PDF to PDF / PHP Reference

class PdfToPdfClient

All setter methods return PdfToPdfClient object unless specified otherwise.

Constructor

function __construct($user_name, $api_key)
Constructor for the Pdfcrowd API client.
user_name
Your username at Pdfcrowd.
api_key
Your API key.

PDF Manipulation

function setAction($action)
Specifies the action to be performed on the input PDFs.
action
Allowed values:
  • join
    Concatenate input PDFs into a single one.
  • shuffle
    Collate pages from input PDFs into a single one, take one page at a time from each input PDF. This is useful when combining two scanned documents containing odd and even pages.
  • extract
    Extract pages from input PDF.
  • delete
    Delete pages from input PDF.
Default: join 
function convert()
Perform an action on the input files.
Returns
  • byte[] - Byte array containing the output PDF. 
function convertToStream($out_stream)
Perform an action on the input files and write the output PDF to an output stream.
out_stream
The output stream that will contain the output PDF. 
function convertToFile($file_path)
Perform an action on the input files and write the output PDF to a file.
file_path
The output file path. 
function addPdfFile($file_path)
Add a PDF file to the list of the input PDFs.
file_path
The file path to a local PDF file.
The file must exist and not be empty.
function addPdfRawData($data)
Add in-memory raw PDF data to the list of the input PDFs.
Typical usage is for adding PDF created by another Pdfcrowd converter.

Example in PHP:
$clientPdf2Pdf->addPdfRawData($clientHtml2Pdf->convertUrl('http://www.example.com'));
data
The raw PDF data.
The input data must be PDF content.
function setInputPdfPassword($password)
Password to open the encrypted PDF file.
Availability: API client >= 5.4.0, converter >= 20.10. See versioning.
password
The input PDF password. 
function setPageRange($pages)
Set the page range for extract or delete action.
pages
A comma separated list of page numbers or ranges.
Examples:
  • Just the second page is selected.
    setPageRange("2")
  • The first and the third page are selected.
    setPageRange("1,3")
  • Everything except the first page is selected.
    setPageRange("2-")
  • Just first 3 pages are selected.
    setPageRange("-3")
  • Pages 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are selected.
    setPageRange("3,6-9")

Watermark & Background

function setPageWatermark($watermark)
Apply a watermark to each page of the output PDF file. A watermark can be either a PDF or an image. If a multi-page file (PDF or TIFF) is used, the first page is used as the watermark.
watermark
The file path to a local file.
The file must exist and not be empty.
Examples:
  • setPageWatermark("/home/user/john/watermark.pdf")
  • setPageWatermark("/home/user/john/watermark.png") 
function setPageWatermarkUrl($url)
Load a file from the specified URL and apply the file as a watermark to each page of the output PDF. A watermark can be either a PDF or an image. If a multi-page file (PDF or TIFF) is used, the first page is used as the watermark.
url
The supported protocols are http:// and https://.
Examples:
  • setPageWatermarkUrl("http://myserver.com/watermark.pdf")
  • setPageWatermarkUrl("http://myserver.com/watermark.png") 
function setMultipageWatermark($watermark)
Apply each page of a watermark to the corresponding page of the output PDF. A watermark can be either a PDF or an image.
watermark
The file path to a local file.
The file must exist and not be empty.
Examples:
  • setMultipageWatermark("/home/user/john/watermark.pdf")
  • setMultipageWatermark("/home/user/john/watermark.png") 
function setMultipageWatermarkUrl($url)
Load a file from the specified URL and apply each page of the file as a watermark to the corresponding page of the output PDF. A watermark can be either a PDF or an image.
url
The supported protocols are http:// and https://.
Examples:
  • setMultipageWatermarkUrl("http://myserver.com/watermark.pdf")
  • setMultipageWatermarkUrl("http://myserver.com/watermark.png") 
function setPageBackground($background)
Apply a background to each page of the output PDF file. A background can be either a PDF or an image. If a multi-page file (PDF or TIFF) is used, the first page is used as the background.
background
The file path to a local file.
The file must exist and not be empty.
Examples:
  • setPageBackground("/home/user/john/background.pdf")
  • setPageBackground("/home/user/john/background.png") 
function setPageBackgroundUrl($url)
Load a file from the specified URL and apply the file as a background to each page of the output PDF. A background can be either a PDF or an image. If a multi-page file (PDF or TIFF) is used, the first page is used as the background.
url
The supported protocols are http:// and https://.
Examples:
  • setPageBackgroundUrl("http://myserver.com/background.pdf")
  • setPageBackgroundUrl("http://myserver.com/background.png") 
function setMultipageBackground($background)
Apply each page of a background to the corresponding page of the output PDF. A background can be either a PDF or an image.
background
The file path to a local file.
The file must exist and not be empty.
Examples:
  • setMultipageBackground("/home/user/john/background.pdf")
  • setMultipageBackground("/home/user/john/background.png") 
function setMultipageBackgroundUrl($url)
Load a file from the specified URL and apply each page of the file as a background to the corresponding page of the output PDF. A background can be either a PDF or an image.
url
The supported protocols are http:// and https://.
Examples:
  • setMultipageBackgroundUrl("http://myserver.com/background.pdf")
  • setMultipageBackgroundUrl("http://myserver.com/background.png")

