How to Convert a PDF file to text in PHP

Using the WhatsMate PDF-to-Text REST API

Posted on June 11, 2017   Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter Share on Google+

Last reviewed: April 17, 2024  

This article shows you how to extract text from an online PDF document in PHP.

Here’s how:

  1. Copy the following source code to your PHP script.
  2. Specify the URL of your online PDF document on line 8.
  3. Replace the Client ID and Secret on lines 3 and 4 if you have your own credentials.
  4. Visit the PHP page your just created to see the extracted text.

If your PDF file is larger than 1 MB, you will need to call the asynchronous API instead. See an example in Python.

The trial account only allows you to call the PDF-to-Text API up to 20 times for learning purpose. Upgrade to a Premium plan to use the API seriously.

Want to extract PDF text in another programming language? Check out the PDF-to-Text API page.