In this article, I will guide you through creating a PDF and EPUB e-book from the Laravel documentation.
We will use the Ibis Next tool to accomplish this.
The Laravel documentation is available in Markdown format on GitHub, and Ibis Next is a powerful utility for generating eBooks from Markdown files.
Installing Ibis Next
You must install Ibis Next globally on your machine to create PDF or EPUB files from Markdown files. Ibis Next is a PHP package, so you'll need Composer to install it. If you don't have Composer installed, download and install it from getcomposer.org.
Once Composer is installed, run the following command to install Ibis Next globally:
composer global require hi-folks/ibis-next
Ensure Composer's global bin directory is in your system's PATH. You can typically add it by adding the following line to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile file:
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin"
Cloning the Laravel Documentation Repository
Then, you need to clone the Laravel documentation repository to your local machine. In your terminal, in a new empty directory, execute the following command:
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/laravel/docs.git
This command will download the repository containing the Markdown files for the Laravel documentation.
This command will generate the docs directory.
Configure Ibis Next
Ibis Next provides the init command that generates the needed configuration and the basic assets files:
ibis-next init
The init command will generate the assets directory with some assets files, such as the CSS for creating the HTML files and the cover image. It will also generate the configuration file, ibis.php.
Creating the cover (optional)
If you want, you can create the cover image, a PNG or WebP file with the aspect ratio of an A4 file. Or, if you prefer, you can download a basic one like :
You can save it into assets/cover-laravel.png.
Creating the configuration
Before executing Ibis Next you have to configure it via the ibis.php file.
I already prepared a configuration file for setting the page header, the cover, and the list of the proper files. Feel free to override the ibis.php file with this one (and eventually adjust it according to your needs):
<?php
return [
/**
* The book title.
*/
'title' => 'Laravel Doc e-book',
/**
* The author name.
*/
'author' => '',
/**
* The list of fonts to be used in the different themes.
*/
'fonts' => [
// 'calibri' => 'Calibri-Regular.ttf',
// 'times' => 'times-regular.ttf',
],
/**
* Document Dimensions.
*/
'document' => [
'format' => [210, 297],
'margin_left' => 27,
'margin_right' => 27,
'margin_bottom' => 14,
'margin_top' => 14,
],
/**
* Table of Contents Levels
*/
'toc_levels' => [
'H1' => 0,
'H2' => 1,
'H3' => 2,
],
/**
* Cover photo position and dimensions
*/
'cover' => [
'position' => 'position: absolute; left:0; right: 0; top: -.2; bottom: 0;',
'dimensions' => 'width: 210mm; height: 297mm; margin: 0;',
'image' => 'cover-laravel.png',
],
/**
* Page ranges to be used with the sample command.
*/
'sample' => [
[1, 7],
[15, 15],
],
/**
* default commonmark
*/
'configure_commonmark' => [
],
/**
* A notice printed at the final page of a generated sample.
*/
'sample_notice' => 'This is a sample',
/**
* CSS inline style for the page header.
* If you want to skip header, comment the line
*/
'header' => 'font-style: italic; text-align: right; border-bottom: solid 1px #808080;',
/**
* List of the Markdown files.
* If the `md_file_list` is not set (default)
* all the markdown files in the content directory
* will be loaded.
* If you need to select a subset of markdown files
* for creating PDF or EPUB or HTML you can list here
* the files. You need to set the filename in the
* content directory. The fieldname should include the
* extension.
*/
'md_file_list' => [
'releases.md',
'upgrade.md',
'contributions.md',
'installation.md',
'configuration.md',
'structure.md',
'frontend.md',
'starter-kits.md',
'deployment.md',
'lifecycle.md',
'container.md',
'providers.md',
'facades.md',
'routing.md',
'middleware.md',
'csrf.md',
'controllers.md',
'requests.md',
'responses.md',
'views.md',
'blade.md',
'vite.md',
'urls.md',
'session.md',
'validation.md',
'errors.md',
'logging.md',
'artisan.md',
'broadcasting.md',
'cache.md',
'collections.md',
'context.md',
'contracts.md',
'events.md',
'filesystem.md',
'helpers.md',
'http-client.md',
'localization.md',
'mail.md',
'notifications.md',
'packages.md',
'processes.md',
'queues.md',
'rate-limiting.md',
'strings.md',
'scheduling.md',
'authentication.md',
'authorization.md',
'verification.md',
'encryption.md',
'hashing.md',
'passwords.md',
'database.md',
'queries.md',
'pagination.md',
'migrations.md',
'seeding.md',
'redis.md',
'eloquent.md',
'eloquent-relationships.md',
'eloquent-collections.md',
'eloquent-mutators.md',
'eloquent-resources.md',
'eloquent-serialization.md',
'eloquent-factories.md',
'testing.md',
'http-tests.md',
'console-tests.md',
'dusk.md',
'database-testing.md',
'mocking.md',
'billing.md',
'cashier-paddle.md',
'dusk.md',
'envoy.md',
'fortify.md',
'folio.md',
'homestead.md',
'horizon.md',
'mix.md',
'octane.md',
'passport.md',
'pennant.md',
'pint.md',
'precognition.md',
'prompts.md',
'pulse.md',
'reverb.md',
'sail.md',
'sanctum.md',
'scout.md',
'socialite.md',
'telescope.md',
'valet.md'
],
];
I also prepared a Gist file, in case you prefer to use Gist: https://gist.github.com/roberto-butti/5e43c07921eefe0a913ab076cb95bc5e
Generating the PDF file
Now, finally, you have Ibis Next installed and configured so that you can run it. To generate the PDF file using the Laravel cloned markdown files:
ibis-next pdf --content=docs
The file by default will be generated into the export directory.
You can open the generated PDF file with your PDF viewer.
Generating the EPUB file
To generate the EPUB file using the Laravel cloned markdown files:
ibis-next epub --content=docs
The file, by default, will be generated into the export directory.
You can open the generated EPUB file with your EPUB viewer or transfer it to your eBook reader device.
Both commands take a while to complete; the Laravel Documentation is huge, and you will probably create a PDF file with more than 2000 pages!!!
Customize your PDF or EPUB file
If you want to customize the PDF or the EPUB file, you can read the documentation of Ibis Next here: https://github.com/Hi-Folks/ibis-next
References
Feel free to drop your comments or feedback below. Some useful references if you want to explore more:
- Ibis Next project: https://github.com/Hi-Folks/ibis-next
- Ibis https://github.com/themsaid/ibis was the original project (now outdated) created by Mohamed. I forked the Ibis project to create Ibis Next to update it with the latest PHP versions and dependencies and add new functionalities like exporting into EPUB format, setting the page headers, etc
- Laravel documentation: https://github.com/laravel/docs
Top comments (1)
Working with Laravel documentation and converting it into PDF or EPUB formats can be quite the task. I’ve found that having a reliable typing service can really make a difference, especially when you need to ensure that the text is perfectly formatted and error-free. It’s crucial when dealing with extensive documentation like this. I recently read a comprehensive review of various typingservice and it was incredibly helpful. Their insights might be useful for anyone who frequently handles large volumes of text for conversion projects.