Quickstart for Adobe PDF Services API (Python)

To get started using Adobe PDF Services API, let's walk through a simple scenario - taking an input PDF document and exporting it to Microsoft Word. In this guide, we will walk you through the complete process for creating a program that will accomplish this task.

Prerequisites

To complete this guide, you will need:

• Python - Python 3.10 or higher is required.
• An Adobe ID. If you do not have one, the credential setup will walk you through creating one.
• A way to edit code. No specific editor is required for this guide.

Step One: Getting credentials

1) To begin, open your browser to https://acrobatservices.adobe.com/dc-integration-creation-app-cdn/main.html?api=pdf-services-api. If you are not already logged in to Adobe.com, you will need to sign in or create a new user. Using a personal email account is recommend and not a federated ID.

2) After registering or logging in, you will then be asked to name your new credentials. Use the name, "New Project".

3) Change the "Choose language" setting to "Python".

4) Also note the checkbox by, "Create personalized code sample." This will include a large set of samples along with your credentials. These can be helpful for learning more later.

5) Click the checkbox saying you agree to the developer terms and then click "Create credentials."

6) After your credentials are created, they are automatically downloaded:

Step Two: Setting up the project

1) In your Downloads folder, find the ZIP file with your credentials: PDFServicesSDK-PythonSamples.zip. If you unzip that archive, you will find a folder of samples and the pdfservices-api-credentials.json file.

2) Take the pdfservices-api-credentials.json file and place it in a new directory. Remember that these credential files are important and should be stored safely.

3) At the command line, change to the directory you created, and run the following command to install the Python SDK: pip install pdfservices-sdk.

At this point, we've installed the Python SDK for Adobe PDF Services API as a dependency for our project and have copied over our credentials files.

Our application will take a PDF, Bodea Brochure.pdf (downloadable from here) and convert it to a Microsoft Word document, Bodea Brochure.docx.

4) In your editor, open the directory where you previously copied the credentials. Create a new file, export_pdf_to_docx.py.

Now you're ready to begin coding.

Step Three: Creating the application

1) We'll begin by including our required dependencies:

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import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime

from adobe.pdfservices.operation.auth.service_principal_credentials import ServicePrincipalCredentials
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.exception.exceptions import ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.cloud_asset import CloudAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.stream_asset import StreamAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services import PDFServices
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services_media_type import PDFServicesMediaType
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.jobs.export_pdf_job import ExportPDFJob
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_params import ExportPDFParams
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_target_format import ExportPDFTargetFormat
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.result.export_pdf_result import ExportPDFResult
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import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime

from adobe.pdfservices.operation.auth.service_principal_credentials import ServicePrincipalCredentials
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.exception.exceptions import ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.cloud_asset import CloudAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.stream_asset import StreamAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services import PDFServices
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services_media_type import PDFServicesMediaType
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.jobs.export_pdf_job import ExportPDFJob
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_params import ExportPDFParams
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_target_format import ExportPDFTargetFormat
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.result.export_pdf_result import ExportPDFResult

2) Set the environment variables PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID and PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET by running the following commands and replacing placeholders YOUR CLIENT ID and YOUR CLIENT SECRET with the credentials present in pdfservices-api-credentials.json file:

• Windows:

  • set PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID=<YOUR CLIENT ID>
  • set PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET=<YOUR CLIENT SECRET>

• MacOS/Linux:

  • export PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID=<YOUR CLIENT ID>
  • export PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET=<YOUR CLIENT SECRET>

3) Next, we can create our credentials and use them:

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# Initial setup, create credentials instance
credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
    client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
    client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET'))

# Creates a PDF Services instance
pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)
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# Initial setup, create credentials instance
credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
    client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
    client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET'))

# Creates a PDF Services instance
pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)

4) Now, let's create an asset from source file and upload.

