The documentation available here is really comprehensive, which, as we’ve written about before, is a best practice. Some users, however, have complained that the editor can be a bit clunky, saying “the user interface is a little slow when building with the editor” and that “formatting the PDF is a little difficult over the API.” A big selling point here is the browser-based drag and drop template editor, making it much easier for non-developers to use. PDF Generator API remains a hugely popular alternative to adding a document generation layer to your software. The service offers a tiered pricing package based on volume, with the lowest tier allowing generation of up to 2,500 PDFs per month. Customizable headers and footers, including page numbersįrom what we’ve seen, it’s one of the cheaper options on the market.Paperplane has a tiered pricing plan, with most features included in all plans: Code samples are available in curl, Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, Java, C#, and Go for testing. It’s one of the simpler options for the job out there, with a slick live demo on the website that works well.ĭespite that simplicity, it’s probably not one we’d recommend for those looking to facilitate things for non-technical team members Paperplane is developer-focused. The focus of Paperplane is HTML to PDF conversion via a REST API powered by Google Chrome. This is a product to “convert your PDF forms into simple, intuitive websites that fill the PDFs and gather signatures for you.” Offering integrations with services like DocuSign and CRM software, it feels very much like Anvil is using their PDF filling API as a stepping stone to a more comprehensive workflow automation service. Interestingly, Anvil features Anvil Workflows heavily on its homepage. It doesn’t lock users into long contracts or plans, but that flexibility is reflected in a high “per conversion” price point. You’ll also need to create a PDF template that holds the configuration for a single PDF file.īuilding PDF templates doesn’t, however, require any code – Anvil finds fields automatically so anyone can add, remove, or tweak fields. AnvilĪnvil’s website puts its purpose pretty simply: “post JSON, receive PDF.” Its REST endpoint enables you to fill a templatized PDF using the data you provide. Such tools could empower non-technical team members to make tweaks to templates without the need to enlist developers or designers’ help. Some feature drag-and-drop editors designed to reduce barriers to entry for end-users.Ī notable example of the latter would be automatic invoice generation from data entered into a piece of accounting software, creating a PDF that can then be emailed or printed by users. Template-driven (e.g., Anvil, PDF Generator): By enabling the conversion of JSON objects to PDFs, these APIs place more emphasis on creating reusable templates, customizable fields, etc.HTML-driven (e.g., Paperplane, PDFmyURL, PDFBlade): The focus here is the conversion of a URL or HTML to a PDF with an API call, offering a more user-friendly snapshot of a website than trying to save it manually as a web archive or by screenshotting it using your laptop or desktop.In fact, many PDF generation APIs seem to fall into one of these camps: You could use one, for example, to export information from a webpage as a PDF or generate a standardized form from the information you already have. If you have data that you want to convey in a specific format, but don’t know what device or software it’ll be used on, you might choose to export it as a PDF to make things easier for your recipient.Ī PDF API does a similar thing, i.e., converts data to PDF, but does it automatically. We’ll consider why a developer may need this functionality, and try to determine if any solutions stand out. Given the focus the world of APIs has on compatibility and inter-communication, it’s not surprising that PDFs are prevalent in these areas.īelow we’ll be looking at a few services capable of accepting API calls to generate PDFs. Like, the fact that PDFs can be created from almost any document type and preserve that content on whatever device or program they’re opened with. Well, however you feel about them, there’s no denying that the Portable Document Format (PDF) has strong benefits. Common complaints about PDFs include poor readability, problems with integration, limited version control, and the inability to edit them without a dedicated app like Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDFs are a little like Marmite: you either love them (or at least tolerate them) or hate them.
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