POST /v1/pdf/split
When splitting a document the pages parameter controls which pages to split out into individual documents. The page limit should not exceed the number of pages in the document - for example, you cannot split a 100 page document into 200 individual documents, however you can split it into 100 individual documents.
The pages parameter is 1-based, meaning the first page is 1 and not 0.
Attributes
Attributes are case-sensitive and should be inside JSON for POST request. for example: { "url": "https://example.com/file1.pdf" }
| Attribute | Type | Required | Default | Description |
url | string | Yes | - | URL to the source file url attribute |
callback | string | No | - | The callback URL (or Webhook) used to receive the POST data. see Webhooks & Callbacks. This is only applicable when async is set to true. |
httpusername | string | No | - | HTTP auth user name if required to access source URL. |
httppassword | string | No | - | HTTP auth password if required to access source URL. |
pages(basePageNumber: 1) | string | No | all pages | Specify page indices as comma-separated values or ranges to process (e.g. “0, 1, 2-” or “1, 2, 3-7”). The first-page index is 1. Use ”!” before a number for inverted page numbers (e.g. “!0” for the last page). If not specified, the default configuration processes all pages. The input must be in string format. |
password | string | No | - | Password for the PDF file. |
async | boolean | No | false | 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. Also see Webhooks & Callbacks |
inline | boolean | No | false | Set to true to return results inside the response. Otherwise, the endpoint will return a URL to the output file generated. |
name | string | No | - | File name for the generated output, the input must be in string format. |
fixed_output_filename | boolean | No | false | Defines whether the page range is appended to the output filename. When set to true, the output filename remains exactly as specified in the name parameter. When set to false (default), the filename automatically includes the page range of the extracted pages for each output file. |
expiration | integer | No | 60 | Set the expiration time for the output link in minutes. 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. |
profiles | object | No | - | See Profiles for more information. |
outputDataFormat | string | No | - | If you require your output as base64 format, set this to base64 |
DataEncryptionAlgorithm | string | No | - | Controls the encryption algorithm used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256. |
DataEncryptionKey | string | No | - | Controls the encryption key used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataEncryptionIV | string | No | - | Controls the encryption IV used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataDecryptionAlgorithm | string | No | - | Controls the decryption algorithm used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256. |
DataDecryptionKey | string | No | - | Controls the decryption key used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataDecryptionIV | string | No | - | Controls the decryption IV used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
Query parameters
No query parameters accepted.
Responses
| Parameter | Type | Description |
urls | array[string] | List of URLs to the final PDF file stored in S3. |
outputLinkValidTill | string | Timestamp indicating when the output link will expire |
pageCount | integer | Number of pages in the PDF document. |
error | boolean | Indicates whether an error occurred (false means success) |
status | string | Status code of the request (200, 404, 500, etc.). For more information, see Response Codes. |
name | string | Name of the output file |
credits | integer | Number of credits consumed by the request |
remainingCredits | integer | Number of credits remaining in the account |
duration | integer | Time taken for the operation in milliseconds |
Example Payload
{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-split/sample.pdf",
"pages": "1-2,3-",
"inline": true,
"name": "result.pdf",
"async": false
}
Example Response
To see the main response codes, please refer to the
Response Codes page.
{
"urls": [
"https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/1e9a7f2c46834160903276716424382b/result_page1-2.pdf",
"https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/c976b9f89a2e460786a3d5c0deeeef67/result_page3-4.pdf"
],
"pageCount": 4,
"error": false,
"status": 200,
"name": "result.pdf",
"remainingCredits": 98441
}
Inconsistent URL Encoding in cURL Output: When using cURL to make API requests, the output JSON may show URL characters encoded as Unicode escape sequences. For example, the ampersand character (&) may appear as \u0026 in the cURL output. This is normal JSON encoding behavior and does not affect the validity of the URL. The URL will function correctly when used, as JSON parsers automatically decode these escape sequences. If you’re parsing the response programmatically, your JSON parser will handle this conversion automatically.
