PDFPipe

Next.js / packing slips

Packing slip PDFs in Next.js

Post your packing slip HTML to a render API from a Route Handler returning a Response, then return a Response with the upstream body and a PDF content type. No browser binary in your Next.js deployment.

Why packing slips become PDFs

A packing slip is printed and physically placed in a box. It exists to be paper. That is the difference between a document and a view of a database, and it is why warehouse and fulfilment teams keep asking for this.

What a packing slip has to carry

Before any of the code below matters, the template has to produce a document that is actually a packing slip. These are the fields that make it one, and the ones a reader or an auditor will look for first.

  • the order reference, which the picker checks against the pick list
  • each line with SKU, description and quantity shipped
  • backordered lines shown explicitly rather than omitted
  • the ship-to address as it will appear on the carton
  • the carrier reference or tracking number where it exists

Turning your React, rendered to a string on the server template into a document

You already have the markup. RenderToStaticMarkup(<Invoice {...data} />) gives you it as a string, which is the only input the render needs. This is the framework where the incumbent approach fails hardest. A serverless function has a hard bundle size limit, and a Chromium build does not fit inside it. That is why the ecosystem grew a whole genre of stripped Chromium packages, and why an HTTP render is the path of least resistance here rather than an optimisation.

The Next.js implementation

fetch ships with the runtime, so this adds no dependency. The render happens in a Route Handler returning a Response, and you return a Response with the upstream body and a PDF content type.

typescript
// app/packing-slips/[id]/pdf/route.ts
import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
import { PackingSlipDocument } from "@/documents/packing-slip";
import { documentStyles } from "@/documents/styles";

export async function GET(
  _request: Request,
  { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> },
) {
  const { id } = await params;
  const packingSlip = await getPackingSlip(id);

  // The style tag is the load-bearing part. Your app's CSS lives in a bundle the
  // renderer will never fetch, so the document needs its styles inline.
  const html = `<!doctype html><html><head><meta charset="utf-8">
<style>${documentStyles}</style></head><body>${renderToStaticMarkup(
    <PackingSlipDocument packingSlip={packingSlip} />,
  )}</body></html>`;

  const upstream = await fetch("https://api.pdfpipe.xyz/v1/pdf", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.PDFPIPE_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      html,
      options: { format: "A4", printBackground: true },
    }),
  });

  if (!upstream.ok) {
    return new Response("render failed", { status: 502 });
  }

  return new Response(upstream.body, {
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/pdf",
      "Content-Disposition": `attachment; filename="packing-slip-${id}.pdf"`,
    },
  });
}

The CSS that makes a packing slip page correctly

The layout problem specific to this document is that it must print correctly on the label and A5 stock warehouses actually use, not just on A4. These rules handle it.

css
/* Warehouses print on A5 and label stock, not A4. */
@page {
  size: A5;
  margin: 8mm;
}

.signature {
  break-inside: avoid;
  margin-top: auto;
}

What goes wrong in Next.js

renderToStaticMarkup gives you markup with no stylesheet attached, because your CSS lives in a bundle the PDF renderer will never load. Inline the styles into a style tag in the string you send, or the document renders with browser defaults.

What people try first

Most Next.js projects reach for puppeteer-core paired with a size-reduced Chromium package, which works but ties your deployment to a binary that has to be rebuilt for every runtime version bump. That works until it is running on more than one machine, at which point the browser becomes the thing you operate rather than the thing you use.

Where the packing slip lives afterwards

Rendering is the short part. The packing slip is thrown away when the box is opened. It has essentially no retention requirement, which is unusual on this list and worth knowing: the document does not need to be stored, only printed correctly the first time.

Getting the document right

  • Check the order reference and quantities, which a picker checks against the physical goods.
  • Generation is triggered by an order moving to fulfilment, so size the timeout for that path rather than for a health check.
  • Volume arrives in bursts, so queue the render rather than doing it inside the request that triggered it.
  • Backgrounds are painted by default here, so a design that uses colour needs nothing set. Only an explicit print_background of false turns them off.

Frequently asked

Do I need Chromium installed to generate packing slips from Next.js?

No. The render happens over HTTP, so your Next.js deployment stays the size it is now. That is the main reason to use an API rather than puppeteer-core paired with a size-reduced Chromium package, which works but ties your deployment to a binary that has to be rebuilt for every runtime version bump.

How do I stop a long packing slip using all the memory?

Return a Response with the upstream body and a PDF content type. renderToStaticMarkup gives you markup with no stylesheet attached, because your CSS lives in a bundle the PDF renderer will never load. Inline the styles into a style tag in the string you send, or the document renders with browser defaults.

What has to be on a packing slip?

At minimum: the order reference, which the picker checks against the pick list; each line with SKU, description and quantity shipped; backordered lines shown explicitly rather than omitted. The one to get right before anything else is the order reference and quantities, which a picker checks against the physical goods.

Do I need to store the generated packing slips?

Depends on the document, and this one has a clear answer: the packing slip is thrown away when the box is opened. It has essentially no retention requirement, which is unusual on this list and worth knowing: the document does not need to be stored, only printed correctly the first time.

Can I keep my existing packing slip template?

Yes, if it produces HTML. Whatever renders your packing slip view today can render the same markup for the PDF, which is why the CSS above is the only new thing you write.

Related

Other Next.js documents, and the same packing slip in other stacks.

Invoice PDFs in Next.js

an invoice is a legal record of a demand for payment

Receipt PDFs in Next.js

a receipt is proof a payment happened

Report PDFs in Next.js

a report is a snapshot of numbers at a moment in time. Its whole value is that it does not change when the underlying dashboard does.

Packing slip PDFs in Node.js

Using fetch, in a route handler that returns the response body directly.

Packing slip PDFs in Python

Using httpx, in an async endpoint that returns a streaming response.

Packing slip PDFs in PHP

Using cURL, in a controller action that echoes the body with a PDF Content-Type.

The same thing in plain Node.js

Without the framework, using fetch directly.

When the output is wrong

Blank pages, missing backgrounds, breaks in the wrong place, by symptom.

All stacks and documents

The full grid of what this covers.

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