Barcodes Reader

Try it live: Barcodes Reader → API Tester — send a real request from your browser.

`POST /v1/barcode/read/from/url`

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`	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 0. 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.
`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
`type`	string	Yes	QRCode	Set the barcode type to be used. See available barcode types in the Supported Barcode Types
`types`	string	No	-	Detects checkboxes, radiobuttons, vertical and horizontal lines, and general segments (all content types) on scanned documents using the barcode reader engine. Comma-separated list of object types to decode, must be in a string format.
`profiles`	object	No	-	See Profiles for more information.
`RenderingResolution`	integer	No	120	Set the rendering resolution for the barcode reader engine. The default resolution is 120 DPI.
`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
`barcodes`	array[object]	List of barcodes found in the document
`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.
`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

types

Detects checkboxes, radiobuttons, vertical and horizontal lines, and general segments (all content types) on scanned documents using the barcode reader engine. Comma-separated list of object types to decode, must be in a string format.

Visual Element Detection Modes

Checkbox: Locates check boxes.
Segment: Locates and selects objects on a page (general selection).
UnderlinedField: Detects fillable fields (typically, underlined spaces, i.e. fields to fill in a form).
Rectangle: Detects rectangles, including checkboxes. Also returns the value as 1 if a checkmark or a filled rectangle was detected.
Oval: Detects rounded or oval marks (typically, a radiobutton). Returns value of 1 if filled out radiobutton was detected.
HorizontalLine: Detects horizontal lines.
VerticalLine: Detects vertical lines.

Normal Example

`Example` Payload

To see the request size limits, please refer to the Request Size Limits.

{
  "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-to-html/sample.pdf",
  "types": "Checkbox,UnderlinedField",
  "async": false
}

`Example` Response

To see the main response codes, please refer to the Response Codes page.

{
  "barcodes": [
    {
      "Value": "abcdef123456",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 14,
      "Rect": "{X=448,Y=23,Width=106,Height=112}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 1,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "QRCode"
    },
    {
      "Value": "test123",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 2,
      "Rect": "{X=111,Y=60,Width=255,Height=37}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 0.90625155,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "Code128"
    },
    {
      "Value": "123456",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 4,
      "Rect": "{X=111,Y=129,Width=306,Height=37}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 0.7710818,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "Code39"
    },
    {
      "Value": "<FNC1>0112345678901231",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 2,
      "Rect": "{X=111,Y=198,Width=305,Height=37}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 0.9156459,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "Code128"
    },
    {
      "Value": "12345670",
      "RawData": [
        1,
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5,
        6,
        7,
        0
      ],
      "Type": 5,
      "Rect": "{X=111,Y=267,Width=182,Height=0}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 1,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "I2of5"
    },
    {
      "Value": "1234567890128",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 6,
      "Rect": "{X=102,Y=336,Width=71,Height=72}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 0.895925164,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "EAN13"
    }
  ],
  "pageCount": 1,
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "remainingCredits": 99826192,
  "credits": 35
}

`Example` CURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/read/from/url' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
"types": "QRCode,Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13",
"pages": "0",
"async": false
}'

Optical Marks Reader

Our barcode reader engine can also find the following marks and objects on scanned documents:

Checkboxes
Radioboxes
Vertical and horizontal lines
General segments (basically, all content types on the page).

`Example` Payload

To see the request size limits, please refer to the Request Size Limits.

{
  "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf",
  "types": "QRCode,Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13",
  "pages": "0",
  "async": false
}

`Example` Response

To see the main response codes, please refer to the Response Codes page.

{
  "barcodes": [
    {
      "Value": "box",
      "RawData": "",
      "Type": 53,
      "Rect": "{X=298,Y=437,Width=132,Height=6}",
      "Page": 0,
      "File": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-to-html/sample.pdf",
      "Confidence": 1,
      "Metadata": "",
      "TypeName": "UnderlinedField"
    }
  ],
  "pageCount": 1,
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "duration": 860,
  "remainingCredits": 98725528,
  "credits": 35
}

`Example` CURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/read/from/url' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-to-html/sample.pdf",
"types": "Checkbox,UnderlinedField",
"async": false
}'

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

JavaScript/Node.js
Python
C#
Java
PHP

var https = require("https");

// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
const API_KEY = "***********************************";


// Direct URL of source file to search barcodes in.
const SourceFileUrl = "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf";
// Comma-separated list of barcode types to search.
// See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
const BarcodeTypes = "Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13";
// Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
const Pages = "";

