![]() 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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