Why Use PDF to JSON API?
Automated Classification Using Built-in AI
PDF.co Classifier automatically classifies input documents based on built-in AI-powered analysis. You can also create your own custom PDF classification rules based on keywords.
Damaged and scanned text support
Some PDF files have scanned and damaged texts in them. Our built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition) supports PDF files with mixed content and multiple languages.
Web API Supports Multiple Languages
PDF.co platform can be used by software developers from programming languages such as PHP, Javascript, .NET and ASP.NET, C#, Java, Visual Basic, and many others. Find source code samples in our API documentation.
Business Automation Platforms Integrations
If you are not a developer, you can also easily automate your PDF operations via popular business automation platforms: Zapier, Make, Airtable, Salesforce, Google Apps Script, and 300+ more.
PDF to JSON API Sample & Demo
For this demo, I am going to use a Sample PDF File.
We’ll be using the code snippets below which are written in different programming languages and will convert the Sample PDF File above into JSON. The final result will look like this.
{
"document": {
"pageCount": "1",
"pageCountWithOCRPerformed": "0",
"page": {
"index": "0",
"OCRWasPerformed": "False",
"row": {
"column": {
"text": {
"fontName": "Arial",
"fontSize": "24.0",
"fontStyle": "Bold",
"color": "#0000EF",
"x": "72.10",
"y": "70.60",
"width": "140.74",
"height": "24.00",
"text": "Hello World!"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Output JSON
Before we proceed with the code. Let us first check the /v1/pdf/convert/to/json2 parameters and their uses.
Endpoint
| URL: | https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/convert/to/json2 |
| Method: | POST |
| Parameter | Description |
| url | required. Link to the source file. |
| lang | optional. english by default. Sets OCR (image to text extraction) language to be used for scanned PDF when a scanned document is detected or input is PNG, JPG images. Other supported values: eng, spa, deu, fra, jpn, chi_sim, chi_tra, kor. You can also specify two languages to be used on the same page, for example: eng+deu, jpn+kor or other combinations. |
| inline | optional. Must be one of: true to return data as inline or false to return link to the output file (default). |
| unwrap | optional. Unwrap lines to a single line within table cells when lineGrouping is enabled. Must be one of true or false. |
| pages | optional. Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. IMPORTANT: the very first page starts with 0 (zero). To set a range use the dash –, for example: 0, 2-5, 7-. |
| rect | optional. Defines coordinates for extraction, e.g. 51.8, 114.8, 235.5, 204.0. Must be a string. |
| encrypt | optional. Enable encryption for the output file: true or false |
| async | optional. Runs processing asynchronously. Returns jobId to use with job/check: true or false |
| name | optional. Output file name. |
| profiles | optional. Must be a String. Set custom configuration. See profiles examples here |
| lineGrouping | optional. Line grouping with table cells. Set to 1 to enable the grouping. Must be a string. |
Now we are ready to write some codes.
cURL Code Snippet
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/convert/to/json2' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--data-raw '{
"url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/5cd7dc4346294ba2bacff69c4a881aa0/sample.pdf",
"inline": true
}'
This sample code and other cURL source code samples are available here.
Now let’s see this program in action.
The sample code for PDF to JSON in JavaScript is located here.
The sample code for PDF to JSON in PHP is located here.
The sample code for PDF to JSON in Python is here.
The sample code for PDF to JSON in Java is located here.
The sample code for PDF to JSON in C# is located here.
NOTE: Use PDF.co Document Classifier to know the source of the document. You can easily create and maintain classification rules with the desktop-based Classifier Testing Tool (see the details here)
