PDF.co Web API – PDF To JSON API – JavaScript – Convert PDF To JSON From URL (Node.js)

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app.js

      
var https = require("https");
var path = require("path");
var fs = require("fs");


// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co/documentation/api
const API_KEY = "***********************************";


// Direct URL of source PDF file.
const SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-to-json/sample.pdf";
// Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
const Pages = "";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
const Password = "";
// Destination JSON file name
const DestinationFile = "./result.json";


// Prepare request to `PDF To JSON` API endpoint
var queryPath = `/v1/pdf/convert/to/json`;

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    name: path.basename(DestinationFile), password: Password, pages: Pages, url: SourceFileUrl
});

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    method: "POST",
    path: queryPath,
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};
// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
    response.on("data", (d) => {
        // Parse JSON response
        var data = JSON.parse(d);        
        if (data.error == false) {
            // Download JSON file
            var file = fs.createWriteStream(DestinationFile);
            https.get(data.url, (response2) => {
                response2.pipe(file)
                .on("close", () => {
                    console.log(`Generated JSON file saved as "${DestinationFile}" file.`);
                });
            });
        }
        else {
            // Service reported error
            console.log(data.message);
        }
    });
}).on("error", (e) => {
    // Request error
    console.log(e);
});

// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();
    

package.json

      
{
  "name": "test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "PDF.co",
  "main": "app.js",
  "scripts": {
  },
  "keywords": [
    "pdf.co",
    "web",
    "api",
    "bytescout",
    "api"
  ],
  "author": "ByteScout & PDF.co",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "request": "^2.88.2"
  }
}

    

Output

Now that we’ve analyzed the source code and its output, let’s analyze the source code a bit.

1. Variables to Create PDF.co Request
2. Create the Request Options
3. Execute the Request
4. Customize Data with Additional Parameters
5. Video Guide

1. Variables to Create PDF.co Request

Initially, we’re referencing the packages that are used in this article, such as https, path and fs. Next we’re creating the variables useful for creating the PDF.co request, as shown below.

The PDF.co API endpoint /v1/pdf/convert/to/json is used to convert PDF to JSON format. We’re creating the PDF.co request with the following JSON payload.

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    name: path.basename(DestinationFile), password: Password, pages: Pages, url: SourceFileUrl
});

2. Create the Request Options

We’re creating the request options and providing the API endpoint name as well as the header information such as the PDF.co API key and request content information.

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    method: "POST",
    path: queryPath,
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};

3. Execute the Request

With this information we’re executing the request against PDF.co server. Once the response is received we’re validating it’s error free and then writing the receied JSON data to the destination location (provided in DestinationFile).

// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
    response.on("data", (d) => {
        // Parse JSON response
        var data = JSON.parse(d);        
        if (data.error == false) {
            // Download JSON file
            var file = fs.createWriteStream(DestinationFile);
            https.get(data.url, (response2) => {
                response2.pipe(file)
                .on("close", () => {
                    console.log(`Generated JSON file saved as "${DestinationFile}" file.`);
                });
            });
        }
        else {
            // Service reported error
            console.log(data.message);
        }
    });
}).on("error", (e) => {
    // Request error
    console.log(e);
});

// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();

Following is the sample response JSON generated.

"text": {
           "@fontName": "Arial",
           "@fontSize": "24.0",
           "@fontStyle": "Bold",
           "@color": "#538DD3",
           "@x": "36.00",
           "@y": "34.44",
           "@width": "242.81",
           "@height": "24.00",
           "#text": "Your Company Name"
        }

As we’ve noticed, the response JSON contains the extracted data in #text node. The following are the additional data extracted.

4. Customize Data with Additional Parameters

In this sample we’re using very basic request information. However, depending on our requirement we customize the request data with additional parameters as shown in the following table. Please refer to PDF.co documentations to get a full list of available customizations.

That’s all guys! It’s how easy and efficient to convert PDF to JSON with PDF.co Web API. Please try to execute this code in your machine to get more familiar with PDF.co.

Thank you for reading!

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