Displaying pdf from arraybuffer
Stefan Bogdanescu
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
Title: Displaying PDF Files from ArrayBuffer in Laravel Apps
Body Content:
Introduction: There may be instances where you need to display PDF files directly on your web pages without downloading or storing them on the server. In this comprehensive blog post, we will discuss how to achieve this using Laravel, DOMPDF, and JavaScript AJAX code. We'll also address some common issues that might arise during the process.
1. Using Laravel DomPDF: The first step is to use Laravel's built-in PDF processing library called DOMPDF. You can initialize a new instance of the 'dompdf.wrapper' class and load HTML using the 'loadHTML()' method. Then, you can return a stream of this data with '$pdf->stream();'.
Code Snippet for DomPDF:
```php
$pdf = \App::make('dompdf.wrapper');
$pdf->loadHTML("
This is test
");
return $pdf->stream();
```
2. AJAX Request: You'll need to make an AJAX request to load the PDF data in your browser from this DomPDF class. Using 'responseType: arraybuffer', you specify that the response should be returned as an ArrayBuffer.
Code Snippet for JS AJAX:
```javascript
$.ajax({
type:"GET",
url: "/display",
responseType: 'arraybuffer'
}).done(function(response) {
// Create a Blob from the ArrayBuffer containing the PDF data.
var blob = new Blob([response.data], {type: 'application/pdf'});
// Generate an Object URL for the Blob to display the PDF in the browser.
var pdfurl = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob) + "#view=FitW";
$("#pdfviewer").attr("data", pdfurl);
});
```
3. Displaying PDF: In your HTML code, embed an object tag to display the PDF using its Object URL generated by JavaScript. You can set the 'width' and 'height' styles for better display on your web page.
Code Snippet for HTML:
```html
```
Troubleshooting Common Errors:
- The 'Failed to load PDF document' error might arise due to an incorrect Object URL or a missing link between your Laravel application and the PDF data. Ensure that you use the correct responseType in AJAX, return a proper ArrayBuffer with PDF content from DomPDF, and set the data attribute of the object tag correctly.
- When viewing the PDF, make sure that your browser supports creating Object URLs for streaming files or has necessary extensions installed to display the PDF file efficiently.
Conclusion: Displaying PDF files directly from arraybuffer in a Laravel application is a great way of enhancing user experience and reducing server storage requirements. By following this guide, you'll be able to seamlessly integrate PDF viewing into your web applications. Keep in mind that for optimal results, it is crucial to implement proper error handling strategies and ensure the compatibility of your code with modern browsers.