PDF to Text / Java Examples

This page contains various examples of using the PDF to Text API in Java. The examples are complete and fully functional. Read more about how to convert PDF to Text in Java.

Basic examples
Spring examples

Basic examples

PDF file to text file

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
            client.convertFileToFile("/path/to/invoice.pdf", "invoice.txt");
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

PDF file to in-memory text

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertFile("/path/to/invoice.pdf");

            // at this point the "txt" variable contains TXT raw data and
            // can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

PDF file to text stream

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Create an output stream for the conversion result
            FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("invoice.txt");

            // run the conversion and write the result to the output stream.
            client.convertFileToStream("/path/to/invoice.pdf", outputStream);

            // Close the output stream.
            outputStream.close();
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

PDF url to text file

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
            client.convertUrlToFile("https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf", "invoice.txt");
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

PDF url to in-memory text

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertUrl("https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf");

            // at this point the "txt" variable contains TXT raw data and
            // can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

PDF url to text stream

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Create an output stream for the conversion result
            FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("invoice.txt");

            // run the conversion and write the result to the output stream.
            client.convertUrlToStream("https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf", outputStream);

            // Close the output stream.
            outputStream.close();
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

In-memory PDF to text file

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
            client.convertRawDataToFile(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("/path/to/hello_world.pdf")), "invoice.txt");
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

In-memory PDF to in-memory text

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertRawData(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("/path/to/hello_world.pdf")));

            // at this point the "txt" variable contains TXT raw data and
            // can be sent in an HTTP response, saved to a file, etc.
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

In-memory PDF to text stream

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Create an output stream for the conversion result
            FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("invoice.txt");

            // run the conversion and write the result to the output stream.
            client.convertRawDataToStream(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("/path/to/hello_world.pdf")), outputStream);

            // Close the output stream.
            outputStream.close();
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

Get info about the current conversion

import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApiTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, Pdfcrowd.Error {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Configure the conversion.
            client.setDebugLog(true);
            client.setPageBreakMode("default");

            // Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
            client.convertFileToFile("/path/to/invoice.pdf", "invoice.txt");
            
            // print URL of the debug log
            System.out.println("Debug log url: " + client.getDebugLogUrl());
            
            // print the number of conversion credits remaining in your account
            System.out.println("Remaining credit count: " + client.getRemainingCreditCount());
            
            // print the number of credits used for the conversion
            System.out.println("Consumed credit count: " + client.getConsumedCreditCount());
            
            // print the unique identifier for the conversion
            System.out.println("Job id: " + client.getJobId());
            
            // print total number of pages in the output document
            System.out.println("Page count: " + client.getPageCount());
            
            // print size of the output data in bytes
            System.out.println("Output size: " + client.getOutputSize());
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            System.err.println("Pdfcrowd Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
        catch(IOException why) {
            System.err.println("IO Error: " + why);
            throw why;
        }
    }
}

Spring examples

PDF file to text in Spring

import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import com.pdfcrowd.*;

@Controller
public class DemoController {
    // The recommended method is POST.
    @PostMapping("/")
    public ResponseEntity<byte[]> convert() throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertFile("/path/to/invoice.pdf");

            // Set HTTP response headers.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            headers.add("Cache-Control", "max-age=0");
            headers.add("Accept-Ranges", "none");
            headers.add("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename*=UTF-8''" +
                        URLEncoder.encode("invoice.txt", "UTF-8").replace("+", "%20"));

            // Send the result in the HTTP response.
            return new ResponseEntity<>(txt, headers, HttpStatus.OK);
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            // Send the error in the HTTP response.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            String msg = String.format("Pdfcrowd Error: %d - %s",
                                       why.getCode(), why.getMessage());
            return new ResponseEntity<>(msg.getBytes(), headers, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);
        }
    }
}

PDF url to text in Spring

import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import com.pdfcrowd.*;

@Controller
public class DemoController {
    // The recommended method is POST.
    @PostMapping("/")
    public ResponseEntity<byte[]> convert() throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertUrl("https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf");

            // Set HTTP response headers.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            headers.add("Cache-Control", "max-age=0");
            headers.add("Accept-Ranges", "none");
            headers.add("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename*=UTF-8''" +
                        URLEncoder.encode("invoice.txt", "UTF-8").replace("+", "%20"));

            // Send the result in the HTTP response.
            return new ResponseEntity<>(txt, headers, HttpStatus.OK);
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            // Send the error in the HTTP response.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            String msg = String.format("Pdfcrowd Error: %d - %s",
                                       why.getCode(), why.getMessage());
            return new ResponseEntity<>(msg.getBytes(), headers, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);
        }
    }
}

In-memory PDF to text in Spring

import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import com.pdfcrowd.*;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.io.IOException;

@Controller
public class DemoController {
    // The recommended method is POST.
    @PostMapping("/")
    public ResponseEntity<byte[]> convert() throws IOException, UnsupportedEncodingException {
        try {
            // Create an API client instance.
            Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient client =
                new Pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("demo", "ce544b6ea52a5621fb9d55f8b542d14d");

            // Run the conversion and store the result in the `txt` variable.
            byte[] txt = client.convertRawData(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("/path/to/hello_world.pdf")));

            // Set HTTP response headers.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            headers.add("Cache-Control", "max-age=0");
            headers.add("Accept-Ranges", "none");
            headers.add("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename*=UTF-8''" +
                        URLEncoder.encode("invoice.txt", "UTF-8").replace("+", "%20"));

            // Send the result in the HTTP response.
            return new ResponseEntity<>(txt, headers, HttpStatus.OK);
        }
        catch(Pdfcrowd.Error why) {
            // Send the error in the HTTP response.
            HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
            headers.add("Content-Type", "text/plain");
            String msg = String.format("Pdfcrowd Error: %d - %s",
                                       why.getCode(), why.getMessage());
            return new ResponseEntity<>(msg.getBytes(), headers, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);
        }
    }
}