Introduction Last updated: 2021-09-27

Welcome to pdf generator, a tool to convert different types of documents to pdf. To convert documents to PDF you can either use our built-in file uploaders or our sophisticated API endpoints for professional use. Our API points come with several options for optimal outcome which will be listed below. You can start for free right now with up to 500 free API calls. You can either read this documentation experiment with the postman documentation

Authentication

To successfully make a request you need to specify your token. You can generate the token on your dashboard > api keys

Header: X-PDFOnline-ApiKey <api-key> apiToken

Header: X-PDFOnline-ApiKey apiToken

APIs

Provide a public URL to convert your html fast and securely to PDF.

Html to pdf

Http request

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/html/pdf

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
file_url	string* (required)	The url that will be converted to html	http://acme.com/
save	0\|1	Should the document be hosted on pdf-generator?	default: 0
partner	number	Selected partner will own the file (Partner ID)	15
scale	number	The zoom that should used	default: 0.77
waitUntil	Type: waitUntil	Differentiates the way that the document is loaded. Different configuration results in different download times.	default: load
format	Type: format	Creates different width and height ration	default: A4
marginTop	number	the margin that it should have from the top in cm	default: 0.3
marginBottom	number	the margin that it should have from the bottom in cm	default: 0.2
marginLeft	number	the margin that it should have from the left in cm	default: 0.2
marginRight	number	the margin that it should have from the right in cm	default: 0.2

Return type

remember Return types are different depending on if we save the document or not

if the document is saved:

the document code is returned which can be used to get the file later on with our other endpoints


							  {"code": "906ccede-b956-4609-82b6-f87ae6ccedd3"}

if the document isn't saved binary data is returned

Types

Type: WaitUntil

Parameter	description
load	consider navigation to be finished when the load event is fired.
domcontentloaded	consider navigation to be finished when the DOMContentLoaded event is fired
networkidle0	consider navigation to be finished when there are no more than 0 network connections for at least 500 ms
networkidle2	consider navigation to be finished when there are no more than 2 network connections for at least 500 ms

Type: format

Parameter	description
Letter	8.5in x 11in
Legal	8.5in x 14in
Tabloid	11in x 17in
Ledger	17in x 11in
A0	33.1in x 46.8in
A1	23.4in x 33.1in
A2	16.54in x 23.4in
A3	11.7in x 16.54in
A4	8.27in x 11.7in
A5	5.83in x 8.27in
A6	4.13in x 5.83in

Code examples


	<?php

	$curl = curl_init();

	curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
		CURLOPT_URL => 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/html/pdf',
		CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
		CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
		CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
		CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
		CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
		CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
		CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
		CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS =>'{
		"file_url": "http://acme.com/",
		"scale": 1,
		"waitUntil": "load"
	}',
		CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
		'Content-Type: application/json',
		'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken'
		),
	));

	$response = curl_exec($curl);

	curl_close($curl);
	file_put_contents('output.pdf', $response);


	curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/html/pdf' \
	--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	--header 'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken' \
	--data-raw '{
		"file_url": "http://acme.com/",
		"scale": 1,
		"waitUntil": "load"
	}' --output output.pdf


	Unirest.setTimeouts(0, 0);
	File response = Unirest.post("https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/html")
		.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.header("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "c0f8a4efca-3d8a7d9e5f-c69c9ef3b6-dae10b77dd")
		.body("{\n    \"file_url\": \"https://acme.com\",\n    \"save\": \"0\"\n}")
		.getBody();

          
	var myHeaders = new Headers();
	myHeaders.append("Content-Type", "application/json");
	myHeaders.append("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken");

	var raw = "{\n    \"file_url\": \"http://acme.com/\",\n    \"scale\": 1,\n    \"waitUntil\": \"load\",\n}";

	var requestOptions = {
	method: 'POST',
	headers: myHeaders,
	body: raw,
	redirect: 'follow'
	};

	fetch("https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/html/pdf", requestOptions)
	.then(response => response.blob())
	.then(result => {
		var blob = new Blob([result], {type: "application/pdf"});
		var link=document.createElement('a');
		link.href=window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
		link.download="myFileName.pdf";
		link.click();
	})
	.catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Upload files

You can upload any file type to our server and use them later for whatever suits your needs! Authentication works as usual using the authentication header.

