PDF to Image / Command Line Guide

Overview

This page serves as a guide on using PDFCrowd API to convert PDF into images from the command line.

pip install pdfcrowd

git clone https://github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-python
cd pdfcrowd-python
pip install .

Quick Start

Below are examples to help you quickly get started with the API. Explore our additional examples for more insights.

For a multi-page PDF, the API returns a ZIP archive containing an image for each page. For a single-page PDF, the output is directly an image (e.g., PNG). To determine the output format, use -zipped_output. You can enforce the use of a ZIP archive by using -force_zip.

pdf2image -user-name "demo" -api-key "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d" \
    -output-format "png" \
    -force-zip \
    "/path/to/invoice.pdf" > "invoice.zip"

pdf2image -user-name "demo" -api-key "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d" \
    -output-format "png" \
    -force-zip \
    "https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf" > "invoice.zip"

Authentication

To access the API, you will need to use your PDFCrowd username and API key. For initial testing, you may use the following demo credentials without registering:

• Username: demo
• API key: ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d

To obtain your personal API credentials, start a free trial or purchase the API license.

Troubleshooting

• If you are receiving an error, refer to the API Status Codes for more information.
• Use -debug-log to obtain detailed information about the conversion process, including load errors, load times, browser console output, etc.
• Consult the FAQ for answers to common questions.
• Contact us if you need assistance or if there is a feature you are missing.

User Manual

Refer to the PDF to Image Command Line Reference Manual for a description of all command line options.