Split PDF files with PHP? Here is a sample code

To split PDF files with PHP, we can use the TCPDF library, which is a popular PHP library for creating PDF files. TCPDF provides a set of functions for splitting PDF files based on the number of pages or the size of the output files.

What is PHP?

PHP is a popular server-side scripting language that is widely used for web development. PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and is designed to create dynamic web pages and interactive applications.

PHP code is executed on the server side, which means that the code is processed by the server before it is sent to the client’s web browser. This allows PHP to generate dynamic content such as database-driven web pages, user authentication, and data encryption.

PHP code can be embedded directly into HTML pages or it can be included as a separate file that is called from the HTML page. PHP supports a wide range of databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite, which makes it a popular choice for creating database-driven web applications.

PHP also includes a large number of built-in functions and supports object-oriented programming, which makes it easy to create reusable code and build complex applications. Additionally, PHP is an open-source language, which means that it is free to use and has a large community of developers who contribute to its development and improvement.

Example code to split PDF using PHP

Here’s an example of a PHP script that uses TCPDF to split a PDF file into multiple files:

<?php
require_once('tcpdf/tcpdf.php');

// specify the path to the input PDF file
$inputFile = 'input.pdf';

// specify the output directory where the split files will be saved
$outputDir = 'output/';

// create a new TCPDF object
$pdf = new TCPDF();

// specify the maximum number of pages per file
$maxPages = 10;

// open the input PDF file
$pdf->setSourceFile($inputFile);

// get the total number of pages in the input PDF file
$totalPages = $pdf->getNumPages();

// loop through the input PDF file and split it into multiple files
for ($i = 1; $i <= $totalPages; $i += $maxPages) {
    // calculate the page range for the current file
    $startPage = $i;
    $endPage = min($i + $maxPages - 1, $totalPages);

    // create a new PDF object for the current file
    $pdfSplit = new TCPDF();

    // add each page from the input PDF file to the current file
    for ($j = $startPage; $j <= $endPage; $j++) {
        // add a new page to the current file
        $pdfSplit->AddPage();

        // import the page from the input PDF file
        $tplIdx = $pdfSplit->importPage($j);

        // use the imported page as the content for the current page
        $pdfSplit->useTemplate($tplIdx);
    }

    // save the current file to disk
    $outputFile = $outputDir . 'output_' . $i . '.pdf';
    $pdfSplit->Output($outputFile, 'F');
}

echo 'PDF file has been successfully split!';
?>

In this example, we first specify the path to the input PDF file and the output directory where the split files will be saved. We then create a new TCPDF object and specify the maximum number of pages per file.

Next, we open the input PDF file and get the total number of pages. We then loop through the input PDF file and split it into multiple files based on the maximum number of pages per file.

For each file, we create a new PDF object and add each page from the input PDF file to the current file. We then save the current file to disk using the Output() method.

Finally, we display a message indicating that the PDF file has been successfully split.