Document Parser#

Document Parser can automatically parse PDF, JPG, and PNG documents to extract fields, tables, values, and barcodes from invoices, statements, orders, and other PDF and scanned documents.

Built-in document parser templates#

General Invoice Template can parse invoices (English only) to invoice id, invoice date, extract total, tax, and line items. Set the templateId parameter to 1 to use this template.

How to classify incoming documents before parsing them?#

Use the /pdf/classifier endpoint (see below) to automatically sort/detect the class of the document based on AI or on custom keywords-based rules.

For example, you can easily define rules to find which vendor provided the document to find which template to apply accordingly. See Document Classifier for more details.

/pdf/documentparser#

This API method extracts data from documents based on a document parser extraction template. With this API method, you can extract data from custom areas by searching form fields, tables, multiple pages, and more.

  • Method: POST

  • Endpoint: /v1/pdf/documentparser

Attributes#

Note

Attributes are case-sensitive and should be inside JSON for POST request, for example:

{
    "url": "https://example.com/file1.pdf"
}

Attribute

Description

Required

url

URL to the source file. 1

yes

httpusername

HTTP auth user name if required to access source url.

no

httppassword

HTTP auth password if required to access source url.

no

templateId

Set ID of document parser template to be used. View and manage your templates at Document Parser.

no

template

You can pass the code of the document parser template to be used directly.

no

inline

Set to true to return results inside the response. Otherwise, the endpoint will return a link to the output file generated. Note: only applies if async mode is true.

no

outputFormat

Default is JSON. You can override the default output format to CSV or XML to generate CSV or XML output accordingly.

no

password

Password of PDF file, the input must be in string format.

no

async

Set async to true for long processes to run in the background, API will then return a jobId which you can use with the Background Job Check endpoint to check the status of the process and retrieve the output while you can proceed with other tasks.

no

name

File name for the generated output, the input must be in string format.

no

expiration

Set the expiration time for the output link in minutes (default is 60 i.e 60 minutes or 1 hour), After this specified duration, any generated output file(s) will be automatically deleted from PDF.co Temporary Files Storage. The maximum duration for link expiration varies based on your current subscription plan. To store permanent input files (e.g. re-usable images, pdf templates, documents) consider using PDF.co Built-In Files Storage.

no

profiles

Use this parameter to set additional configurations for fine-tuning and extra options. Explore the Profiles section for more.

no

Query parameters#

No query parameters accepted.

Payload#

{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-parser/sample-invoice.pdf",
    "outputFormat": "JSON",
    "templateId": "1",
    "async": false,
    "inline": "true",
    "password": "",
    "profiles": ""
}

Response 2#

{
    "body": {
        "objects": [
            {
                "name": "companyName",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "Amazon Web Services, Inc",
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "companyName2",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "Amazon Web Services, Inc",
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "invoiceId",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "123456789",
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "dateIssued",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "2018-04-03T00:00:00",
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "dateDue",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "2018-04-03T00:00:00",
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "bankAccount",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": "123456789012",
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "total",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": 6.58,
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "name": "subTotal",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": ""
            },
            {
                "name": "tax",
                "objectType": "field",
                "value": 1.01,
                "pageIndex": 0,
                "rectangle": [
                    0,
                    0,
                    0,
                    0
                ]
            },
            {
                "objectType": "table",
                "name": "table",
                "rows": []
            }
        ],
        "templateName": "Generic Invoice [en]",
        "templateVersion": "4",
        "timestamp": "2020-08-21T19:23:31"
    },
    "pageCount": 1,
    "error": false,
    "status": 200,
    "name": "sample-invoice.json",
    "remainingCredits": 60803
}

CURL#

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/documentparser' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {{x-api-key}}' \
--data-raw '{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-parser/sample-invoice.pdf",
    "outputFormat": "JSON",
    "templateId": "1",
    "async": false,
    "inline": "true",
    "password": "",
    "profiles": ""
}'

/pdf/documentparser/templates#

Returns all Document Parser data extraction templates for the current user.

Use the PDF.co dashbaord to manage your Document Parser Templates.

  • Method: GET

  • Endpoint: /v1/pdf/documentparser/templates

Query parameters#

No query parameters accepted.

Body payload#

No body parameters accepted.

Response 2#

{
    "templates": [
        {
            "id": 40,
            "type": "user",
            "title": "Untitled",
            "description": "Untitled"
        },
        {
            "id": 1,
            "type": "system",
            "title": "Invoice Parser",
            "description": "Parses invoices and extracts invoice number, company name, due date, amount, tax"
        }
    ],
    "remainingCredits": 94229
}

CURL#

curl --location --request GET 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/documentparser/templates' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {{x-api-key}}'

/pdf/documentparser/templates/:id#

Returns detailed information for document parser template by template’s id.

Use the PDF.co dashbaord to manage your Document Parser Templates.

  • Method: GET

  • Endpoint: /v1/pdf/documentparser/templates/:id

Query parameters#

No query parameters accepted.

Body payload#

No body parameters accepted.

CURL#

curl --location --request GET 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/documentparser/templates/1' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {{x-api-key}}' \
--data-raw ''

Template samples#

Find templates to use with Document Parser here:

Footnotes

1

Supports links from Google Drive, Dropbox, and PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. To upload files via the API check out the File Upload section. Note: If you experience intermittent Too Many Requests or Access Denied errors, please try to add cache: to enable built-in URL caching. (e.g cache:https://example.com/file1.pdf) For data security, you have the option to encrypt output files and decrypt input files. Learn more about user-controlled data encryption.

2(1,2)

Response codes as follows:

Code

Description

200

The request has succeeded

400

Bad input parameters

401

Unauthorized

403

Not enough credits

405

Timeout error. To process large documents or files please use asynchronous mode (set the async parameter to true) and then check status using the /job/check endpoint. If a file contains many pages then specify a page range using the pages parameter. The number of pages of the document can be obtained using the /pdf/info endpoint.