Скачать или смотреть Fixing the Helvetica.afm Missing Font Error in Next.js with PDFKit-Table

Learn how to resolve the 'Helvetica.afm' file not found error when generating PDFs using PDFKit and pdfkit-table in a Next.js environment.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/78358858/ asked by the user 'Luominous' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/22052827/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/79521251/ provided by the user 'Luominous' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/22052827/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the Issue

When generating PDFs in Next.js using PDFKit and pdfkit-table, you might encounter the following error:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This happens because PDFKit relies on Adobe Font Metrics (.afm) files to embed standard fonts like Helvetica when creating PDFs. The error indicates that PDFKit cannot locate the Helvetica.afm file due to an incorrect or malformed file path.



Why This Happens

The file path contains both backslashes (\) and forward slashes (/), causing confusion in file resolution.

The .next directory is a build output folder in Next.js and should not be used as a base path for static assets or files.



How to Fix It

1. Avoid Relying on Implicit Fonts

PDFKit expects metric files for core fonts (like Helvetica) to be accessible. In server-side environments with dynamic builds (like Next.js), this may fail due to path resolution issues.

2. Use Local Font Files Explicitly

Instead of using the default Helvetica font, explicitly embed a TrueType font (TTF) file that you provide:

Download a TTF font (e.g., Helvetica.ttf or an alternative like Arial).

Place it in a public or accessible folder in your project (e.g., /public/fonts/).

Modify your code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

3. Clean Up Paths

Use Node.js path.join() to build paths in a platform-independent way.

Avoid referencing .next folders for file access.



Summary

The error is caused by PDFKit not finding the Helvetica font metric file due to bad path handling.

Embedding your own TTF font files bypasses dependency on .afm files.

Use path.join() to ensure paths work across platforms.

Following these steps will resolve the Helvetica font error and improve the PDF generation reliability in your Next.js application.