Code Samples
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/split' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--data-raw '{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-split/sample.pdf",
"pages": "1-2,3-",
"inline": true,
"name": "result.pdf",
"async": false
}'
import os
import requests # pip install requests
import time
import datetime
# The authentication key (API Key).
# Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
API_KEY = "******************************************"
# Base URL for PDF.co Web API requests
BASE_URL = "https://api.pdf.co/v1"
# Source PDF file
SourceFile = ".\\sample.pdf"
# Comma-separated list of page numbers (or ranges) to process. Example: '1,3-5,7-'.
Pages = "1-2,3-"
# (!) Make asynchronous job
Async = True
def main(args = None):
uploadedFileUrl = uploadFile(SourceFile)
if (uploadedFileUrl != None):
splitPDF(uploadedFileUrl)
def splitPDF(uploadedFileUrl):
"""Split PDF using PDF.co Web API"""
# Prepare requests params as JSON
# See documentation: https://developer.pdf.co/
parameters = {}
parameters["async"] = Async
parameters["pages"] = Pages
parameters["url"] = uploadedFileUrl
# Prepare URL for 'Split PDF' API request
url = "{}/pdf/split".format(BASE_URL)
# Execute request and get response as JSON
response = requests.post(url, data=parameters, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY })
if (response.status_code == 200):
json = response.json()
if json["error"] == False:
# Asynchronous job ID
jobId = json["jobId"]
# URL of the result file
resultFilePlaceholder = json["url"]
# Check the job status in a loop.
# If you don't want to pause the main thread you can rework the code
# to use a separate thread for the status checking and completion.
while True:
status = checkJobStatus(jobId) # Possible statuses: "working", "failed", "aborted", "success".
# Display timestamp and status (for demo purposes)
print(datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M.%S") + ": " + status)
if status == "success":
resJsonImgFiles = requests.get(resultFilePlaceholder)
# Download generated PNG files
part = 1
for resultFileUrl in resJsonImgFiles.json():
# Download Result File
r = requests.get(resultFileUrl, stream=True)
localFileUrl = f"Page{part}.pdf"
if r.status_code == 200:
with open(localFileUrl, 'wb') as file:
for chunk in r:
file.write(chunk)
print(f"Result file saved as \"{localFileUrl}\" file.")
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
part = part + 1
break
elif status == "working":
# Pause for a few seconds
time.sleep(3)
else:
print(status)
break
else:
# Show service reported error
print(json["message"])
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
def checkJobStatus(jobId):
"""Checks server job status"""
url = f"{BASE_URL}/job/check?jobid={jobId}"
response = requests.get(url, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY })
if (response.status_code == 200):
json = response.json()
return json["status"]
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
return None
def uploadFile(fileName):
"""Uploads file to the cloud"""
# 1. RETRIEVE PRESIGNED URL TO UPLOAD FILE.
# Prepare URL for 'Get Presigned URL' API request
url = "{}/file/upload/get-presigned-url?contenttype=application/octet-stream&name={}".format(
BASE_URL, os.path.basename(fileName))
# Execute request and get response as JSON
response = requests.get(url, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY })
if (response.status_code == 200):
json = response.json()
if json["error"] == False:
# URL to use for file upload
uploadUrl = json["presignedUrl"]
# URL for future reference
uploadedFileUrl = json["url"]
# 2. UPLOAD FILE TO CLOUD.
with open(fileName, 'rb') as file:
requests.put(uploadUrl, data=file, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY, "content-type": "application/octet-stream" })
return uploadedFileUrl
else:
# Show service reported error
print(json["message"])
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
return None
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
namespace PDFcoApiExample
{
class Program
{
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
const String API_KEY = "***********************************";
// Source PDF file to split
const string SourceFile = @".\sample.pdf";
// Comma-separated list of page numbers (or ranges) to process. Example: '1,3-5,7-'.
const string Pages = "1-2,3-";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create standard .NET web client instance
WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
// Set API Key
webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY);
// 1. RETRIEVE THE PRESIGNED URL TO UPLOAD THE FILE.
// * If you already have a direct file URL, skip to the step 3.
