Quickstart

Setting up

Before you can use the API, you need to create an account and get an API key.

Create your account

It’s free, requires no credit card, and takes less than a minute.

Get your API key

Once you have an account, you can create an API key.

Rendering a simple PDF

The simplest way to generate a PDF is using the synchronous endpoint. This endpoint accepts your content and returns the generated PDF directly in the response.

Basic request structure

curl -X POST 'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "parts": ["<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is my first PDF!</p>"]
  }' \
  --output hello-world.pdf

const fs = require('fs');

async function generatePDF() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        parts: ['<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is my first PDF!</p>']
      })
    });
    
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HTTP error! Status: ${response.status}`);
    }
    
    const pdfBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
    fs.writeFileSync('hello-world.pdf', Buffer.from(pdfBuffer));
    console.log('PDF saved successfully!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error generating PDF:', error);
  }
}

generatePDF();

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'parts': ['<h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is my first PDF!</p>']
    }
)

# Save the PDF to a file
with open('hello-world.pdf', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Rendering from a URL

You can also render a PDF from an existing webpage:

curl -X POST 'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "parts": ["https://example.com"]
  }' \
  --output example.pdf

const fs = require('fs');

async function generatePDFFromURL() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        parts: ['https://example.com']
      })
    });
    
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HTTP error! Status: ${response.status}`);
    }
    
    const pdfBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
    fs.writeFileSync('example.pdf', Buffer.from(pdfBuffer));
    console.log('PDF saved successfully!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error generating PDF:', error);
  }
}

generatePDFFromURL();

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'parts': ['https://example.com']
    }
)

with open('example.pdf', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Customizing your PDF

You can customize various aspects of your PDF using additional parameters:

curl -X POST 'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "parts": ["<h1>Custom PDF</h1><p>With custom settings</p>"],
    "size": "letter",
    "orientation": "landscape",
    "margin": {
      "top": 10,
      "right": 10,
      "bottom": 10,
      "left": 10,
      "unit": "mm"
    },
    "header_template": "<div style=\"text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;\"><span class=\"date\"></span></div>",
    "footer_template": "<div style=\"text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;\">Page <span class=\"pageNumber\"></span> of <span class=\"totalPages\"></span></div>",
    "render_header_footer": true
  }' \
  --output custom.pdf

const fs = require('fs');

async function generateCustomPDF() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        parts: ['<h1>Custom PDF</h1><p>With custom settings</p>'],
        size: 'letter',
        orientation: 'landscape',
        margin: {
          top: 10,
          right: 10,
          bottom: 10,
          left: 10,
          unit: 'mm'
        },
        header_template: '<div style="text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;"><span class="date"></span></div>',
        footer_template: '<div style="text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;">Page <span class="pageNumber"></span> of <span class="totalPages"></span></div>',
        render_header_footer: true
      })
    });
    
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HTTP error! Status: ${response.status}`);
    }
    
    const pdfBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
    fs.writeFileSync('custom.pdf', Buffer.from(pdfBuffer));
    console.log('Custom PDF saved successfully!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error generating custom PDF:', error);
  }
}

generateCustomPDF();

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'parts': ['<h1>Custom PDF</h1><p>With custom settings</p>'],
        'size': 'letter',
        'orientation': 'landscape',
        'margin': {
            'top': 10,
            'right': 10,
            'bottom': 10,
            'left': 10,
            'unit': 'mm'
        },
        'header_template': '<div style="text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;"><span class="date"></span></div>',
        'footer_template': '<div style="text-align: center; width: 100%; font-size: 10px;">Page <span class="pageNumber"></span> of <span class="totalPages"></span></div>',
        'render_header_footer': True
    }
)

with open('custom.pdf', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Next steps

Now that you’ve created your first PDF, explore more advanced features:

Combine multiple HTML snippets or URLs into a single PDF
Add headers and footers with dynamic content
Customize page size, orientation, and margins
Use JavaScript evaluation to manipulate content before rendering
Try the asynchronous endpoint for faster processing

Get started

Page configuration

Content handling

Output options

Asynchronous processing

Setting up

Create your account

Get your API key

Rendering a simple PDF

Basic request structure

Rendering from a URL

Customizing your PDF

Next steps

​Setting up

Create your account

Get your API key

​Rendering a simple PDF

​Basic request structure

​Rendering from a URL

​Customizing your PDF

​Next steps

Setting up

Rendering a simple PDF

Basic request structure

Rendering from a URL

Customizing your PDF

Next steps