Convert to PDF, Turn Common Files into PDF, API Tool

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Request

POST

Headers

Api-Key

Don't have a key? Create an account to get one.

Response-Type

Poll for the status of a request by ID. Request IDs can be found in the JSON response of POST requests sent to any pdfRest endpoint.

Required Parameters

file

File to be uploaded and processed

Alphanumeric ID (UUID) of existing file on server to be processed

url

URL of web page to process

Optional Parameters

output

Name of the generated output file, without extension

compression

Image compression for PostScript, Microsoft Office, HTML conversion

downsample

Downsample images during PostScript, Microsoft Office, HTML conversion or preserve original resolutions with the 'off' option

tagged_pdf

Microsoft Office file conversion only: Create a tagged PDF document, required for accessibility compliance

page_size

HTML conversion only: Select a page size for the PDF file. Options correspond to standard paper sizes

page_margin

HTML conversion only: Set margins for a PDF file in inches or millimeters

page_orientation

HTML conversion only: Set the page orientation

web_layout

HTML conversion only: For web pages with responsive design, select the intended web layout

Code

curl -X POST "https://api.pdfrest.com/pdf" \ 
  -H "Accept: application/json" \ 
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" \

Response

The response for your API Call will display here.

Once you've sent your POST request and received a valid response, you can download your output file using the output URL.

Build Your Solution

You have document processing problems, we have Solutions. Explore the many ways pdfRest can align your documents with your business objectives.

Browse all solutions

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Integrate pdfRest with Microsoft Power Automate

Why is pdfRest the best API to convert files to PDF?

pdfRest offers the best solution for converting many common file formats to PDF, because it supports robust formats, standardizes PDFs, and includes adjustable controls.

Robust Format Support

This one single tool will take just about any file you throw its way and convert the contents to a PDF document. Works with all of the following:

Word (.doc, .docx)
Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
PostScript (.ps)
Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
TIF (.tif, .tiff)
BMP (.bmp)
PNG (.png)
HTML (.html, from URL)

Standardized PDF Documents

Not all PDFs are created equal - many PDF conversion tools lack the support to generate complex PDF documents that meet all requirements by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This can lead to painful problems downstream in your workflows.

With pdfRest’s Convert to PDF Tool, all files are optimized using high-quality Adobe® PDF Library™ technology to ensure consistent and reliable compliance with PDF ISO 32000 specifications.

Adjustable Controls

Fine-tune PDF output files and optimize for your specific use cases with adjustable parameters to support:

Creating tagged PDFs from Office files
Compressing and downsampling PDF images
Setting page size, margins, and orientation for HTML conversion
And more!

See our documentation for full details

Check out other videos

Start from Code Examples

See more code examples in our GitHub repository

Need more help?

Start with a Tutorial for step-by-step guidance

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Customize Your Solution

Learn about the parameters for this tool to create your custom solution.

File

The file parameter allows you to select a local file to be uploaded to pdfRest’s processing server for conversion.

This is a required field unless you include the id or url parameter instead.

See Documentation

The id parameter allows you to submit a resource ID for a file already on the processing server. Each of our API Tools assigns a unique resource ID to all uploaded input files and generated output files and returns these IDs in the response to each API Call. This allows you to store the IDs from one call and submit them to the next, chaining requests together without having to download intermediate files between requests.

This is a required field unless you include the file or url parameter instead.

See Documentation

URL

The url parameter lets you convert a web page to a PDF directly from its URL and does not require uploading or referencing the id of a file.

This is a required field for web page conversion from URL only.

See Documentation

Output

The output parameter lets you provide a filename (without extension) for your new PDF.

See Documentation

Compression

The compression parameter lets you choose between “lossy” and “lossless” image compression. “Lossy” will sacrifice image quality for a drop in data size, whereas “lossless” will retain image quality.

See Documentation

Downsample

The downsample parameter lets you adjust downsampling of image resolution when converting from PostScript, Microsoft Office files, or HTML. Downsampling can be adjusted or completely switched off.

See Documentation

Tagged PDF

The tagged_pdf parameter allows you to create a tagged PDF when converting a Microsoft Office file. A tagged PDF enables accessibility features in supported viewers.

See Documentation

Page Size

The page_size lets you select from a list of standard page sizes when converting from HTML to PDF, including: letter, legal, ledger, A3, A4, A5.

See Documentation

Page Margin

The page_margin parameter lets you set the page margin size in inches or millimeters when converting from HTML to PDF.

Tip: Setting this to zero allows content to flow to the edges of the document, allowing a PDF to match the appearance of a website.

See Documentation

Page Orientation

The page_orientation parameter lets you set the page orientation to either landscape or portrait when converting from HTML to PDF.

See Documentation

Web Layout

The web_layout parameter lets you select the target layout of a web page to render when converting from HTML to PDF.

This has the biggest impact for web pages that use responsive design to adjust content to fit different screen resolutions. Choose from desktop, tablet, or mobile layouts.

See Documentation