I wanted to create PDF invoices from a (Linux) command line without installing a CMS. Just with data from my database tables.
So far I used Libreoffice to generate a PDF Form which I programmatically filled out and 'flattened' using Java and the FreeForms library.
That is pretty clumsy...
HTML + CSS (+ PHP) seemed a better choice to me. Easier to understand for non-programmers, no need to create and fill PDF Forms, just using web standards.
I found plenty of examples on the web, they all failed in one or the other way. It took a while to figure out all the details until I had a satisfying - but yet not perfect - result.
I share this with you in the hope that it helps you to save some time.
The file invoice_a4.html is easily extendable and/or adjustable for
your needs. It uses just a small subset of HTML5 and CSS.
View the PDF out.pdf by clicking on it.
I work with a GNU/Linux command line (Debian SID) and just installed
wkhtmltopdf 0.12.3.2 and php5 5.6.20 (sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf php5).
To generate the PDF, just execute ./genpdf.sh, which creates a
out.pdf using php5 and wkhtmltopdf. This shell script is very
simple - it uses hard-coded receiver and invoice data as demonstration.
In my real shell script I query a mysql database to generate these values.
config.php holds the sender data which are more static, e.g.
the name of your logo, your company, address and so on.
Have fun !