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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/bpampuch/pdfmake/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Every piece of text in pdfmake is ultimately a node in the content array. You can pass a bare string for plain paragraphs, or wrap it in an object to attach formatting properties. The two forms are completely interchangeable — pdfmake normalises plain strings internally.

​
Text node forms

The simplest content array contains plain strings: 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    'First paragraph',
    'Another paragraph, this time a little bit longer to make sure, this line will be divided into at least two lines'
  ]
};
Switch to an object node whenever you need to attach properties: 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    {
      text: 'Paragraphs can also be styled without using named-styles (this one sets fontSize to 25)',
      fontSize: 25
    },
    {
      text: 'This paragraph sets fontSize to 8 and italics to true',
      fontSize: 8,
      italics: true
    }
  ]
};

​
Font properties

Size and family

fontSize accepts a number in points. font (alias fontFamily) selects a registered font name, e.g. 'Roboto'.

Weight and style

bold: true and italics: true select the bold and italic variants of the current font.

Color and background

color sets the foreground text color. background sets a highlight color or a pattern array.

Opacity

opacity accepts 0–1 to make text semi-transparent.
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    // Opacity levels
    { text: 'Hello World', opacity: 0.8 },
    { text: 'Hello World', opacity: 0.6 },
    { text: 'Hello World', opacity: 0.4 },
    { text: 'Hello World', opacity: 0.2 },

    // Background highlight
    { text: 'Highlighted text', fontSize: 18, background: 'yellow' },

    // Background pattern
    { text: 'Text background pattern', background: ['stripe45d', 'gray'] }
  ],
  patterns: {
    stripe45d: {
      boundingBox: [1, 1, 4, 4],
      xStep: 3,
      yStep: 3,
      pattern: '1 w 0 1 m 4 5 l s 2 0 m 5 3 l s'
    }
  }
};

​
Text decoration

Use decoration to add lines to text. Combine it with decorationStyle and decorationColor for precise control.
1

Choose a decoration type

Set decoration to 'underline', 'lineThrough', or 'overline'.
2

Pick a decoration style

Set decorationStyle to 'solid' (default), 'dashed', 'dotted', 'double', or 'wavy'.
3

Apply a color

Set decorationColor to any CSS-compatible color string.
4

Set thickness (optional)

Set decorationThickness to a number in points.
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    { text: 'Underline decoration', decoration: 'underline' },
    { text: 'Line Through decoration', decoration: 'lineThrough' },
    { text: 'Overline decoration', decoration: 'overline' },
    { text: 'Dashed style', decoration: 'underline', decorationStyle: 'dashed' },
    { text: 'Dotted style', decoration: 'underline', decorationStyle: 'dotted' },
    { text: 'Wavy style', decoration: 'underline', decorationStyle: 'wavy', decorationThickness: 3 },
    { text: 'Using colors', decoration: 'underline', decorationColor: 'blue' },
    { text: 'Using colors', decoration: 'lineThrough', decorationColor: 'red' }
  ]
};

​
Alignment and spacing

PropertyValuesDescription
alignment'left', 'center', 'right', 'justify'Horizontal alignment
lineHeightnumberMultiplier relative to font size
characterSpacingnumberExtra space between characters (points)
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    { text: 'Justified paragraph', alignment: 'justify', lineHeight: 1.5 },
    { text: 'Centered heading', alignment: 'center', fontSize: 18 },
    { text: 'Wide tracking', characterSpacing: 3 }
  ]
};

​
Superscript and subscript

Set sup: true to raise text and sub: true to lower it. Both properties also reduce the font size automatically. 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    {
      text: [
        'Hello World.',
        { text: '1, 2', sup: true },
        " Let's continue our sentence. Notice the leading space."
      ]
    },
    {
      text: [
        'Hello',
        { text: '1, 2', sub: true },
        ' World'
      ]
    }
  ]
};
Decorations also work on superscript and subscript nodes. Combine sup: true with decoration: 'underline' for annotated references.

​
Word break and whitespace

By default, pdfmake strips leading spaces and breaks long words at word boundaries. Two properties override this behaviour: 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    // Preserve leading spaces (useful for code-style text)
    { text: '    This is a paragraph with preserved leading spaces.', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },
    { text: '{', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },
    { text: '    "sample": {', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },
    { text: '        "json": "nested"', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },
    { text: '    }', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },
    { text: '}', preserveLeadingSpaces: true },

    // Break characters mid-word when they won't fit
    {
      text: 'BreakAll\n"LineBreakBehaviour" "ForATextWithVeryVery" "LongLongWords"',
      fontSize: 30,
      wordBreak: 'break-all'
    }
  ]
};

​
Font features (OpenType)

fontFeatures accepts an array of OpenType feature tags. Only fonts that include the requested features will use them. 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    { text: 'Hello World 1234567890', fontFeatures: ['smcp'] },  // small caps
    { text: 'Hello World 1234567890', fontFeatures: ['c2sc'] },  // capitals to small caps
    { text: 'Hello World 1234567890', fontFeatures: ['onum'] },  // old-style numerals
    { text: 'Hello World 1234567890', fontFeatures: ['onum', 'c2sc'] }
  ]
};

​
Inline styles

Compose mixed-format runs by setting text to an array. Each element can be a string or an object with its own properties. Child properties override the parent. 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    {
      text: [
        'This is ',
        { text: 'bold', bold: true },
        ' and this is ',
        { text: 'italic', italics: true },
        ' text in the same paragraph.'
      ]
    }
  ]
};

​
Named styles

Define reusable style objects in the styles dictionary and reference them by name using style. Multiple styles can be applied as an array — later entries take precedence. 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    {
      text: 'This is a header, using header style',
      style: 'header'
    },
    'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet ...',
    {
      text: 'Subheader 1 - using subheader style',
      style: 'subheader'
    },
    {
      text: 'Multiple styles applied: quote overrides italics, small overrides fontSize',
      style: ['quote', 'small']
    }
  ],
  styles: {
    header: {
      fontSize: 18,
      bold: true
    },
    subheader: {
      fontSize: 15,
      bold: true
    },
    quote: {
      italics: true
    },
    small: {
      fontSize: 8
    }
  }
};
When multiple styles define the same property, the last style in the array wins. In the example above, small.fontSize (8) overrides quote’s inherited font size.

​
defaultStyle

defaultStyle sets document-wide property defaults that apply to every node unless overridden. It is the lowest-priority style in the cascade. 
const docDefinition = {
  content: [
    'This paragraph inherits 12 pt Roboto from defaultStyle.',
    { text: 'This one overrides color to red.', color: 'red' }
  ],
  defaultStyle: {
    fontSize: 12,
    font: 'Roboto'
  }
};
defaultStyle is useful for setting columnGap, alignment: 'justify', or a base lineHeight that applies throughout the document without repeating the property on every node.

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