PDF to Text in Golang

This page describes how to convert PDF to text in Golang using the cloud-based Pdfcrowd API. The API is easy to use and it takes only a few of lines of code to integrate it to your application.

Installation

The Golang API client library provides easy access to the Pdfcrowd API. No third-party libraries are required.

Install the client library from Github
go get github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-go

We also offer other installation options.

Authentication

The credentials to access the API are your Pdfcrowd username and the API key. You can try out the API without registering using the following demo credentials:

  • Username: demo
  • API key: ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d

To get your personal API credentials, you can start a free API trial or buy the API license.

API Method Reference

Refer to the PDF to Text Golang Reference for a description of all API methods.

Code Examples

Here are a few Golang examples to get you started quickly with the API. See more examples. 

package main

import (
    "os"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-go"
)

func main() {
    // create the API client instance
    client := pdfcrowd.NewPdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    // run the conversion and write the result to a file
    err := client.ConvertFileToFile("/path/to/invoice.pdf", "invoice.txt")

    // check for the conversion error
    handleError(err)
}

func handleError(err error) {
    if err != nil {
        // report the error
        why, ok := err.(pdfcrowd.Error)
        if ok {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Pdfcrowd Error: %s\n", why))
        } else {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Generic Error: %s\n", err))
        }

        // rethrow or handle the exception
        panic(err.Error())
    }
}
package main

import (
    "os"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-go"
)

func main() {
    // create the API client instance
    client := pdfcrowd.NewPdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    // run the conversion and write the result to a file
    err := client.ConvertUrlToFile("https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf", "invoice.txt")

    // check for the conversion error
    handleError(err)
}

func handleError(err error) {
    if err != nil {
        // report the error
        why, ok := err.(pdfcrowd.Error)
        if ok {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Pdfcrowd Error: %s\n", why))
        } else {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Generic Error: %s\n", err))
        }

        // rethrow or handle the exception
        panic(err.Error())
    }
}
package main

import (
    "os"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-go"
    "io/ioutil"
)

func readFile(fileName string) []byte {
    content, err := ioutil.ReadFile(fileName)
    handleError(err)
    return content
}

func main() {
    // create the API client instance
    client := pdfcrowd.NewPdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d")

    // run the conversion and write the result to a file
    err := client.ConvertRawDataToFile(readFile("/path/to/hello_world.pdf"), "invoice.txt")

    // check for the conversion error
    handleError(err)
}

func handleError(err error) {
    if err != nil {
        // report the error
        why, ok := err.(pdfcrowd.Error)
        if ok {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Pdfcrowd Error: %s\n", why))
        } else {
            os.Stderr.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("Generic Error: %s\n", err))
        }

        // rethrow or handle the exception
        panic(err.Error())
    }
}

Troubleshooting