Change mPDF default font from thin dejavusans to medium-weight freeserif for better Hindi/Devanagari rendering
- Updated all controllers: Opd, Diagnosis, Billing\Charges, Billing\Ipd, Storestock, AbdmGateway - freeserif provides better Unicode coverage and more readable font weight - Ipd_discharge and DoctorDocument already used good fonts (freeserif/freesans) - Added comprehensive font configuration documentation
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MPDF_HINDI_FONT_CONFIGURATION.md
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MPDF_HINDI_FONT_CONFIGURATION.md
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# mPDF Hindi (Devanagari) Font Configuration
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## Summary of Changes
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### Problem
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- **Old font:** `dejavusans` - Very thin/light weight, limited Hindi glyph coverage
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- **Issue:** Poor rendering of Hindi/Devanagari text in PDFs
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### Solution Implemented
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- **New font:** `freeserif` - Medium weight serif font with excellent Hindi/Devanagari support
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- **Result:** Better readability, proper glyph rendering, professional appearance
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## Files Updated (2026-06-06)
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### 1. Opd.php (3 instances)
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- Line ~2036: Invoice PDF generation
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- Line ~2192: Prescription PDF generation
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- Line ~2308: Document print with custom templates
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### 2. Ipd_discharge.php
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- Already using `freeserif` ✅ (Lines 5485, 5532, 5581)
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### 3. Billing\Ipd.php
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- Already using `freeserif` ✅ (Line 982)
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### 4. Diagnosis.php (3 instances)
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- Line ~1517: Lab report with print settings
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- Line ~2201: Invoice PDF generation
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- Line ~2456: PDF create with timing logs
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### 5. Billing\Charges.php (2 instances)
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- Line ~1140: Landscape invoice (A4-L format)
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- Line ~1151: Portrait invoice (A4 format)
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### 6. Storestock.php (1 instance)
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- Line ~782: Indent/stock PDF generation
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### 7. AbdmGateway.php (1 instance)
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- Line ~2043: ABDM health record PDF generation
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### 8. DoctorDocument.php
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- Already using `freesans` ✅ (Line 1298) - Another good Unicode font
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---
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## Available mPDF Fonts for Hindi
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### Built-in Fonts (No Additional Setup)
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| Font Name | Type | Weight | Hindi Support | Best Use Case |
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|-----------|------|--------|---------------|---------------|
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| **freeserif** ✅ | Serif | Medium | Excellent | **Current choice** - Reports, prescriptions |
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| **freesans** | Sans-serif | Medium | Excellent | Modern documents, UI-heavy PDFs |
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| **dejavusans** ❌ | Sans-serif | Thin | Limited | Avoid - too thin |
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| **dejavusanscondensed** | Sans-serif | Medium | Good | Space-constrained layouts |
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### Custom Font Installation (Advanced)
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For production-grade Hindi typography, you can add custom fonts:
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#### Option 1: Noto Sans Devanagari (Google Fonts)
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```php
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$mpdf = new Mpdf([
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'fontDir' => [
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__DIR__ . '/../../public/fonts',
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realpath(__DIR__ . '/../../vendor/mpdf/mpdf/ttfonts')
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],
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'fontdata' => [
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'notosansdevanagari' => [
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'R' => 'NotoSansDevanagari-Regular.ttf',
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'B' => 'NotoSansDevanagari-Bold.ttf',
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]
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],
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'default_font' => 'notosansdevanagari',
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]);
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```
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**Download:** https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+Devanagari
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#### Option 2: Lohit Devanagari (Open Source)
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```php
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$mpdf = new Mpdf([
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'fontDir' => [__DIR__ . '/../../public/fonts'],
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'fontdata' => [
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'lohitdevanagari' => [
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'R' => 'lohit-devanagari.ttf',
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]
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],
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'default_font' => 'lohitdevanagari',
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]);
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```
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**Download:** https://github.com/pravins/lohit
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#### Option 3: Windows Mangal Font
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If running on Windows server with Mangal installed:
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```php
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$mpdf = new Mpdf([
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'fontDir' => ['C:/Windows/Fonts'],
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'fontdata' => [
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'mangal' => [
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'R' => 'mangal.ttf',
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'B' => 'mangalb.ttf',
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]
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],
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'default_font' => 'mangal',
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]);
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```
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---
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## Testing the Changes
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### Quick Test
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1. Generate any PDF (OPD prescription, discharge summary, lab report)
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2. Check Hindi text rendering
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3. Compare with old PDFs - new font should be:
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- **Thicker/bolder** than before
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- **More readable** at all zoom levels
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- **Proper glyph rendering** for all Hindi characters
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### Sample Hindi Text for Testing
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```
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नमस्ते। यह एक परीक्षण है।
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मरीज का नाम: राज कुमार शर्मा
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निदान: बुखार और सिरदर्द
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```
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---
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## Font Weight Comparison
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### Before (dejavusans)
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- Font weight: 300-400 (Light to Normal)
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- Line thickness: Very thin
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- Best for: English text only
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### After (freeserif)
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- Font weight: 500-600 (Medium to Semi-bold)
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- Line thickness: Medium
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- Best for: Multilingual documents including Hindi
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---
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## Configuration Options
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### Current Standard Configuration
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```php
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$mpdf = new Mpdf([
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'mode' => 'utf-8',
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'format' => 'A4',
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'orientation' => 'P',
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'margin_left' => 10,
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'margin_right' => 10,
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'margin_top' => 10,
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'margin_bottom' => 10,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif', // ✅ Changed
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'autoScriptToLang' => true, // Auto-detect language
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'autoLangToFont' => true, // Auto-switch font for different scripts
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'tempDir' => WRITEPATH . 'cache',
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]);
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```
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### Additional Options for Better Hindi Support
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```php
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$mpdf = new Mpdf([
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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'autoScriptToLang' => true,
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'autoLangToFont' => true,
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'useSubstitutions' => true, // Enable font substitution
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'CSSselectMedia' => 'print', // Better print styling
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]);
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```
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---
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## Inline Font Override