Http request

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/file

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
file	file *(required)	The file to be uploaded
filename	string	The name of your file	Something useful
partner	array	An array of partners who will have access to this file	[11,23,44]

Return type: JSON


	{"code": "906ccede-b956-4609-82b6-f87ae6ccedd3"}

Download hosted documents

Downloading hosted files consumes 1 api request per download. To download a file you will need the file code and your api token

Http request

GET https://pdf-generator.online/api/file/<doc-code>?token=<public-token>

Convert other document types to pdf

Http request

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/pdf

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
doc	local file* (required)	The document that will be used to be transformed to pdf
save	0\|1	Should the document be hosted on pdf-generator?	default: 0
partner	number	Selected partner will own the file (Partner ID)	15
filename	string	A name for your file	document number 44 \| mr. Elliot

Return type

remember Return types are different depending on if we save the document or not

if the document is saved:

the document code is returned which can be used to get the file later on with our other endpoints


 	{"code": "906ccede-b956-4609-82b6-f87ae6ccedd3"}

if the document isn't saved binary data is returned


	<?php

	$curl = curl_init();
	
	curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
		CURLOPT_URL => 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/pdf',
		CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
		CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
		CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
		CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
		CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
		CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
		CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
		CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array('save' => '0','doc'=> new CURLFILE('PATH_TO_FILE'),'filename' => 'Basic Authoring And Testing'),
		CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
		'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken'
		),
	));
	
	$response = curl_exec($curl);
	
	curl_close($curl);
	file_put_contents('output.pdf', $response);


	curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/pdf' \
	--header 'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken' \
	--form 'save="0"' \
	--form 'doc=@"PATH_TO_FILE"' \
	--form 'filename="Basic Authoring And Testing"' \
	--output output.pdf


	Unirest.setTimeouts(0, 0);
	File result = Unirest.post("https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/pdf")
		.header("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken")
		.field("save", "0")
		.field("file", new File(FILE_PATH))
		.field("filename", "Basic Authoring And Testing")
		.getBody();

          
	var myHeaders = new Headers();
	myHeaders.append("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken");
	
	// fileInput.files[0] will be the file inside an input
	var formdata = new FormData();
	formdata.append("save", "0");
	formdata.append("doc", fileInput.files[0], "biography.docx");
	formdata.append("filename", "Basic Authoring And Testing");
	
	var requestOptions = {
		method: 'POST',
		headers: myHeaders,
		body: formdata,
		redirect: 'follow'
	};
	
	// Download the file
	fetch("https://pdf-generator.online/api/convert/pdf", requestOptions)
		.then(response => response.blob())
		.then(result => {
			var blob = new Blob([result], {type: "application/pdf"});
			var link=document.createElement('a');
			link.href=window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
			link.download="myFileName.pdf";
			link.click();
		})
		.catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Partners

partners are entities that can view files that you upload and download them. Download of files are restricted with a special key.

Add partner

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
name *(required)	string *(required)	Name of the partner	John
surname *(required)	string *(required)	Surname of the partner	Doe
email *(required)	string *(required)	Email of the partner	johndoe@gmail.com

Return type


	{"id": "10"}


	<?php

	$curl = curl_init();

	curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
		CURLOPT_URL => 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner',
		CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
		CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
		CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
		CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
		CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
		CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
		CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
		CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array('name' => 'joe','surname' => 'doe','email' => 'johndoe@gmail.com'),
		CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
		'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken',
		'Content-Type: application/json'
		),
	));
	
	$response = curl_exec($curl);
	
	curl_close($curl);
	echo $response;


	curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner' \
	--header 'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken' \
	--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	--form 'name="john"' \
	--form 'surname="doe"' \
	--form 'email="johndoe@gmail.com"'


	Unirest.setTimeouts(0, 0);
	HttpResponse response = Unirest.post("https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner")
		.header("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken")
		.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.multiPartContent()
		.field("name", "john")
		.field("surname", "doe")
		.field("email", "johndoe@gmail.com")
		.asString();

          
	var myHeaders = new Headers();
	myHeaders.append("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken");
	myHeaders.append("Content-Type", "application/json");
	
	var formdata = new FormData();
	formdata.append("name", "john");
	formdata.append("surname", "doe");
	formdata.append("email", "johndoe@gmail.com");
	
	var requestOptions = {
		method: 'POST',
		headers: myHeaders,
		body: formdata,
		redirect: 'follow'
	};
	
	fetch("https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner", requestOptions)
		.then(response => response.text())
		.then(result => console.log(result))
		.catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Edit partner

PUT https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner/:id

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
name	string	Name of the partner	John
surname	string	Surname of the partner	Doe
email	string	Email of the partner	johndoe@gmail.com

Return type


	{"name": "john", "surname": "doe", "email": "johndoe@gmail.com", "token": "aXee43ab-XXXX-XXXX-b9e9-XXX6bea5a0XX"}


	<?php

	$curl = curl_init();

	curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
		CURLOPT_URL => 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner',
		CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
		CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
		CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
		CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
		CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
		CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
		CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'PUT',
		CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array('name' => 'joe','surname' => 'doe','email' => 'johndoe@gmail.com'),
		CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
		'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken',
		'Content-Type: application/json'
		),
	));

	$response = curl_exec($curl);

	curl_close($curl);
	echo $response;


	curl --location --request PUT 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner' \
	--header 'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken' \
	--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	--form 'name="john"' \
	--form 'surname="doe"' \
	--form 'email="johndoe@gmail.com"'