// Prepare URL for `Get Presigned URL` API call
string query = Uri.EscapeUriString(string.Format(
"https://api.pdf.co/v1/file/upload/get-presigned-url?contenttype=application/octet-stream&name={0}",
Path.GetFileName(SourceFile)));
try
{
// Execute request
string response = webClient.DownloadString(query);
// Parse JSON response
JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);
if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
{
// Get URL to use for the file upload
string uploadUrl = json["presignedUrl"].ToString();
string uploadedFileUrl = json["url"].ToString();
// 2. UPLOAD THE FILE TO CLOUD.
webClient.Headers.Add("content-type", "application/octet-stream");
webClient.UploadFile(uploadUrl, "PUT", SourceFile); // You can use UploadData() instead if your file is byte[] or Stream
webClient.Headers.Remove("content-type");
// 3. SPLIT UPLOADED PDF
// URL for `Split PDF` API call
var url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/split";
// Prepare requests params as JSON
Dictionary<string, object> parameters = new Dictionary<string, object>();
parameters.Add("pages", Pages);
parameters.Add("url", uploadedFileUrl);
// Convert dictionary of params to JSON
string jsonPayload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);
// Execute POST request with JSON payload
response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload);
// Parse JSON response
json = JObject.Parse(response);
if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
{
// Download generated PDF files
int part = 1;
foreach (JToken token in json["urls"])
{
string resultFileUrl = token.ToString();
string localFileName = String.Format(@".\part{0}.pdf", part);
webClient.DownloadFile(resultFileUrl, localFileName);
Console.WriteLine("Downloaded \"{0}\".", localFileName);
part++;
}
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
}
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
}
}
catch (WebException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
webClient.Dispose();
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Press any key...");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
package com.company;
import com.google.gson.JsonArray;
import com.google.gson.JsonElement;
import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
import com.google.gson.JsonParser;
import okhttp3.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
public class Main
{
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
final static String API_KEY = "***********************************";
// Source PDF file to split
final static Path SourceFile = Paths.get(".\\sample.pdf");
// Comma-separated list of page numbers (or ranges) to process. Example: '1,3-5,7-'.
final static String Pages = "1-2,3-";
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
{
// Create HTTP client instance
OkHttpClient webClient = new OkHttpClient();
// 1. RETRIEVE THE PRESIGNED URL TO UPLOAD THE FILE.
// * If you already have a direct file URL, skip to the step 3.
// Prepare URL for `Get Presigned URL` API call
String query = String.format(
"https://api.pdf.co/v1/file/upload/get-presigned-url?contenttype=application/octet-stream&name=%s",
SourceFile.getFileName());
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(query)
.addHeader("x-api-key", API_KEY) // (!) Set API Key
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
if (response.code() == 200)
{
// Parse JSON response
JsonObject json = new JsonParser().parse(response.body().string()).getAsJsonObject();
boolean error = json.get("error").getAsBoolean();
if (!error)
{
// Get URL to use for the file upload
String uploadUrl = json.get("presignedUrl").getAsString();
// Get URL of uploaded file to use with later API calls
String uploadedFileUrl = json.get("url").getAsString();
// 2. UPLOAD THE FILE TO CLOUD.
