Delivery Methods

After configuring a render, call render() to generate the PDF. The returned RenderResult keeps the PDF bytes locally and gives you helper methods for browser responses, downloads, local files, and base64 output.

Raw PDF bytes

render() returns a RenderResult. Call pdf() on the result when you need the generated PDF as a binary string.

 1$result = BladePDF::fromView('pdf.invoice', $data)->render();
 2
 3$pdf = $result->pdf();

Inline browser response

response() on the rendered result returns a Laravel response with Content-Disposition: inline.

 1return BladePDF::fromView('pdf.invoice', $data)
 2    ->render()
 3    ->response('invoice.pdf');

Download response

download() on the rendered result returns a Laravel response with Content-Disposition: attachment.

 1return BladePDF::fromTemplate('invoice.standard', $context)
 2    ->render()
 3    ->download('invoice.pdf');

Save locally

save() writes the returned PDF bytes to a local path and returns that path.

 1$path = BladePDF::fromView('pdf.report', $data)
 2    ->render()
 3    ->save(storage_path('app/reports/report.pdf'));

Base64 output

Use base64Pdf() or base64() when another API expects the PDF as base64 text.

 1$encoded = BladePDF::fromHtml($html)
 2    ->render()
 3    ->base64Pdf();

Store the generated PDF

storePdf() stores the generated PDF in BladePDF after rendering. With synchronous delivery, render() still returns the PDF bytes and the result includes the stored PDF URL when storage succeeded.

 1$result = BladePDF::fromTemplate('invoice.standard', $context)
 2    ->reference('INV-2026-0042')
 3    ->storePdf()
 4    ->render();
 5
 6$result->storedPdfUrl(); // Signed URL for the stored PDF, or null
 7
 8return $result->response('invoice.pdf');

The stored PDF URL is also available later from the dashboard and render events. Result helper responses such as response() and download() return only the PDF to your user; they do not forward the stored URL as an HTTP header.

Queue an async render

async() returns a RenderSubmission after BladePDF has parsed, validated, and accepted the render within your workspace capacity. It does not wait for PDF generation, but it can still wait for an available concurrency slot before acceptance. Because no PDF bytes are returned, storePdf() is required.

 1$submission = BladePDF::fromTemplate('invoice.standard', $context)
 2    ->reference('INV-2026-0042')
 3    ->storePdf()
 4    ->webhook('https://example.com/bladepdf/webhook', 'whsec_request_secret')
 5    ->async();
 6
 7$submission->requestId;
 8$submission->reference;

See Async Renders for acceptance guarantees, failure handling, storage requirements, and the raw REST contract.

Method summary