PDF To TEXT API

SelectPdf Pdf To Text REST API is an online solution that lets you extract text from your PDF documents or search your PDF document for certain words. The API is easy to use, the integration can be done in a few minutes with only a few lines of code.

GET A DEMO LICENSE KEY NOW

The free trial key for the online API is valid for 7 days and it includes 200 conversions.

Features

Usage

It’s very easy to use SelectPdf Pdf To Text REST API. All you need is a license key and you will be able to extract text from your PDFs in an instant. If you want to see how to do this in PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, Perl, Node.JS, C# or VB.net, click here to go directly to the coding examples.

Here is a basic usage example using a POST request:

Options

Mandatory Parameters

SelectPdf Pdf To Text REST API has only 2 mandatory parameters. The rest of the parameters are optional. When they are missing, the default value is used.

Optional Parameters

These parameters are used by both “Convert” and “Search” actions.

Text Extraction Parameters

These parameters are used only by “Convert” action.

Search Parameters

These parameters are used only by “Search” action.

Return Codes

Our API returns HTTP response codes, which you can check to see if the conversion was successful or not. Here is the list of HTTP codes used by SelectPdf REST API:

Remarks

Code Examples

Pdf To Text Conversion in PHP

<?php
require("SelectPdf.Api.php");

$testUrl = "https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf";
$testPdf = "Input.pdf";
$localFile = "Result.txt";
$apiKey = "Your API key here";

echo ("This is SelectPdf-" . SelectPdf\Api\ApiClient::CLIENT_VERSION . ".\n");

try {
    $client = new SelectPdf\Api\PdfToTextClient($apiKey);

    // set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
    $client
        ->setStartPage(1)                                    // first page to process
        ->setEndPage(0)                                      // 0 = process to the last page
        ->setOutputFormat(SelectPdf\Api\OutputFormat::Text)  // 0 - Text, 1 - Html
    ;

    echo ("Starting pdf to text ...\n");

    // extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
    $client->getTextFromFileToFile($testPdf, $localFile);

    // other available calls:
    // $text = $client->getTextFromFile($testPdf);          // local pdf -> string
    // $client->getTextFromUrlToFile($testUrl, $localFile); // remote url -> file
    // $text = $client->getTextFromUrl($testUrl);            // remote url -> string

    echo ("Finished! Number of pages processed: " . $client->getNumberOfPages() . ".\n");

    // get API usage
    $usageClient = new \SelectPdf\Api\UsageClient($apiKey);
    $usage = $usageClient->getUsage(false);
    echo ("Conversions remained this month: " . $usage["available"] . ".\n");
}
catch (Exception $ex) {
    echo ("An error occurred: " . $ex . ".\n");
}
?>

// Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for PHP.

Pdf To Text Conversion in Java

package com.selectpdf;

public class PdfToText {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        String testUrl = "https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf";
        String testPdf = "Input.pdf";
        String localFile = "Result.txt";
        String apiKey = "Your API key here";

        System.out.println(String.format("This is SelectPdf-%s.", ApiClient.CLIENT_VERSION));

        try {
            PdfToTextClient client = new PdfToTextClient(apiKey);

            // set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
            client
                .setStartPage(1)                              // first page to process
                .setEndPage(0)                                // 0 = process to the last page
                .setOutputFormat(ApiEnums.OutputFormat.Text)  // 0 - Text, 1 - HTML
            ;

            System.out.println("Starting pdf to text...");

            // extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
            client.getTextFromFileToFile(testPdf, localFile);

            // other available calls:
            // String text = client.getTextFromFile(testPdf);              // local pdf -> string
            // client.getTextFromUrlToFile(testUrl, localFile);            // remote url -> file
            // String text = client.getTextFromUrl(testUrl);                // remote url -> string

            System.out.println(String.format("Finished! Number of pages: %d.", client.getNumberOfPages()));

            // get API usage
            UsageClient usageClient = new UsageClient(apiKey);
            String usage = usageClient.getUsage(false);
            System.out.printf("Usage details: %s.%n", usage);
        }
        catch (Exception ex) {
            System.out.println("An error occurred: " + ex.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

// Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for Java.