PDF Format

Miscellaneous values for PDF output.

function setLinearize($value)
Create linearized PDF. This is also known as Fast Web View.
value
Set to true to create linearized PDF.
Default: false 
function setEncrypt($value)
Encrypt the PDF. This prevents search engines from indexing the contents.
value
Set to true to enable PDF encryption.
Default: false 
function setUserPassword($password)
Protect the PDF with a user password. When a PDF has a user password, it must be supplied in order to view the document and to perform operations allowed by the access permissions.
password
The user password.
Example:
  • setUserPassword("123456") 
function setOwnerPassword($password)
Protect the PDF with an owner password. Supplying an owner password grants unlimited access to the PDF including changing the passwords and access permissions.
password
The owner password.
Example:
  • setOwnerPassword("123456") 
function setNoPrint($value)
Disallow printing of the output PDF.
value
Set to true to set the no-print flag in the output PDF.
Default: false 
function setNoModify($value)
Disallow modification of the output PDF.
value
Set to true to set the read-only only flag in the output PDF.
Default: false 
function setNoCopy($value)
Disallow text and graphics extraction from the output PDF.
value
Set to true to set the no-copy flag in the output PDF.
Default: false 
function setTitle($title)
Set the title of the PDF.
title
The title.
Example:
  • setTitle("My Resume") 
function setSubject($subject)
Set the subject of the PDF.
subject
The subject.
Example:
  • setSubject("CV - Software Developer") 
function setAuthor($author)
Set the author of the PDF.
author
The author.
Example:
  • setAuthor("John Doe") 
function setKeywords($keywords)
Associate keywords with the document.
keywords
The string with the keywords.
Example:
  • setKeywords("software developer, Unix, databases") 
function setUseMetadataFrom($index)
Use metadata (title, subject, author and keywords) from the n-th input PDF.
index
Set the index of the input PDF file from which to use the metadata. 0 means no metadata.
Must be a positive integer number or 0.
Default: 0
Example:
  • Use metadata from the first input PDF.
    setUseMetadataFrom(1)

Viewer Preferences

These preferences specify how a PDF viewer should present the document. The preferences may be ignored by some PDF viewers.

