> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexpdf.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart
> Generate your first PDF in minutes
## Setting up
Before you can use the API, you need to create an account and get an API key.
It's free, requires no credit card, and takes less than a minute.
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
```sh cURL theme={null}
curl -X POST 'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"parts": ["Hello World
This is my first PDF!
"]
}' \
--output hello-world.pdf
```
```javascript Node.js theme={null}
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: ['Hello World
This is my first PDF!
']
})
});
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();
```
```python Python theme={null}
import requests
response = requests.post(
'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf',
headers={
'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
},
json={
'parts': ['Hello World
This is my first PDF!
']
}
)
# 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:
```sh cURL theme={null}
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
```
```javascript Node.js theme={null}
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();
```
```python Python theme={null}
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:
```javascript cURL theme={null}
curl -X POST 'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"parts": ["Custom PDF
With custom settings
"],
"size": "letter",
"orientation": "landscape",
"margin": {
"top": 10,
"right": 10,
"bottom": 10,
"left": 10,
"unit": "mm"
},
"header_template": "
",
"footer_template": "Page of
",
"render_header_footer": true
}' \
--output custom.pdf
```
```javascript Node.js theme={null}
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: ['Custom PDF
With custom settings
'],
size: 'letter',
orientation: 'landscape',
margin: {
top: 10,
right: 10,
bottom: 10,
left: 10,
unit: 'mm'
},
header_template: '
',
footer_template: 'Page of
',
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();
```
```python Python theme={null}
import requests
response = requests.post(
'https://vortexpdf.com/api/v1/renderers/pdf',
headers={
'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
},
json={
'parts': ['Custom PDF
With custom settings
'],
'size': 'letter',
'orientation': 'landscape',
'margin': {
'top': 10,
'right': 10,
'bottom': 10,
'left': 10,
'unit': 'mm'
},
'header_template': '
',
'footer_template': 'Page of
',
'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