Getting Started with n8n

The PDF.co n8n community node enables fast and easy automation of PDF-related tasks within n8n workflows. Built on the PDF.co API, this node allows you to programmatically convert, merge, split, and extract data from PDF documents. As a community-maintained integration, it helps streamline document processing without complex coding, making it ideal for automating business operations involving PDFs.

Installation

Installing PDF.co Node on N8N (Version 1.94.0 and Later)

1. Open the Nodes Panel
   In your N8N instance, navigate to the nodes panel.
2. Search for the “PDF.co” Node
   In the search bar, type “pdf.co” to find the PDF.co node.

3. Install the Node
   Click on the PDF.co Api node, and in the node details window, click the Install Node button.

Operations

This node provides comprehensive PDF processing capabilities through PDF.co’s API. Here are the available features:

1. AI Invoice Parser

• Extract data from invoices using AI-powered parsing

2. URL/HTML to PDF

• Convert Type options: URL to PDF, HTML to PDF, HTML Template to PDF

3. Merge PDF

• Merge multiple file URLs into a single PDF
• Automatically Convert Non-PDF Files converts DOC, DOCX, XLS, JPG, PNG, MSG, and EML files to PDF before merging

4. Split PDF

• Split By options: Page Numbers, Search Text, Barcode

5. Convert To PDF

• Convert Type options: CSV to PDF, Document to PDF (RTF, DOC, DOCX, TXT), Email to PDF (MSG or EML), Image to PDF (JPG, PNG, TIFF), XLS to PDF, XLSX to PDF

6. Convert From PDF

• Convert Type options: PDF to CSV, PDF to HTML, PDF to JPG, PDF to JSON (AI-Powered), PDF to JSON (Simple), PDF to PNG, PDF to Text, PDF to Text (No Layout & Fast), PDF to TIFF, PDF to WEBP, PDF to XLS, PDF to XLSX, PDF to XML

7. Add Text/Images to PDF

• Add text with the Text field and images with the Images field, using coordinates and styling options

8. Fill a PDF Form

• Fill interactive PDF forms with text, checkboxes, and other form elements

9. PDF Information & Form Fields

• Extract PDF metadata; enable Extract Fillable Fields to return form field information

10. Compress PDF

• Reduce PDF file size while maintaining quality
• Optional Custom Compression Configuration for fine-grained control

11. PDF Security

• Operation Mode options: Add Security, Remove Security

12. Rotate PDF Pages

• Rotation Mode options: Auto, Manual

13. Delete PDF Pages

• Remove specific pages from a PDF document

14. Search in PDF

• Search for specific text within PDF documents or scanned images

15. Search & Replace Text or Delete

• Operation Type options: Search and Delete Text, Search and Replace Text, Search and Replace with Image

16. Barcode Reader

• Decode barcodes from images or PDF documents

17. Barcode Generator

• Generate barcodes including QR codes, Code 128, Code 39, and more

18. Make PDF Searchable or Unsearchable

• Options: Make PDF Searchable (OCR), Make PDF Unsearchable

19. Upload File to PDF.co

• Upload Method options: Standard Upload (direct upload, supports files up to 2GB), Base64

Credentials

To use this node, you need a PDF.co API key. Here’s how to get started:

1. Sign up for a PDF.co account at https://pdf.co
2. Navigate to your dashboard and obtain your API key
3. In n8n, add your PDF.co credentials by providing your API key

Usage

This node allows you to automate PDF processing tasks in your n8n workflows. Here are some common use cases:

• Process invoices using AI-powered parsing
• Automatically convert HTML reports to PDF
• Merge multiple PDF documents into a single file
• Extract text from PDF documents for data processing
• Add watermarks to PDF documents
• Compress PDF files to reduce size
• Secure PDFs with password protection
• Convert various document formats to PDF
• Extract data from PDFs to other formats
• Manage and modify PDF documents programmatically