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You can use Medplum Bots to create a PDF file as an attachment.

There are always two steps:

1. Create the PDF as a FHIR `Binary` resource
2. Use the `Binary` resource as an attachment or content

To create PDFs, Medplum Bots use [pdfmake](https://pdfmake.github.io/docs/0.1/). pdfmake uses a "Document Definition" model. You create a JSON object that defines paragraphs, styles, tables, etc. Medplum converts the document definition into a FHIR `Binary` resource with the PDF contents.

To learn more about pdfmake, check out the [playground](http://bpampuch.github.io/pdfmake/playground.html) and [examples](https://github.com/bpampuch/pdfmake/tree/master/examples).

## FHIR Media [​](/content/docs/bots/creating-a-pdf#fhir-media "Direct link to FHIR Media"/index.html)

This bot creates a PDF as a `Binary` and then creates a `Media` with the PDF as the content.

```ts
export async function handler(medplum: MedplumClient, _event: BotEvent): Promise<any> {

// Create the PDF

const binary = await medplum.createPdf({

docDefinition: {

content: ['Hello world'],

},

});

console.log('Binary result', binary);

// Create a Media, representing an attachment

const media = await medplum.createResource({

resourceType: 'Media',

status: 'completed',

content: {

contentType: 'application/pdf',

url: 'Binary/' + binary.id,

title: 'report.pdf',

},

});

console.log('Media result', media);
}
```

## Custom fonts [​](/content/docs/bots/creating-a-pdf#custom-fonts "Direct link to Custom fonts"/index.html)

Medplum has prebuilt support for the following fonts:

- Helvetica
- Roboto
- Avenir

You can set the default font in the pdfmake `defaultStyle`:

```ts
const docDefinition = {

content: { ... },

defaultStyle: {

font: 'yourFontName'

}
}
```

You can also use inline styles:

```ts
const docDefinition = {

content: [

// If you don't need styles, you can use a simple string to define a paragraph

'This is a standard paragraph, using default style',

// Using a { text: '...' } object lets you set styling properties

{

text: 'Hello world',

font: 'yourFontName',

},

],
};
```

See the [pdfmake styling](https://pdfmake.github.io/docs/0.1/document-definition-object/styling/) page for more details.

## Embedded images [​](/content/docs/bots/creating-a-pdf#embedded-images "Direct link to Embedded images"/index.html)

You can load an image by URL and embed it in the PDF.

```ts
import type { BotEvent, MedplumClient } from '@medplum/core';

export async function botHandler(medplum: MedplumClient, _event: BotEvent): Promise<any> {

// Load the image

const image = await medplum.readResource('DocumentReference', YOUR_DOCUMENT_ID);

const response = await fetch(image.content?.[0]?.attachment?.url as string);

const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());

const imageData = `data:${response.headers.get('content-type')};base64,${buffer.toString('base64')}`;

// Create the PDF

const binary = await medplum.createPdf({

docDefinition: {

content: ['Hello world', { image: imageData }],

},

});

console.log('Binary result', binary);

// Create a Media, representing an attachment

const media = await medplum.createResource({

resourceType: 'Media',

status: 'completed',

content: {

contentType: 'application/pdf',

url: 'Binary/' + binary.id,

title: 'report.pdf',

},

});

console.log('Media result', media);

return media;
}
```

See the [pdfmake images](https://pdfmake.github.io/docs/0.1/document-definition-object/images/) page for more details.