How can I generate a usable dynamic PDF from a Drupal view? My goal is to generate a PDF view of a content node. I've set up the Views PDF module with the TCPDF class, but performance is awful. Not just slow. I mean AWFUL. It's an aggravating experience when viewing a simple page of content as a PDF, and downright painful when viewing content that should be several hundred PDF pages long. Totally unacceptable.

Does anyone have a good solution for combatting this? All I'm looking to do is take a single node and offer a "view as PDF" link/functionality. It seems like this should be pretty straightforward, but I haven't been able to solve that yet.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I had never had any success with the html>pdf generating tools for PHP coming out looking 1:1 without issues ranging from style to markup to server side error with the libraries and/or incompatibility with PHP versions, package errors and whatnot.

Another option is to use PhantomJS or an equivalent tool to use a headless browser to output a PDF file for you. Note though, that PhantomJS is possibly going to no longer be maintained, as Chrome now has a headless equivalent.

However, there is a module for Drupal 7 and 8 that provides this functionality (disclosure, I am a maintainer) but it may take a little elbow grease on your end to get it to work the way you'd like. A base js controller for PhantomJS is provided, but you can alter it. If all you need is an equivalent of doing File > Print to PDF in the browser, this will do it without as much hassle as all the PHP libs.

https://www.drupal.org/project/phantomjs_capture

As an alternative to that, there is a hosted service provider with an API you can use as well (disclosure - I have nothing to do with it) that might suit you.