function setPageLayout($layout)
Specify the page layout to be used when the document is opened.
layout
Allowed values:
  • single-page
    Display one page at a time.
  • one-column
    Display the pages in one column.
  • two-column-left
    Display the pages in two columns, with odd-numbered pages on the left.
  • two-column-right
    Display the pages in two columns, with odd-numbered pages on the right. 
function setPageMode($mode)
Specify how the document should be displayed when opened.
mode
Allowed values:
  • full-screen
    Full-screen mode.
  • thumbnails
    Thumbnail images are visible.
  • outlines
    Document outline is visible. 
function setInitialZoomType($zoom_type)
Specify how the page should be displayed when opened.
zoom_type
Allowed values:
  • fit-width
    The page content is magnified just enough to fit the entire width of the page within the window.
  • fit-height
    The page content is magnified just enough to fit the entire height of the page within the window.
  • fit-page
    The page content is magnified just enough to fit the entire page within the window both horizontally and vertically. If the required horizontal and vertical magnification factors are different, use the smaller of the two, centering the page within the window in the other dimension. 
function setInitialPage($page)
Display the specified page when the document is opened.
page
Must be a positive integer number.
Example:
  • setInitialPage(2) 
function setInitialZoom($zoom)
Specify the initial page zoom in percents when the document is opened.
zoom
Must be a positive integer number.
Example:
  • setInitialZoom(50) 
function setHideToolbar($value)
Specify whether to hide the viewer application's tool bars when the document is active.
value
Set to true to hide tool bars.
Default: false 
function setHideMenubar($value)
Specify whether to hide the viewer application's menu bar when the document is active.
value
Set to true to hide the menu bar.
Default: false 
function setHideWindowUi($value)
Specify whether to hide user interface elements in the document's window (such as scroll bars and navigation controls), leaving only the document's contents displayed.
value
Set to true to hide ui elements.
Default: false 
function setFitWindow($value)
Specify whether to resize the document's window to fit the size of the first displayed page.
value
Set to true to resize the window.
Default: false 
function setCenterWindow($value)
Specify whether to position the document's window in the center of the screen.
value
Set to true to center the window.
Default: false 
function setDisplayTitle($value)
Specify whether the window's title bar should display the document title. If false , the title bar should instead display the name of the PDF file containing the document.
value
Set to true to display the title.
Default: false 
function setRightToLeft($value)
Set the predominant reading order for text to right-to-left. This option has no direct effect on the document's contents or page numbering but can be used to determine the relative positioning of pages when displayed side by side or printed n-up
value
Set to true to set right-to-left reading order.
Default: false

Miscellaneous

function setDebugLog($value)
Turn on the debug logging. Details about the conversion are stored in the debug log. The URL of the log can be obtained from the getDebugLogUrl method or available in conversion statistics.
value
Set to true to enable the debug logging.
Default: false 
function getDebugLogUrl()
Get the URL of the debug log for the last conversion.
Returns
  • string - The link to the debug log. 
function getRemainingCreditCount()
Get the number of conversion credits available in your account.
This method can only be called after a call to one of the convertXtoY methods.
The returned value can differ from the actual count if you run parallel conversions.
The special value 999999 is returned if the information is not available.
Returns
  • int - The number of credits. 
function getConsumedCreditCount()
Get the number of credits consumed by the last conversion.
Returns
  • int - The number of credits. 
function getJobId()
Get the job id.
Returns
  • string - The unique job identifier. 
function getPageCount()
Get the number of pages in the output document.
Returns
  • int - The page count. 
function getOutputSize()
Get the size of the output in bytes.
Returns
  • int - The count of bytes. 
function getVersion()
Get the version details.
Returns
  • string - API version, converter version, and client version. 
function setTag($tag)
Tag the conversion with a custom value. The tag is used in conversion statistics. A value longer than 32 characters is cut off.
tag
A string with the custom tag.
Example:
  • setTag("client-1234")

API Client Options

function setConverterVersion($version)
Set the converter version. Different versions may produce different output. Choose which one provides the best output for your case.
Availability: API client >= 5.0.0. See versioning.
version
The version identifier.
Allowed values:
  • 24.04
    Version 24.04.
  • 20.10
    Version 20.10.
  • 18.10
    Version 18.10.
Default: 24.04 
function setUseHttp($value)
Specifies if the client communicates over HTTP or HTTPS with Pdfcrowd API.
value
Set to true to use HTTP.
Default: false

Warning

Using HTTP is insecure as data sent over HTTP is not encrypted. Enable this option only if you know what you are doing.

function setUserAgent($agent)
Set a custom user agent HTTP header. It can be useful if you are behind a proxy or a firewall.
agent
The user agent string.
Default: pdfcrowd_php_client/6.3.0 (https://pdfcrowd.com) 
function setProxy($host, $port, $user_name, $password)
Specifies an HTTP proxy that the API client library will use to connect to the internet.
host
The proxy hostname.
port
The proxy port.
user_name
The username.
password
The password. 
function setUseCurl($value)
Use cURL for the conversion request instead of the file_get_contents() PHP function.
value
Set to true to use PHP's cURL.
Default: false 
function setRetryCount($count)
Specifies the number of automatic retries when the 502 or 503 HTTP status code is received. The status code indicates a temporary network issue. This feature can be disabled by setting to 0.
count
Number of retries.
Default: 1
Example:
  • setRetryCount(3)