--- name: pdf4me description: Comprehensive PDF processing API for conversion, merge, split, compress, OCR, and more vm0_secrets: - PDF4ME_API_KEY --- # PDF4ME Comprehensive PDF processing API with 60+ operations: convert, merge, split, compress, OCR, watermark, form filling, digital signatures, and more. > Official docs: https://dev.pdf4me.com/apiv2/documentation/ --- ## When to Use Use this skill when you need to: - Convert documents to/from PDF (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, images) - Merge multiple PDFs into one - Split PDF into multiple files - Compress PDF to reduce file size - Add watermarks, stamps, page numbers - Extract text, tables, or images from PDF - Fill PDF forms programmatically - OCR scanned documents - Protect/unlock PDF with password - Create barcodes and QR codes --- ## Prerequisites 1. Create an account at https://dev.pdf4me.com/ 2. Get your API key from https://dev.pdf4me.com/dashboard/#/api-keys/ Set environment variable: ```bash export PDF4ME_API_KEY="your-api-key-here" ``` --- > **Important:** When using `$VAR` in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing `$VAR` in `bash -c '...'`. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly. > ```bash > bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' > ``` ## How to Use ### 1. Convert to PDF Convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images to PDF: ```bash # Convert a text file to PDF echo "Hello, PDF4ME!" > /tmp/test.txt BASE64_CONTENT=$(base64 < /tmp/test.txt) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${BASE64_CONTENT}", "docName": "test.txt" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/ConvertToPdf" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > /tmp/output.pdf ``` ### 2. HTML to PDF Convert HTML content to PDF: ```bash HTML_CONTENT=$(echo '

Hello World

This is a test.

' | base64) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${HTML_CONTENT}", "docName": "test.html", "layout": "Portrait", "format": "A4" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/ConvertHtmlToPdf" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' --output /tmp/from-html.pdf ``` ### 3. URL to PDF Convert a webpage to PDF: Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "webUrl": "https://example.com" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/ConvertUrlToPdf" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' > /tmp/webpage.pdf ``` ### 4. Merge PDFs Combine multiple PDFs into one: ```bash PDF1_BASE64=$(base64 < file1.pdf) PDF2_BASE64=$(base64 < file2.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": ["${PDF1_BASE64}", "${PDF2_BASE64}"], "docName": "merged.pdf" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/Merge" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > merged.pdf ``` ### 5. Split PDF Split PDF by page ranges: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf", "splitAction": "splitAfterPage", "splitAfterPage": 2 } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/Split" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' ``` ### 6. Compress PDF Reduce PDF file size: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < large.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "large.pdf" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/Compress" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > compressed.pdf ``` ### 7. PDF to Word Convert PDF to editable Word document: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/PdfToWord" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > output.docx ``` ### 8. PDF to Images Create thumbnails/images from PDF pages: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf", "imageFormat": "png", "width": 800 } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/CreateThumbnail" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' ``` ### 9. Add Text Stamp/Watermark Add text watermark to PDF: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf", "stampText": "CONFIDENTIAL", "pages": "all", "alignX": "center", "alignY": "middle", "alpha": 0.3 } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/TextStamp" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > stamped.pdf ``` ### 10. OCR - Extract Text from Scanned PDF Make scanned PDFs searchable: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < scanned.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "scanned.pdf", "ocrLanguage": "eng" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/PdfOcr" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > searchable.pdf ``` ### 11. Protect PDF with Password ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf", "password": "secret123" } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/ProtectDocument" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > protected.pdf ``` ### 12. Extract Pages Extract specific pages from PDF: ```bash PDF_BASE64=$(base64 < input.pdf) ``` Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "${PDF_BASE64}", "docName": "input.pdf", "pageNrs": [1, 3, 5] } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/ExtractPages" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' | jq -r '.docContent' | base64 -d > extracted.pdf ``` --- ## API Endpoints | Category | Endpoint | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | **Convert** | `/api/v2/ConvertToPdf` | Word/Excel/PPT/Image → PDF | | | `/api/v2/ConvertHtmlToPdf` | HTML → PDF | | | `/api/v2/UrlToPdf` | URL → PDF | | | `/api/v2/MarkdownToPdf` | Markdown → PDF | | | `/api/v2/PdfToWord` | PDF → Word | | | `/api/v2/PdfToExcel` | PDF → Excel | | | `/api/v2/PdfToPowerpoint` | PDF → PowerPoint | | **Merge/Split** | `/api/v2/Merge` | Merge multiple PDFs | | | `/api/v2/Split` | Split PDF | | | `/api/v2/ExtractPages` | Extract specific pages | | **Optimize** | `/api/v2/Compress` | Compress PDF | | | `/api/v2/Linearize` | Optimize for web | | **Edit** | `/api/v2/TextStamp` | Add text watermark | | | `/api/v2/ImageStamp` | Add image watermark | | | `/api/v2/AddPageNumber` | Add page numbers | | | `/api/v2/Rotate` | Rotate pages | | **Extract** | `/api/v2/CreateThumbnail` | PDF → Images | | | `/api/v2/ExtractResources` | Extract images/fonts | | | `/api/v2/ExtractTable` | Extract tables | | **OCR** | `/api/v2/PdfOcr` | OCR scanned PDFs | | **Security** | `/api/v2/ProtectDocument` | Password protect | | | `/api/v2/UnlockPdf` | Remove password | | **Forms** | `/api/v2/FillPdfForm` | Fill form fields | | | `/api/v2/ExtractFormData` | Extract form data | | **Barcode** | `/api/v2/CreateBarcode` | Generate barcode | | | `/api/v2/AddBarcodeToPdf` | Add barcode to PDF | | | `/api/v2/ReadBarcodeFromPdf` | Read barcode from PDF | --- ## Request Format All endpoints use POST with JSON body: Write to `/tmp/pdf4me_request.json`: ```json { "docContent": "base64-encoded-file", "docName": "filename.ext", "...other parameters": "..." } ``` Then run: ```bash bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.pdf4me.com/api/v2/{endpoint}" --header "Authorization: ${PDF4ME_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/pdf4me_request.json' ``` ## Response Format ```json { "docContent": "base64-encoded-result", "docName": "output.pdf", "pageCount": 5 } ``` --- ## Guidelines 1. **File Size**: Max 20MB per file (varies by plan) 2. **Base64**: All file content must be base64 encoded 3. **Formats**: Supports PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, images 4. **OCR Languages**: eng, deu, fra, spa, ita, por, etc. 5. **Rate Limits**: Check your plan at https://dev.pdf4me.com/pricing/ 6. **Free Tier**: 50 API calls/month 7. **Postman**: Import from https://dev.pdf4me.com/apiv2/documentation/postman/ --- ## Resources - **API Docs**: https://dev.pdf4me.com/apiv2/documentation/ - **Code Samples**: https://github.com/pdf4me/pdf4me-api-samples - **Postman Collection**: https://dev.pdf4me.com/apiv2/documentation/postman/ - **Dashboard**: https://dev.pdf4me.com/dashboard/