Convert PDF to CSV Using PDF.co and Make
This tutorial shows how to automatically convert PDF files into CSV using PDF.co’s Convert from PDF module in Make.
Workflow
Google Drive → PDF.co Convert from PDF → Google Drive
The scenario watches a Google Drive folder for PDF files, converts them to CSV, and saves the results in another folder.
Step 1: Create the Google Drive Trigger
Create a new Make scenario and add Google Drive as the first module.
Select Watch Files in a Folder, then:
- Connect your Google Drive account.
- Select the drive and folder containing the source PDFs.
- Choose where Make should begin watching for files.
- Set the maximum number of files to process during each run.
Use separate source and destination folders so the generated CSV files do not trigger the scenario again.
Step 2: Download the PDF
Add another Google Drive module and select Download a File.
Map the file ID returned by the trigger. This module downloads the PDF so its file data can be passed directly to PDF.co.
Step 3: Convert the PDF to CSV
Add a PDF.co module and select Convert from PDF.
Connect your PDF.co account, then configure the module:
- Input File: Upload a File
- Source File: Map the file data returned by Google Drive
- Convert Options: PDF to CSV
- Pages: Leave blank to process every page, or enter a page range such as
0-2 - OCR Language: Select the document language when processing a scanned PDF
- Password: Enter the password if the source PDF is protected
- Output File Name: Map the original filename and replace its extension with
.csv - Export Type: Download a File
PDF.co uses zero-based page numbering, so page 0 is the first page.
The conversion uses PDF.co’s PDF-to-CSV functionality, which extracts document content into rows and columns. Additional extraction options are described in the PDF-to-CSV API documentation.
Step 4: Save the CSV File
Add a final Google Drive module and select Upload a File.
Configure it as follows:
- Select the destination drive and folder.
- Map the CSV file data returned by PDF.co.
- Map the output filename from the PDF.co module.
Step 5: Test the Scenario
Click Run once, then add a PDF to the source folder.
Confirm that:
- Google Drive detects and downloads the PDF.
- PDF.co converts it to CSV.
- The generated CSV file appears in the destination folder.
Open the CSV file and verify that its rows and columns match the source document.
Conclusion
The completed Make scenario automatically converts new PDFs from a Google Drive folder into CSV files using PDF.co’s Convert from PDF module and saves the results for further processing.
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