	Unirest.setTimeouts(0, 0);
	HttpResponse response = Unirest.put("https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner")
		.header("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken")
		.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.multiPartContent()
		.field("name", "john")
		.field("surname", "doe")
		.field("email", "johndoe@gmail.com")
		.asString();

          
	var myHeaders = new Headers();
	myHeaders.append("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken");
	myHeaders.append("Content-Type", "application/json");

	var formdata = new FormData();
	formdata.append("name", "john");
	formdata.append("surname", "doe");
	formdata.append("email", "johndoe@gmail.com");

	var requestOptions = {
		method: 'PUT',
		headers: myHeaders,
		body: formdata,
		redirect: 'follow'
	};

	fetch("https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner", requestOptions)
		.then(response => response.text())
		.then(result => console.log(result))
		.catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Delete partner

DELETE https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner/:id

Get partner

GET https://pdf-generator.online/api/partner/:id

Return type


	{"name": "john", "surname": "doe", "email": "johndoe@gmail.com"}

Templates

Templates are a very useful type of html file that can be used together with parameters to generate a PDF file. Remember, templates are just HTML + DATA = PDF. Our underlying engine uses Mustache to insert the parameters to the html file. You find usage instructions in the following page

Operations

Add template
Get template
Convert a template to pdf

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/template

Request parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
html (*required)	file	The html file including the parameters
title (*required)	string	The title of the template	Invoice Generator #1

Return type


	{"id": 20}


	<?php

	$curl = curl_init();
	
	curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
	  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/template',
	  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
	  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
	  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
	  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
	  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
	  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
	  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
	  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array('html'=> new CURLFILE('PATH_TO_FILE'), 'title' => 'Some title'),
	  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
		'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey' => 'apiToken'
	  ),
	));
	
	$response = curl_exec($curl);
	
	curl_close($curl);
	echo $response;


	curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-generator.online/api/template' \
	--header 'X-PDFOnline-ApiKey: apiToken' \
	--form 'html=@"PATH_TO_FILE"'


	Unirest.setTimeouts(0, 0);
	HttpResponse response = Unirest.post("https://pdf-generator.online/api/template")
		.header("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken")
		.field("file", new File("PATH_TO_FILE"))
		.asString();

          
	var data = new FormData();
	data.append("html", fileInput.files[0], "newfile2.html");
		
	var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
	xhr.withCredentials = true;
	
	xhr.addEventListener("readystatechange", function() {
		if(this.readyState === 4) {
		console.log(this.responseText);
		}
	});
	
	xhr.open("POST", "https://pdf-generator.online/api/template");
	xhr.setRequestHeader("X-PDFOnline-ApiKey", "apiToken");
	
	xhr.send(data);

Get template

GET https://pdf-generator.online/api/template/:id

Return type


	{
		"id": 38,
		"idusr": 56,
		"filename": "36b6e1d2-e229-4c51-9551-246810d48d58.html",
		"template": null,
		"title": "New template",
		"recstamp": "2021-10-15T07:46:07.000Z"
	}

Convert template

Join data with the template to create a pdf

POST https://pdf-generator.online/api/template/convert

Request parameters

Parameter Type Description Example

templateId (*required) integer The id of the template that will be used

parameters (*required)

object

An object that will fill the parameters of the template

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
templateId (*required)	integer	The id of the template that will be used
parameters (*required)	object	An object that will fill the parameters of the template	`{ "total": "312.00", "receipt": { "date": "Jul 09, 2014 - 12:20 pm", "number":"434334343" }, "username": "Thanasis Mpalatsoukas", "items": [ { "name": "Html theme", "quantity": "3", "amount": 60 } ], "subtotal": "320", }`


	
{
	"total": "312.00",
	"receipt": {
		"date": "Jul 09, 2014 - 12:20 pm",
		"number":"434334343"
	},
	"username": "Thanasis Mpalatsoukas",
	"items": [
		{
		"name": "Html theme",
		"quantity": "3",
			"amount": 60
		}
	],
	"subtotal": "320",
}

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
watermark	file	The watermark that will be included
front	file	The pdf that will have the watermark added

Html to pdf

Http request

Request parameters

Return type

if the document is saved:

if the document isn't saved binary data is returned

Types

Type: WaitUntil

Type: format

Code examples

Upload files

Http request

Request parameters

Return type: JSON

Download hosted documents

Http request

Convert other document types to pdf

Http request

Request parameters

Return type

if the document is saved:

if the document isn't saved binary data is returned

Partners

partners are entities that can view files that you upload and download them. Download of files are restricted with a special key.

Operations

Add partner

Request parameters

Return type

Edit partner

Request parameters

Return type

Delete partner

Get partner

Return type

Templates

Templates are a very useful type of html file that can be used together with parameters to generate a PDF file. Remember, templates are just HTML + DATA = PDF. Our underlying engine uses Mustache to insert the parameters to the html file. You find usage instructions in the following page

Operations

Request parameters

Return type

Get template

Return type

Convert template

Join data with the template to create a pdf

Request parameters

Add watermark to pdf

To add a watermark to your pdfs all you need is 2 locally stored pdf files. One will work as a watermark and the other one as the pdf which will include the watermark

Request parameters

Return type: binary