf/renderer is the better choice.

To explore the differences and features of these packages, check out the comparison: Comparing @react-pdf/renderer vs react-pdf.

Similar Npm Packages to react-native-pdf

react-native-pdf is a popular library for rendering PDF documents in React Native applications. It provides a straightforward way to display PDF files, allowing developers to integrate PDF viewing capabilities seamlessly into their mobile apps. With features such as zooming, scrolling, and page navigation, react-native-pdf is an excellent choice for applications that require PDF document handling.

However, there are alternatives available that also provide PDF rendering capabilities. Here are a couple of noteworthy options:

  • pdfjs-dist is a distribution of the PDF.js library, which is a widely-used JavaScript library for rendering PDF documents in web applications. While pdfjs-dist is primarily designed for web environments, it can also be adapted for use in React Native applications with some additional setup. This library offers extensive features for PDF rendering, including support for annotations, text selection, and more. If you're looking for a robust solution with advanced PDF features and are comfortable with a bit of extra configuration, pdfjs-dist might be the right choice.
  • react-pdf is another library that allows developers to create PDF documents using React components. Unlike react-native-pdf, which focuses on rendering existing PDF files, react-pdf is designed for generating PDFs on the fly. It provides a set of components that can be used to define the structure and content of a PDF document, making it a great option for applications that need to create and download PDF files dynamically.

To see how these libraries compare, check out the comparison: Comparing pdfjs-dist vs react-native-pdf vs react-pdf.

README for pdfjs-dist

PDF.js

PDF.js is a Portable Document Format (PDF) library that is built with HTML5. Our goal is to create a general-purpose, web standards-based platform for parsing and rendering PDFs.

This is a pre-built version of the PDF.js source code. It is automatically generated by the build scripts.

For usage with older browsers/environments, without native support for the latest JavaScript features, please see the legacy/ folder. Please see this wiki page for information about supported browsers/environments.

See https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js for learning and contributing.

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