if (uploadFile(webClient, API_KEY, uploadUrl, SourceFile))
{
// 3. SPLIT UPLOADED PDF
SplitPdf(webClient, API_KEY, Pages, uploadedFileUrl);
}
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
System.out.println(json.get("message").getAsString());
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
System.out.println(response.code() + " " + response.message());
}
}
public static void SplitPdf(OkHttpClient webClient, String apiKey, String pages, String uploadedFileUrl) throws IOException
{
// Prepare URL for `Split PDF` API call
String query = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/split";
// Make correctly escaped (encoded) URL
URL url = null;
try
{
url = new URI(null, query, null).toURL();
}
catch (URISyntaxException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
// Create JSON payload
String jsonPayload = String.format("{\"pages\": \"%s\", \"url\": \"%s\"}",
pages,
uploadedFileUrl);
// Prepare request body
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"), jsonPayload);
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(url)
.addHeader("x-api-key", API_KEY) // (!) Set API Key
.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
.post(body)
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
if (response.code() == 200)
{
// Parse JSON response
JsonObject json = new JsonParser().parse(response.body().string()).getAsJsonObject();
boolean error = json.get("error").getAsBoolean();
if (!error)
{
// Download generated PDF files
JsonArray urls = json.get("urls").getAsJsonArray();
int part = 1;
for (JsonElement element: urls)
{
String resultFileUrl = element.getAsString();
String localFileName = String.format(".\\part%s.pdf", part);
downloadFile(webClient, resultFileUrl, Paths.get(localFileName).toFile());
System.out.println(String.format("Splitted part saved as \"%s\".", localFileName));
part++;
}
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
System.out.println(json.get("message").getAsString());
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
System.out.println(response.code() + " " + response.message());
}
}
public static boolean uploadFile(OkHttpClient webClient, String apiKey, String url, Path sourceFile) throws IOException
{
// Prepare request body
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/octet-stream"), sourceFile.toFile());
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(url)
.addHeader("x-api-key", apiKey) // (!) Set API Key
.addHeader("content-type", "application/octet-stream")
.put(body)
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
return (response.code() == 200);
}
public static void downloadFile(OkHttpClient webClient, String url, File destinationFile) throws IOException
{
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(url)
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
byte[] fileBytes = response.body().bytes();
// Save downloaded bytes to file
OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(destinationFile);
output.write(fileBytes);
output.flush();
output.close();
response.close();
}
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>PDF Splitting Results</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
// Note: If you have input files large than 200kb we highly recommend to check "async" mode example.
// Get submitted form data
$apiKey = $_POST["apiKey"]; // The authentication key (API Key). Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
$pages = $_POST["pages"];
// 1. RETRIEVE THE PRESIGNED URL TO UPLOAD THE FILE.
// * If you already have a direct PDF file link, go to the step 3.
// Create URL
$url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/file/upload/get-presigned-url" .
"?name=" . urlencode($_FILES["file"]["name"]) .
"&contenttype=application/octet-stream";
// Create request
$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("x-api-key: " . $apiKey));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
// Execute request
$result = curl_exec($curl);
if (curl_errno($curl) == 0)
{
$status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($status_code == 200)
{
$json = json_decode($result, true);
// Get URL to use for the file upload
$uploadFileUrl = $json["presignedUrl"];
// Get URL of uploaded file to use with later API calls
$accessFileUrl = $json["url"];
// 2. UPLOAD THE FILE TO CLOUD.
$localFile = $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"];
$fileHandle = fopen($localFile, "r");
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $uploadFileUrl);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("content-type: application/octet-stream"));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_PUT, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_INFILE, $fileHandle);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_INFILESIZE, filesize($localFile));
// Execute request
curl_exec($curl);
fclose($fileHandle);
if (curl_errno($curl))
{
// Display request error
echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}
else
{
$status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($status_code == 200)
{
// 3. SPLIT UPLOADED PDF DOCUMENT
SplitPdf($apiKey, $accessFileUrl, $pages);
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
}
}
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
}
curl_close($curl);
}
else
{
// Display CURL error
echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}
function SplitPdf($apiKey, $fileUrl, $pages)
{
// Prepare URL for `Split PDF` API call
$url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/split";
// Prepare requests params
$parameters = array();
$parameters["name"] = "part.pdf";
$parameters["url"] = $fileUrl;
$parameters["pages"] = $pages;
// Create Json payload
$data = json_encode($parameters);
// Create request
$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("x-api-key: " . $apiKey, "Content-type: application/json"));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);
// Execute request
$result = curl_exec($curl);
if (curl_errno($curl) == 0)
{
$status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($status_code == 200)
{
$json = json_decode($result, true);
if (!isset($json["error"]) || $json["error"] == false)
{
// Display links to splitted parts
$resultFiles = $json["urls"];
foreach ($resultFiles as &$resultFileUrl)
echo "<p><a href=" . $resultFileUrl . ">" . $resultFileUrl . "</p>";
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}
// Cleanup
curl_close($curl);
}
?>
</body>
</html>