// Prepare request to `Barcode Reader` API endpoint
var queryPath = `/v1/barcode/read/from/url`;

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    types: BarcodeTypes,
    pages: Pages,
    url: SourceFileUrl
});

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    method: "POST",
    path: queryPath,
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};

// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
    response.on("data", (d) => {
        // Parse JSON response
        var data = JSON.parse(d);

        if (data.error == false) {
            // Display found barcodes in console
            data.barcodes.forEach((element) => {
                console.log("Found barcode:");
                console.log("  Type: " + element.TypeName);
                console.log("  Value: " + element.Value);
                console.log("  Document Page Index: " + element.Page);
                console.log("  Rectangle: " + element.Rect);
                console.log("  Confidence: " + element.Confidence);
                console.log("");
            }, this);
        }
        else {
            // Service reported error
            console.log(data.message);
        }
    });
}).on("error", (e) => {
    // Request error
    console.error(e);
});

// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();

import os
import requests  # pip install requests

# 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"

# Direct URL of source file to search barcodes in.
SourceFileURL = "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf"

# Comma-separated list of barcode types to search.
# See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
BarcodeTypes = "Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13"

# Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
Pages = ""


def main(args=None):
    readBarcodes(SourceFileURL)

def readBarcodes(uploadedFileUrl):
    """Get Barcode Information using PDF.co Web API"""

    # Prepare requests params as JSON
    # See documentation: https://docs.pdf.co
    parameters = {}
    parameters["types"] = BarcodeTypes
    parameters["pages"] = Pages
    parameters["url"] = uploadedFileUrl

    # Prepare URL for 'Barcode Reader' API request
    url = "{}/barcode/read/from/url".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:
            # Display information
            for barcode in json["barcodes"]:
                print("Found barcode:")
                print(f"  Type: {barcode['TypeName']}")
                print(f"  Value: {barcode['Value']}")
                print(f"  Document Page Index: {barcode['Page']}")
                print(f"  Rectangle: {barcode['Rect']}")
                print(f"  Confidence: {barcode['Confidence']}")
                print("")
        else:
            # Show service reported error
            print(json["message"])
    else:
        print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")


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 = "***********************************";


        // Direct URL of source file (image or PDF) to search barcodes in.
        const string SourceFileURL = "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf";

        // Comma-separated list of barcode types to search.
        // See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
        const string BarcodeTypes = "Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13";

        // Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
        const string Pages = "";


        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);

            // Prepare requests params as JSON
            // See documentation: https://docs.pdf.co
            Dictionary<string, string> parameters = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            parameters.Add("url", SourceFileURL);
            parameters.Add("type", BarcodeTypes);
            parameters.Add("pages", Pages);
            // Convert dictionary of params to JSON
            string jsonPayload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);

            try
            {
                // URL of "Barcode Reader" endpoint
                string url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/read/from/url";

                // Execute POST request with JSON payload
                string response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload);

                // Parse JSON response
                JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);

                if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
                {
                    // Display found barcodes in console
                    foreach (JToken token in json["barcodes"])
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("Found barcode:");
                        Console.WriteLine("  Type: " + token["TypeName"]);
                        Console.WriteLine("  Value: " + token["Value"]);
                        Console.WriteLine("  Document Page Index: " + token["Page"]);
                        Console.WriteLine("  Rectangle: " + token["Rect"]);
                        Console.WriteLine("  Confidence: " + token["Confidence"]);
                        Console.WriteLine();
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    // Display service reported error
                    Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
                }
            }
            catch (WebException e)
            {
                // Display request error
                Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
            }
            finally
            {
                webClient.Dispose();
            }


            Console.WriteLine();
            Console.WriteLine("Press any key...");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

package com.company;

import com.google.gson.JsonElement;
import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
import com.google.gson.JsonParser;
import okhttp3.*;

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;

public class Main
{
    // The authentication key (API Key).
    // Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
    final static String API_KEY = "***********************************";

    // Direct URL of source file to search barcodes in.
  final static String SourceFileURL = "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf";
    // Comma-separated list of barcode types to search.
    // See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
    final static String BarcodeTypes = "Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13";
    // Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
    final static String Pages = "";


    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
    {
        // Create HTTP client instance
        OkHttpClient webClient = new OkHttpClient();

        // Prepare URL for `Barcode Reader` API call
        String query = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/read/from/url";

        // 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("{\"types\": \"%s\", \"pages\": \"%s\", \"url\": \"%s\"}",
            BarcodeTypes,
            Pages,
            SourceFileURL);

