One of my first task in PHP was to create a timesheet report under pdf format, and after days and days trying to read the PHP manual, I just ended up with heaps of error and yet nothing to be produced. In that panic moment, I came to Google and did some search on the PHP community, and ironically, there was a treasure with full of scroll spell regarding the PDF creation with PHP out there. After reading some tutorials, I found the one on http://www.devarticles.com to be the most comprehensive for a newbie, and that's it for the introduction, let the real game begin.
Note: All information related to author and copyright can be found on the original website of DevArticle.

Use PHP to Create Dynamic PDF FILES

The php_pdf.dll extension is enough to produce pdf files on the fly. Once you have read this article you may start to produce high quality pdf files for your clients.

In the following article you will learn how to create a pdf file using PHP. This code will be useful if you were considering creating invoices, reports or any other hardcopy file for your client. It is assumed that you know where all of your PHP files are located and that PHP is configured in your Apache Web Server.

You will need to have a pdf viewer handy. If you don’t have this package, simply go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/ and download adobe acrobat.