Wkhtmltopdf version used in Frappe Cloud for PDF generation?

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Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a custom Print Format (Employee ID Card) in ERPNext v15 (Frappe Cloud) and facing rendering differences between the browser view and the generated PDF.

I understand that Frappe relies on wkhtmltopdf, and the recommended version is:
wkhtmltopdf 0.12.x (with patched Qt)

However, since Frappe Cloud restricts shell/System Console access (safe_exec), I’m unable to verify the exact version being used.

Could someone confirm:

  1. What wkhtmltopdf version is currently used in Frappe Cloud (ERPNext v15)?
  2. Is it the patched Qt version (0.12.5 / 0.12.6)?
  3. Are there any known limitations or differences in rendering (CSS, fonts, images) on Frappe Cloud?

Context:

  • ERPNext Version: v15
  • Using custom HTML/CSS for Employee ID Card print format
  • Facing issues with background images, fonts, and layout differences in PDF

Any guidance or best practices for achieving consistent PDF output would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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It’s probably using 0.12.6.1-3, based on frappe_docker: frappe_docker/images/production/Containerfile at main · frappe/frappe_docker · GitHub

Now that chromium can be used as a pdf generator, you probably are going to want to standardize on that- but that’s only in v16. I don’t know if chromium has found its way into frappe cloud yet in version 16, but it probably has- again, based on what’s in the frappe_docker repository and all the hard work that went into making that happen.

The problems you mentioned (differences in rendering, layouts, etc.) have been there for a long time, and it’s also been known for a long time that wkhtmltopdf has been the main problem. Switching print formats to chromium for the pdf generator should go a long way to leaving those problems in the past. But you either need to install the print_designer app in v15 or switch to v16 to have that available.

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