Pdf To Text Conversion in Ruby

require 'selectpdf'

$stdout.sync = true

print "This is SelectPdf-#{SelectPdf::CLIENT_VERSION}\n"

test_url = 'https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf'
test_pdf = 'Input.pdf'
local_file = 'Result.txt'
api_key = 'Your API key here'

begin
  client = SelectPdf::PdfToTextClient.new(api_key)

  # set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
  client.start_page = 1                                  # first page to process
  client.end_page = 0                                    # 0 = process to the last page
  client.output_format = SelectPdf::OutputFormat::TEXT   # Text or HTML

  print "Starting pdf to text ...\n"

  # extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
  client.text_from_file_to_file(test_pdf, local_file)

  # other available calls:
  # text = client.text_from_file(test_pdf)            # local pdf -> string
  # client.text_from_url_to_file(test_url, local_file) # remote url -> file
  # text = client.text_from_url(test_url)             # remote url -> string

  print "Finished! Number of pages processed: #{client.number_of_pages}.\n"

  # get API usage
  usage_client = SelectPdf::UsageClient.new(api_key)
  usage = usage_client.get_usage(false)
  print('Conversions remained this month: ', usage['available'], "\n")
rescue SelectPdf::ApiException => e
  print("An error occurred: #{e}")
end

# Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for Ruby.

Pdf To Text Conversion in Python

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

import selectpdf

testUrl = "https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf"
testPdf = "Input.pdf"
localFile = "Result.txt"
apiKey = "Your API key here"

print ("This is SelectPdf-{0}.".format(selectpdf.CLIENT_VERSION))

try:
    client = selectpdf.PdfToTextClient(apiKey)

    # set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
    client.setStartPage(1)                                # first page to process
    client.setEndPage(0)                                  # 0 = process to the last page
    client.setOutputFormat(selectpdf.OutputFormat.Text)   # 0 - Text, 1 - HTML

    print ("Starting pdf to text ...")

    # extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
    client.getTextFromFileToFile(testPdf, localFile)

    # other available calls:
    # text = client.getTextFromFile(testPdf)           # local pdf -> string
    # client.getTextFromUrlToFile(testUrl, localFile)  # remote url -> file
    # text = client.getTextFromUrl(testUrl)            # remote url -> string

    print ("Finished! Number of pages processed: {0}.".format(client.getNumberOfPages()))

    # get API usage
    usageClient = selectpdf.UsageClient(apiKey)
    usage = usageClient.getUsage()
    print ("Conversions remained this month: {0}.".format(usage["available"]))

except selectpdf.ApiException as ex:
    print ("An error occurred: {0}.".format(ex.getMessage()))

# Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for Python.

Pdf To Text Conversion in C#

using System;
using SelectPdf.Api;

namespace Samples
{
    public class PdfToText
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            string testUrl = "https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf";
            string testPdf = "Input.pdf";
            string localFile = "Result.txt";
            string apiKey = "Your API key here";

            Console.WriteLine("This is SelectPdf-{0}.", ApiClient.CLIENT_VERSION);

            try
            {
                PdfToTextClient client = new PdfToTextClient(apiKey);

                // set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
                client
                    .setStartPage(1)                       // first page to process
                    .setEndPage(0)                         // 0 = process to the last page
                    .setOutputFormat(OutputFormat.Text)    // 0 - Text, 1 - HTML
                ;

                Console.WriteLine("Starting pdf to text ...");

                // extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
                client.getTextFromFileToFile(testPdf, localFile);

                // other available calls:
                // string text = client.getTextFromFile(testPdf);             // local pdf -> string
                // client.getTextFromUrlToFile(testUrl, localFile);           // remote url -> file
                // string text = client.getTextFromUrl(testUrl);              // remote url -> string

                Console.WriteLine("Finished! Number of pages processed: {0}.", client.getNumberOfPages());

                // response telemetry (SDK 1.5.0+)
                Console.WriteLine("Mode: {0}, Execution: {1}.", client.Mode, client.ExecutionMode);
                Console.WriteLine("Credits remaining: {0} / {1}.",
                    client.CreditsRemaining, client.CreditsTotal);

                // get API usage
                UsageClient usageClient = new UsageClient(apiKey);
                UsageInformation usage = usageClient.getUsage(false);
                Console.WriteLine("Conversions remained this month: {0}.", usage.Available);
            }
            catch (ApiException ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("API error: {0}", ex.Message);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("An error occurred: " + ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

// Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for .NET.

