PDF to Text / Node.js Guide

Overview

This page serves as a guide for using the PDFCrowd API to extract text from PDF in Node.js applications.

npm install pdfcrowd

git clone https://github.com/pdfcrowd/pdfcrowd-nodejs
cd pdfcrowd-nodejs
npm link

Quick Start

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

var pdfcrowd = require("pdfcrowd");

// Create an API client instance.
var client = new pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("USERNAME", "APIKEY");

// Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
client.convertFileToFile(
    "/path/to/invoice.pdf",
    "invoice.txt",
    function(err, fileName) {
        if (err) return console.error("PDFCrowd Error: " + err);
        console.log("Success: the file was created " + fileName);
    });

var pdfcrowd = require("pdfcrowd");

// Create an API client instance.
var client = new pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("USERNAME", "APIKEY");

// Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
client.convertUrlToFile(
    "https://pdfcrowd.com/static/pdf/apisamples/invoice.pdf",
    "invoice.txt",
    function(err, fileName) {
        if (err) return console.error("PDFCrowd Error: " + err);
        console.log("Success: the file was created " + fileName);
    });

var pdfcrowd = require("pdfcrowd");
var fs = require("fs");

// Create an API client instance.
var client = new pdfcrowd.PdfToTextClient("USERNAME", "APIKEY");

// Run the conversion and save the result to a file.
client.convertRawDataToFile(
    fs.readFileSync("/path/to/hello_world.pdf"),
    "invoice.txt",
    function(err, fileName) {
        if (err) return console.error("PDFCrowd Error: " + err);
        console.log("Success: the file was created " + fileName);
    });

Authentication

The API requires authentication using your PDFCrowd username and API key. To get started quickly, you can use these demo credentials for testing without registering:

• Username: USERNAME
• API key: APIKEY

To get your own API credentials, you can start a free trial or purchase a PDFCrowd license.

Error Handling

It is recommended that you implement error handling to catch errors the API may return. Effective error handling is vital as it ensures application stability and provides clearer diagnostics. See the example code below for guidance on implementing error handling, and refer to this list of status codes for more information.

try {
    // Call the API 
}
catch(why) {
    // Log the complete error
    console.error("PDFCrowd Error: " + why);

    // Log the HTTP status code
    console.error("Status Code: " + why.getStatusCode());

    // Log the reason code
    console.error("Reason Code: " + why.getReasonCode());

    // Log the error message
    console.error("Error Message: " + why.getMessage());

    // Log the documentation link
    console.error("Documentation Link: " + why.getDocumentationLink());
}

Troubleshooting

• If you are receiving an error, refer to the API Status Codes for more information.
• Use setDebugLog() and getDebugLogUrl() 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.

API Method Reference

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