Office documents

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument and about a hundred other formats, converted by LibreOffice. One file in, one PDF out; several files give a ZIP, or one PDF with merge=true.

POST https://api.pdfdispatch.com/v1/convert/office

Form fields

Field	Type	Default	What it does
`files` required	file(s)	–	One or more documents. Each becomes one PDF; several come back as a ZIP unless `merge=true`.
`merge`	boolean	`false`	Join all the PDFs into one, in the order of the file names.
`password`	string	–	The password that opens a protected document.
`landscape`	boolean	`false`	Landscape pages, where the document does not set its own orientation.
`nativePageRanges`	string	–	Only these pages, for example `1-4` or `1,3,5-7`.
`singlePageSheets`	boolean	`false`	Spreadsheets: each sheet on one page, however big.
`exportFormFields`	boolean	`true`	Keep form fields fillable. `false` prints their content as plain text.
`allowDuplicateFieldNames`	boolean	`false`	Allow several form fields with the same name.
`exportBookmarks`	boolean	`true`	Turn the document’s headings into PDF bookmarks.
`exportBookmarksToPdfDestination`	boolean	`false`	Also make named destinations from the bookmarks, so links like `file.pdf#Chapter2` work.
`openBookmarkLevels`	integer	`-1`	How many bookmark levels a viewer opens at first, 1 to 10; `-1` for all.
`updateIndexes`	boolean	`true`	Refresh the table of contents and other indexes before converting.
`exportNotes, exportNotesInMargin`	boolean	`false`	Include comments, as PDF notes or in the page margin.
`exportNotesPages, exportOnlyNotesPages`	boolean	`false`	Presentations, add the speaker notes pages, or print only those.
`exportHiddenSlides`	boolean	`false`	Presentations, include hidden slides.
`exportPlaceholders`	boolean	`false`	Show the marks of empty placeholder fields.
`skipEmptyPages`	boolean	`false`	Leave out pages that are empty only because of automatic page breaks.
`addOriginalDocumentAsStream`	boolean	`false`	Put a copy of the source document inside the PDF.
`convertOooTargetToPdfTarget, exportLinksRelativeFsys`	boolean	`false`	Links between documents: point them at the `.pdf` instead of the source, or keep them relative to the file system.
`quality`	integer	`90`	JPEG quality of the images, 1 to 100.
`losslessImageCompression`	boolean	`false`	Keep images lossless instead of JPEG (bigger files).
`reduceImageResolution, maxImageResolution`	boolean, integer	`false, 300`	Scale images down to at most this many DPI: `75`, `150`, `300`, `600` or `1200`.
`nativeWatermarkText, nativeTiledWatermarkText`	string	–	A text watermark the converter draws on every page, once or repeated over the page.
`nativeWatermarkColor, nativeWatermarkFontHeight, nativeWatermarkRotateAngle, nativeWatermarkFontName`	integer, integer, integer, string	`8388223, 0, 0, Helvetica`	Its colour as a decimal RGB number (`16711680` is red), font size (0: fit the page), angle in tenths of a degree (`450` is 45°) and font.
`generateTaggedPdf`	boolean	`false`	Add structure tags for screen readers.
`nativePdfFormats`	boolean	`true`	Write `pdfa`/`pdfua` during the conversion itself (better results). It falls back to a second pass when other post-processing is asked for.
`flatten`	boolean	`false`	Flatten form fields and annotations into the page.
`initialView, initialPage, magnification, zoom, pageLayout`	integers	`0, 1, 0, 100, 0`	How a viewer first shows the PDF. `initialView`: 0 page only, 1 with bookmarks, 2 with thumbnails. `magnification`: 0 default, 1 whole page, 2 page width, 3 visible width, 4 the `zoom` percentage. `pageLayout`: 0 default, 1 single page, 2 continuous, 3 two pages side by side.
`firstPageOnLeft, resizeWindowToInitialPage, centerWindow, openInFullScreenMode, displayPDFDocumentTitle, hideViewerMenubar, hideViewerToolbar, hideViewerWindowControls, useTransitionEffects`	boolean	`false (title and transitions: true)`	Further viewer hints. Viewers may ignore them.

The options on conversion routes apply as well: PDF/A and PDF/UA, metadata, passwords, watermarks, rotation, splitting, compression, attachments and Factur-X. Headers are as for HTML.

File types

The extension of each file decides how it is read, so it must be right (a .doc that is really a .docx may fail). The most common:

Kind	Extensions
Text	`.docx` `.doc` `.docm` `.dotx` `.odt` `.ott` `.fodt` `.rtf` `.txt` `.wpd` `.wps` `.pages` `.abw` `.lwp` `.hwp`
Spreadsheets	`.xlsx` `.xls` `.xlsm` `.xlsb` `.xltx` `.ods` `.ots` `.fods` `.csv` `.numbers` `.dbf` `.wk1`
Presentations	`.pptx` `.ppt` `.pptm` `.ppsx` `.pps` `.potx` `.odp` `.otp` `.fodp` `.key`
Drawings and images	`.odg` `.vsdx` `.vsd` `.svg` `.png` `.jpg` `.gif` `.tif` `.bmp` `.emf` `.wmf` `.eps` `.psd` `.cdr` `.pub`
Other	`.html` `.xhtml` `.xml` `.epub` `.pdf` (re-exported) and older StarOffice and Works formats

For HTML, prefer the HTML route: it handles modern CSS and JavaScript, this route does not.

Examples

One document:

curl --fail-with-body \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $PDD_KEY" \
  --form files=@offer.docx \
  --output offer.pdf \
  https://api.pdfdispatch.com/v1/convert/office

A workbook with each sheet on a single page, as PDF/A for the archive:

curl --fail-with-body \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $PDD_KEY" \
  --form files=@q3-figures.xlsx \
  --form singlePageSheets=true \
  --form pdfa=PDF/A-2b \
  --output q3-figures.pdf \
  https://api.pdfdispatch.com/v1/convert/office

Three documents joined into one PDF (in the order of their names):

curl --fail-with-body \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $PDD_KEY" \
  --form files=@1-cover.docx \
  --form files=@2-terms.odt \
  --form files=@3-prices.xlsx \
  --form merge=true \
  --output offer.pdf \
  https://api.pdfdispatch.com/v1/convert/office

In Node.js:

import { openAsBlob } from "node:fs";
import { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const form = new FormData();
form.append("files", await openAsBlob("offer.docx"), "offer.docx");

const res = await fetch("https://api.pdfdispatch.com/v1/convert/office", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.PDD_KEY}` },
  body: form,
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
await writeFile("offer.pdf", Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer()));

Fonts and layout

The converter uses the fonts it has. When a document asks for one it does not have (some Microsoft fonts, a corporate font), a similar font takes its place, and line and page breaks can move. To keep the exact look, embed the fonts in the document when you save it (Word: Options, Save, “Embed fonts in the file”; LibreOffice: File, Properties, Font).

Common fonts with free equivalents (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Calibri, Cambria) keep their metrics, so the layout usually holds.

When it fails

400: the file could not be read (damaged, or an extension that does not match its content), a protected document without the right password, or nativePageRanges that do not fit. The message names the file.
500 with “LibreOffice failed to convert the document”: the request was valid but the conversion broke, usually on a very large or unusual document. This one is worth a retry; if it fails again, write to us with the X-Request-Id.
503 after 60 seconds: the document takes too long. Split it, or remove large embedded media.