Pdf To Text Conversion in Go

There is no dedicated Go client library for the SelectPdf API. The example below uses Go’s standard library to POST a multipart/form-data request directly to the API endpoint.

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "mime/multipart"
    "net/http"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    apiEndpoint := "https://selectpdf.com/api2/pdftotext/"
    apiKey := "Your API key here"
    testUrl := "https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf"
    outFile := "Result.txt"

    body := &bytes.Buffer{}
    writer := multipart.NewWriter(body)

    // mandatory parameter
    _ = writer.WriteField("key", apiKey)

    // input PDF - either remote url or upload a local file
    _ = writer.WriteField("url", testUrl)

    // alternative: upload a local PDF as 'inputPdf'
    // f, err := os.Open("Input.pdf")
    // if err != nil { panic(err) }
    // defer f.Close()
    // part, _ := writer.CreateFormFile("inputPdf", "Input.pdf")
    // _, _ = io.Copy(part, f)

    // optional parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
    _ = writer.WriteField("action", "Convert")    // Convert (default) or Search
    _ = writer.WriteField("start_page", "1")
    _ = writer.WriteField("end_page", "0")        // 0 = until the end
    _ = writer.WriteField("output_format", "0")   // 0 - Text, 1 - HTML

    if err := writer.Close(); err != nil { panic(err) }

    req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", apiEndpoint, body)
    if err != nil { panic(err) }
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", writer.FormDataContentType())

    resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
    if err != nil { panic(err) }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
        msg, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
        fmt.Printf("API error %d: %s\n", resp.StatusCode, string(msg))
        return
    }

    out, err := os.Create(outFile)
    if err != nil { panic(err) }
    defer out.Close()
    if _, err := io.Copy(out, resp.Body); err != nil { panic(err) }

    fmt.Printf("Finished! Pages: %s. Text saved to %s.\n",
        resp.Header.Get("X-SelectPdf-Pages"), outFile)
}

Pdf To Text Conversion in Node.js

var selectpdf = require('selectpdf');

console.log("This is SelectPdf-%s.", selectpdf.CLIENT_VERSION);

try {
    var testUrl = 'https://selectpdf.com/demo/files/selectpdf.pdf';
    var testPdf = 'Input.pdf';
    var localFile = 'Result.txt';
    var apiKey = 'Your API key here';

    var client = new selectpdf.PdfToTextClient(apiKey);

    // set parameters - see full list at https://selectpdf.com/pdf-to-text-api/
    client
        .setStartPage(1)        // first page to process
        .setEndPage(0)          // 0 = process to the last page
        .setOutputFormat(0)     // 0 - Text, 1 - HTML
    ;

    console.log('Starting pdf to text ...');

    // extract text from a local pdf to a local text file
    client.getTextFromFileToFile(testPdf, localFile,
        function(err, fileName) {
            if (err) return console.error("An error occurred: " + err);
            console.log("Finished! Result is in file '" + fileName +
                "'. Number of pages processed: " + client.getNumberOfPages());

            var usageClient = new selectpdf.UsageClient(apiKey);
            usageClient.getUsage(false, function(err2, data) {
                if (err2) return console.error("Usage error: " + err2);
                console.log("Conversions remained this month: " + data["available"]);
            });
        }
    );

    // other available calls:
    /*
    client.getTextFromFile(testPdf, function(err, text) { ... });           // local pdf -> string
    client.getTextFromUrlToFile(testUrl, localFile, function(err, f) {...}); // remote url -> file
    client.getTextFromUrl(testUrl, function(err, text) { ... });             // remote url -> string
    */
}
catch (ex) {
    console.log("An error occurred: " + ex);
}

// Code snippet uses the SelectPdf API Client library for Node.js.

Test SelectPdf PDF To TEXT online RESTful API Now

Request a Demo License Key for SelectPdf REST API right now. Feel free to ask any questions if needed.
The free trial key for the online API is valid for 7 days and it includes 200 conversions.

SelectPdf for Cloud’s platform independent Pdf to Text API is a true REST API that can be used with any language: .NET, Java, PHP, Ruby, Rails, Python, jQuery and many more. You can use it with any language or platform that supports REST. Almost all platforms and languages support REST and provide native REST clients to work with REST APIs. You do not need to worry about language or platform limitations. You can use it with any platform – web, desktop, mobile, and cloud. Try now for free the best API to convert PDF to TEXT.