        // 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)
            {
                // Display found barcodes in console
                for (JsonElement element : json.get("barcodes").getAsJsonArray())
                {
                    JsonObject barcode = (JsonObject) element;
                    System.out.println("Found barcode:");
                    System.out.println("  Type: " + barcode.get("TypeName").getAsString());
                    System.out.println("  Value: " + barcode.get("Value").getAsString());
                    System.out.println("  Document Page Index: " + barcode.get("Page").getAsString());
                    System.out.println("  Rectangle: " + barcode.get("Rect").getAsString());
                    System.out.println("  Confidence: " + barcode.get("Confidence").getAsString());
                    System.out.println();
                }
            }
            else
            {
                // Display service reported error
                System.out.println(json.get("message").getAsString());
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // Display request error
            System.out.println(response.code() + " " + response.message());
        }
    }
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Cloud API asynchronous "Barcode Reader" job example (allows to avoid timeout errors).</title>
</head>
<body>

<?php

// Cloud API asynchronous "Barcode Reader" job example.
// Allows to avoid timeout errors when processing huge or scanned PDF documents.


// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
$apiKey = "***************************************";

// Direct URL of source file (image or PDF) to search barcodes in. Check another example if you need to upload a local file to the cloud.
// You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/pdfdotco/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
$sourceFileUrl = "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-reader/sample.pdf";
// Comma-separated list of barcode types to search.
// See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
$barcodeTypes = "Code128,Code39,Interleaved2of5,EAN13";
// Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
$pages = "";


// Prepare URL for `Barcode Reader` API call
$url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/read/from/url";

// Prepare requests params
$parameters = array();
$parameters["types"] = $barcodeTypes;
$parameters["pages"] = $pages;
$parameters["url"] = $sourceFileUrl;
$parameters["async"] = true; // (!) Make asynchronous job

// 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);
echo $result . "<br/>";

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)
        {
            // URL of generated JSON file that will available after the job completion
            $resultFileUrl = $json["url"];
            // Asynchronous job ID
            $jobId = $json["jobId"];

            // Check the job status in a loop
            do
            {
                $status = CheckJobStatus($jobId, $apiKey); // Possible statuses: "working", "failed", "aborted", "success".

                // Display timestamp and status (for demo purposes)
                echo "<p>" . date(DATE_RFC2822) . ": " . $status . "</p>";

                if ($status == "success")
                {
                    // Display link to JSON file with information about decoded barcodes
                    echo "<div>## Conversion Result:<a href='" . $resultFileUrl . "' target='_blank'>" . $resultFileUrl . "</a></div>";
                    break;
                }
                else if ($status == "working")
                {
                    // Pause for a few seconds
                    sleep(3);
                }
                else
                {
                    echo $status . "<br/>";
                    break;
                }
            }
            while (true);
        }
        else
        {
            // Display service reported error
            echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
        }
    }
    else
    {
        // Display request error
        echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
        echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
    }
}
else
{
    // Display CURL error
    echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}

// Cleanup
curl_close($curl);


function CheckJobStatus($jobId, $apiKey)
{
    $status = null;

    // Create URL
    $url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/job/check";

    // Prepare requests params
    $parameters = array();
    $parameters["jobid"] = $jobId;

    // 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)
            {
                $status = $json["status"];
            }
            else
            {
                // Display service reported error
                echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // Display request error
            echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
            echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
        }
    }
    else
    {
        // Display CURL error
        echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
    }

    // Cleanup
    curl_close($curl);

    return $status;
}

?>

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Forms

Find & Search

Document, File & System

Pages

Barcodes

Glossary

Site Index

`POST /v1/barcode/read/from/url`

Attributes

Query parameters

Responses

types

Visual Element Detection Modes

Normal Example

`Example` Payload

`Example` Response

`Example` CURL

Optical Marks Reader

`Example` Payload

`Example` Response

`Example` CURL

Code Samples

​POST /v1/barcode/read/from/url

​Attributes

​Query parameters

​Responses

​types

​Visual Element Detection Modes

​Normal Example

​Example Payload

​Example Response

​Example CURL

​Optical Marks Reader

​Example Payload

​Example Response

​Example CURL

​Code Samples

`POST /v1/barcode/read/from/url`

Attributes

Query parameters

Responses

types

Visual Element Detection Modes

Normal Example

`Example` Payload

`Example` Response

`Example` CURL

Optical Marks Reader

`Example` Payload

`Example` Response

`Example` CURL

Code Samples