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file = open('./Bodea Brochure.pdf', 'rb')
input_stream = file.read()
file.close()

# Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream, mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)
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file = open('./Bodea Brochure.pdf', 'rb')
input_stream = file.read()
file.close()

# Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream, mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)

5) Now, let's create the parameters and the job:

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# Create parameters for the job
export_pdf_params = ExportPDFParams(target_format=ExportPDFTargetFormat.DOCX)

# Creates a new job instance
export_pdf_job = ExportPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset, export_pdf_params=export_pdf_params)
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# Create parameters for the job
export_pdf_params = ExportPDFParams(target_format=ExportPDFTargetFormat.DOCX)

# Creates a new job instance
export_pdf_job = ExportPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset, export_pdf_params=export_pdf_params)

This set of code defines what we're doing (an Export operation), and sets parameter for the Export PDF job. In this example, the only parameter is the export format ,ie, DOCX.

6) The next code block submits the job and gets the job result:

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# Submit the job and gets the job result
location = pdf_services.submit(export_pdf_job)
pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, ExportPDFResult)

# Get content from the resulting asset(s)
result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)
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# Submit the job and gets the job result
location = pdf_services.submit(export_pdf_job)
pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, ExportPDFResult)

# Get content from the resulting asset(s)
result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)

7) The next code block saves the result at the specified location:

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# Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
output_file_path = "./Bodea Brochure.docx"
with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
    file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())
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# Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
output_file_path = "./Bodea Brochure.docx"
with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
    file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())

Here's the complete application (src/exportpdf/export_pdf_to_docx.py):

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import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime

from adobe.pdfservices.operation.auth.service_principal_credentials import ServicePrincipalCredentials
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.exception.exceptions import ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.cloud_asset import CloudAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.stream_asset import StreamAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services import PDFServices
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services_media_type import PDFServicesMediaType
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.jobs.export_pdf_job import ExportPDFJob
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_params import ExportPDFParams
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_target_format import ExportPDFTargetFormat
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.result.export_pdf_result import ExportPDFResult

# Initialize the logger
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

class ExportPDFToDOCX:
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            file = open('./Bodea Brochure.pdf', 'rb')
            input_stream = file.read()
            file.close()

            # Initial setup, create credentials instance
            credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
                client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET')
            )

            # Creates a PDF Services instance
            pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)

            # Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream, mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)

            # Create parameters for the job
            export_pdf_params = ExportPDFParams(target_format=ExportPDFTargetFormat.DOCX)

            # Creates a new job instance
            export_pdf_job = ExportPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset, export_pdf_params=export_pdf_params)

            # Submit the job and gets the job result
            location = pdf_services.submit(export_pdf_job)
            pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, ExportPDFResult)

            # Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
            stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)

            # Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            output_file_path = 'output/ExportPDFToDOCX/Bodea Brochure.docx'
            with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
                file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())

        except (ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException) as e:
            logging.exception(f'Exception encountered while executing operation: {e}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    ExportPDFToDOCX()
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import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime

from adobe.pdfservices.operation.auth.service_principal_credentials import ServicePrincipalCredentials
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.exception.exceptions import ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.cloud_asset import CloudAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.io.stream_asset import StreamAsset
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services import PDFServices
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdf_services_media_type import PDFServicesMediaType
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.jobs.export_pdf_job import ExportPDFJob
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_params import ExportPDFParams
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.params.export_pdf.export_pdf_target_format import ExportPDFTargetFormat
from adobe.pdfservices.operation.pdfjobs.result.export_pdf_result import ExportPDFResult

# Initialize the logger
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

class ExportPDFToDOCX:
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            file = open('./Bodea Brochure.pdf', 'rb')
            input_stream = file.read()
            file.close()

            # Initial setup, create credentials instance
            credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
                client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET')
            )

            # Creates a PDF Services instance
            pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)

            # Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream, mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)

            # Create parameters for the job
            export_pdf_params = ExportPDFParams(target_format=ExportPDFTargetFormat.DOCX)

            # Creates a new job instance
            export_pdf_job = ExportPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset, export_pdf_params=export_pdf_params)

            # Submit the job and gets the job result
            location = pdf_services.submit(export_pdf_job)
            pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, ExportPDFResult)

            # Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
            stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)

            # Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            output_file_path = 'output/ExportPDFToDOCX/Bodea Brochure.docx'
            with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
                file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())

        except (ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException) as e:
            logging.exception(f'Exception encountered while executing operation: {e}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    ExportPDFToDOCX()

Next Steps

Now that you've successfully performed your first operation, review the documentation for many other examples and reach out on our forums with any questions. Also remember the samples you downloaded while creating your credentials also have many demos.

Last updated 5/22/2024

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