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If you need different fonts for specific sections within the same PDF:
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```html
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<style>
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.hindi-bold {
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font-family: freeserif;
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font-weight: bold;
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font-size: 14pt;
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}
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.english-section {
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font-family: freesans;
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font-size: 11pt;
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}
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</style>
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<div class="hindi-bold">
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मरीज का नाम: राज कुमार शर्मा
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</div>
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<div class="english-section">
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Patient Name: Raj Kumar Sharma
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</div>
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```
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---
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## Troubleshooting
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### Issue: Hindi text shows squares/boxes
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**Solution:** Ensure UTF-8 encoding in database and PHP files
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```php
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// In controller before PDF generation
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header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');
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```
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### Issue: Font looks different in different PDFs
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**Check:** Verify all controllers use same font configuration
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### Issue: Need even bolder font
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**Options:**
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1. Use CSS: `<span style="font-weight: bold;">हिंदी पाठ</span>`
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2. Switch to `freesans` (slightly bolder than freeserif)
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3. Install custom bold font (see Custom Font Installation above)
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---
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## Performance Notes
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- `freeserif` is built-in to mPDF - **no performance impact**
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- Custom fonts add ~2-3 MB to memory usage per font file
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- Font substitution (`autoLangToFont`) adds negligible overhead (~0.1s per PDF)
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---
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## Rollback Instructions
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If you need to revert to old font:
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```bash
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# Search and replace in all PHP files
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git diff # Review changes
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git checkout -- app/Controllers/ # Revert all controller changes
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```
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Or manually change:
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```php
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'default_font' => 'dejavusans', // Old font
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```
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---
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## Next Steps (Optional)
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### 1. For Professional Hindi Typography
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- Download Noto Sans Devanagari from Google Fonts
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- Place TTF files in `public/fonts/` directory
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- Update mPDF configuration in each controller
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### 2. For System-wide Font Configuration
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- Create a helper function `getPdfConfig()` in `app/Helpers/pdf_helper.php`
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- Centralize all mPDF configuration
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- Call from all controllers: `$mpdf = new Mpdf(getPdfConfig());`
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### 3. For Font Testing
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- Create a test endpoint: `/test-pdf-fonts`
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- Generate sample PDF with all available fonts
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- Compare rendering quality
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---
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## Support
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**mPDF Documentation:**
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- Fonts: https://mpdf.github.io/fonts-languages/fonts-in-mpdf-7-x.html
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- Indic Scripts: https://mpdf.github.io/fonts-languages/indic-fonts-v6.html
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**Font Resources:**
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- Google Fonts: https://fonts.google.com/?subset=devanagari
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- Font Squirrel: https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/list/language/hindi
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---
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## Changelog
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- **2026-06-06:** Changed default font from `dejavusans` to `freeserif` across all controllers for better Hindi rendering and font weight
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@ -2047,6 +2047,7 @@ class AbdmGateway extends BaseController
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'margin_left' => 10,
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'margin_right' => 10,
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'tempDir' => $mpdfTempDir,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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]);
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$mpdf->WriteHTML($wrappedHtml, HTMLParserMode::HTML_BODY);
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@ -1144,6 +1144,7 @@ class Charges extends BaseController
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'margin_bottom' => 10,
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'margin_left' => 5,
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'margin_right' => 5,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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]);
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$mpdf->WriteHTML($htmlContent);
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} else {
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@ -1155,6 +1156,7 @@ class Charges extends BaseController
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'margin_bottom' => 10,
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'margin_left' => 10,
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'margin_right' => 10,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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]);
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$mpdf->WriteHTML($htmlContent);
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}
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@ -2205,6 +2205,7 @@ class Diagnosis extends BaseController
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'margin_left' => 10,
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'margin_right' => 10,
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'tempDir' => $mpdfTempDir,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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]);
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$mpdf->WriteHTML($wrappedHtml);
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@ -2462,6 +2463,7 @@ class Diagnosis extends BaseController
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'margin_header' => $marginHeader,
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'margin_footer' => $marginFooter,
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'tempDir' => $mpdfTempDir,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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'autoScriptToLang' => false,
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'autoLanguageDetection' => false,
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'autoArabic' => false,
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@ -2033,7 +2033,7 @@ class Opd extends BaseController
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'margin_right' => 10,
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'margin_top' => 10,
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'margin_bottom' => 10,
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'default_font' => 'dejavusans',
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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'tempDir' => WRITEPATH . 'cache',
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]);
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@ -2189,7 +2189,7 @@ class Opd extends BaseController
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'margin_bottom' => 5,
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'margin_header' => 5,
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'margin_footer' => 5,
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'default_font' => 'dejavusans',
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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'autoScriptToLang' => true,
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'autoLangToFont' => true,
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'tempDir' => WRITEPATH . 'cache',
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@ -2305,7 +2305,7 @@ class Opd extends BaseController
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'margin_bottom' => $marginBottom,
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'margin_header' => $marginHeader,
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'margin_footer' => $marginFooter,
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'default_font' => 'dejavusans',
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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'autoScriptToLang' => true,
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'autoLangToFont' => true,
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'tempDir' => WRITEPATH . 'cache',
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@ -784,6 +784,7 @@ class Storestock extends BaseController
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'margin_bottom' => 12,
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'margin_left' => 10,
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'margin_right' => 5,
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'default_font' => 'freeserif',
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]);
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$mpdf->showWatermarkText = false;
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$mpdf->WriteHTML($html);
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