Anyone who manages a paperless office deals with a set of typical challenges. You need to take care of legal aspects, ensure ultimate data security, and convert HTML to a printable format. Unfortunately, things can go wrong with each of these tasks.

To help you troubleshoot, our article will focus on how to solve mistakes when you convert HTML code to PDF.

Forewarned, forearmed.

Now, if you see a conversion to PDF failed message, you will know the possible reasons. Usually, the conversion failed messages boil down to HTML code mistakes or poor integration, but there are other common issues. Let’s talk about them and how to properly convert HTML code to PDF below.

How to Convert HTML Code to PDF and Why?

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is code used to structure the content of web pages and web documents. It has multiple uses in software development, ranging from client-side data storage to web document creation. Generally, all businesses that deliver paperless communications, invoices, bills, and other documents generate HTML files.

After software creates HTML, you need to convert HTML code to PDF and then only print or send a document. The PDF format is a de-facto standard for all critical communications. The main advantage is that after printing or electronic delivery, PDF documents look exactly like on your screen. Besides, you can protect PDF documents from editing, which makes them even more reliable.

To convert HTML to a printable format, you can:

• Use a third-party PDF renderer that converts batches of HTML documents to PDFs;
• Add rendering functionality to your existing systems through an API to convert HTML to a printable format automatically;
• Invest in custom software development to create a rendering service tailored to your paperless needs.
  

Learn about different types of rendering services to make the best choice.

Conversion to PDF Failed: 5 Most Common Issues and Solutions

Error messages and mistakes range depending on what software you use to convert a web page to PDF. Manual rendering tools often cannot process HTML data because of formatting issues. Automated software doesn’t correctly convert HTML code to PDFs due to poor integration or configuration. Here is a more detailed overview of top rendering issues.

#1. Conversion to PDF failed because of mistakes in HTML code

If your engineering team works on a custom tool to render HTML to a printable format, the process may fail because of the flaws in HTML code. It’s not easy to develop a PDF converter that can quickly and reliably convert HTML code to PDF. Quite often, developers go through multiple changes and testing rounds before launching a quality product.

Hence, if a generated PDF doesn’t look like an original HTML file, make sure to double-check the source code. There could be issues with tags or parameters.

As an option, you can switch from custom rendering to a ready-made solution. For example, build Inkit’s Render into your existing product with just a few lines of code. This will considerably speed up the deployment and reduce the risk of ‘conversion to PDF failed’ messages.

#2. HTML document formatting issues

If your business doesn’t have automated data verification, HTML files (and hence, generated PDFs) often lack the necessary fields and data. The format of the created PDF may be correct, but the content doesn’t have the required details.

Why does it happen?

When people share information that you will later use in invoices, notices, and other documents, you don’t check it automatically. Since your system just records the provided details, they may have the wrong format, lack data, or be invalid. As a result, these incorrect values enter the source HTML file and the generated PDF.

To improve the quality and accuracy of generated documents, you should automatically verify source data. For example, you can implement email and address verification to validate customers’ details.

Read 5 Reasons to Run Email and Offline Address Verification

#3. Rendering software integration mistakes

When you integrate a third-party PDF renderer with your current systems, follow the software vendor’s instructions. Although today, most tools are easy to connect, mistakes happen. The failure to install the script or configure mandatory settings may result in conversion to PDF failed messages.

Therefore, if you see an error when you convert an HTML, Word document, or any other format, check the configurations’ accuracy. Usually, PDF renderers show different error codes for different types of mistakes. This should help you understand how to fix everything. Besides, you can contact the technical support of the software provider to assist you.

#4. Limited access to source documents

When an HTML document you attempt to process is protected with a password, a PDF converter won’t convert HTML to a printable format. It just won't have the right to access the HTML and save PDF.

To avoid such conversion to PDF failed errors, configure access to the documents you are about to convert. If they include confidential information, you must ensure that the rendering software is secure and keeps data in well-protected storage. It’s essential to prevent customer data leakage and achieve regulatory compliance.

#5. Documents are too large to convert HTML to a printable format

To avoid troubles when you generate PDFs, you shouldn’t use overly complex or large source files. Many tools, including Adobe Acrobat Export PDF, don’t render files that exceed 10 MB. They also cannot process HTML and image files with many graphical elements and fonts.

Hence, if you see a conversion to PDF failed message, the chances are, the original file is just too big. In this case, you should try to reduce its size or look for a more powerful PDF renderer.

Overall, the best way to handle conversion to PDF failed errors is to prevent them. Automated and intuitive software can significantly reduce the risk of rendering issues. Thanks to it, you will shift your focus from troubleshooting to more critical business tasks.

How to Avoid Rendering Issues with Inkit’s Render

Render is Inkit’s product explicitly designed to convert HTML code to PDF files. You can integrate Render with your existing systems in a few steps. No HTML editing skills are needed.

After a quick integration, the tool will convert HTML content to paperless PDFs and store them. You will be able to generate invoices, bills, notices, and any other kind of custom documents.

By connecting Inkit’s Render through an API, you solve several common PDF conversion issues at once:

• You avoid mistakes in HTML code since you don’t need to edit it and can instantly use out-of-the-box rendering software;
• You automatically verify customer data used in generated documents with Inkit’s Verify. (Verify is another product available in Inkit’s toolkit);
• You can quickly connect Render with your current software through an API. This protects you from integration mistakes and minimizes the deployment time;
• You can automate document rendering to avoid human errors. Inkit accesses and converts HTML code to PDF automatically and can subsequently deliver the generated PDFs to the necessary recipients.
• You can ensure the necessary level of data security and manage access rights at the same time.
  

In addition to the mentioned advantages, Inkit has a qualified support team that is always ready to assist you with troubleshooting. They will guide you through integration and explain the reasons behind conversion to PDF failed messages.

Need to convert HTML to a printable format? Contact our team to see how it works.