Frequently Asked Questions

General API Questions

What exactly does your PDF processing API do?

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Our API provides comprehensive PDF processing capabilities including converting HTML, Markdown, text, and JSON to PDF, extracting text from existing PDFs, and storing PDF templates for dynamic data injection. All operations are handled through simple REST API calls.

How is this different from other PDF solutions?

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Unlike traditional PDF libraries that require complex setup and debugging, our API handles all the complexity behind the scenes. You don't need to wrestle with broken layouts, font issues, or memory management. We also provide template storage as a service, which most solutions don't offer.

What's your average response time?

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Our API averages 0.8 seconds for PDF generation, significantly faster than most self-hosted solutions.

Do I need any prior PDF development experience?

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No. Our API is designed for developers who want to focus on their core business logic while we handle all PDF processing complexities.

HTML to PDF Conversion

I've tried other HTML to PDF solutions and always run into layout issues. How do you handle this?

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This is the #1 pain point developers face with PDF generation. Our API is specifically designed to handle modern HTML and CSS properly, avoiding the common layout breaks that plague other solutions.

Do you support modern CSS features?

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Yes, we support modern CSS features and handle complex layouts that often break with other PDF generation tools.

Can I use external resources like images and stylesheets?

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Yes, we fetch external resources including images and CSS files automatically.

What about responsive designs?

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Our API handles responsive CSS and ensures your PDFs render consistently regardless of the original design's responsiveness.

Do you support custom fonts?

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Yes, we support web fonts and custom font files to ensure your PDFs match your brand styling.

Markdown to PDF Conversion

How does Markdown to PDF conversion work?

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Simply send us your Markdown content via API call, and we'll convert it to a professionally formatted PDF with proper styling, headers, code blocks, and formatting.

Can I customize the styling of Markdown PDFs?

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Yes, you can apply custom CSS styling to control the appearance of your Markdown-generated PDFs.

PDF Text Extraction

How accurate is your text extraction?

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We extract text directly from PDF documents. For PDFs that contain actual text (not scanned images), this provides highly accurate results without OCR artifacts.

Can you extract text from scanned PDFs?

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Our current focus is on extracting text from PDFs that contain actual text layers. Text extraction from scanned documents is on our roadmap for future releases.

Do you preserve formatting when extracting text?

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We extract the raw text content from PDFs. Advanced formatting preservation is planned for future releases.

What file types can I extract text from?

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Currently, we support text extraction from PDF files. Support for additional document types may be added in future updates.

Template Management

How does PDF template storage work?

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You store your PDF templates on our platform once, then generate unlimited PDFs by passing only your data. This eliminates the need to send the full template with every API call.

How do I create a template?

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Create your template using HTML/CSS with placeholder variables, then store it via our API. You can then generate PDFs by passing data to fill those placeholders.

How do I inject dynamic data into templates?

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Use placeholder syntax in your templates and pass a JSON object with your data. We handle the replacement automatically.

Can I update my templates?

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Yes, you can update stored templates through our API. Advanced version control features are planned for future releases.

Is there a limit to how many templates I can store?

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Template storage is included with your plan. Limits depend on your subscription tier - see our pricing page for details.

Technical Integration

How quickly can I integrate this into my existing application?

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Most developers are generating their first PDF within 5 minutes using our REST API with standard HTTP requests.

What programming languages can I use?

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Our REST API works with any language that can make HTTP requests. Dedicated SDKs for popular languages are planned for future releases.

What about error handling?

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Our API provides detailed error responses to help you debug issues quickly.

Do you provide code examples?

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Yes, our documentation includes code examples in multiple programming languages showing how to use each API endpoint.

What data formats do you accept?

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We accept JSON for API requests and support HTML, Markdown, plain text, and structured JSON data for PDF generation.

Reliability & Performance

What's your uptime guarantee?

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We provide a 99.9% uptime SLA.

How do you handle scaling?

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Our infrastructure is designed to scale from a few requests per day to millions of PDFs per month.

Do you have rate limits?

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Yes, but they're designed to be generous for normal usage patterns. Contact us if you need higher limits.

What happens if there's downtime?

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We have monitoring and failover systems in place. Our SLA includes uptime credits if we don't meet our availability commitments.

Security & Privacy

How do you handle my data?

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We use industry-standard security practices including data encryption and don't store your generated PDFs longer than necessary for processing.

Can I use this for business documents?

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Yes, our API is designed for business use including invoices, reports, contracts, and other professional documents.

Do you store the PDFs you generate?

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We only store PDFs temporarily during processing. Generated PDFs are not permanently stored on our servers unless specifically requested.

What about my templates - are they secure?

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Yes, stored templates are encrypted and only accessible through your API credentials.

Pricing & Billing

How does pricing work?

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We charge per API call with different pricing tiers based on volume. Template storage is included at no extra cost.

Is there a free trial?

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Yes, all new users receive 30 days of completely free access to all features with no credit card required. This gives you plenty of time to thoroughly test our API and integrate it into your application.

What happens after the free trial ends?

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After your 30-day trial, you can choose a paid plan that fits your usage needs. There's no automatic billing - you decide when and if you want to upgrade.

Can I get a refund if I'm not satisfied after upgrading to a paid plan?

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Since you had 30 free days to thoroughly test all features, we offer a 14-day grace period for full refunds after your first payment. This ensures you had 44+ days total to evaluate our service before any financial commitment becomes final.

What about refunds for annual plans?

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Annual plans follow the same policy: 14-day full refund window. After that, we provide pro-rated refunds for unused months, minus the annual discount you received (since annual plans are discounted for the full-year commitment).

What happens if I cancel my subscription?

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Your service continues until the end of your current billing period. For monthly plans, this means until your next monthly billing date. For annual plans, until your annual renewal date.

Are there any usage limits on refunds?

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Yes, if you've used more than 5× your plan's monthly API limit during the refund period, we may decline the refund as this indicates extensive production use rather than continued evaluation.

What happens if I exceed my plan limits?

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You can upgrade your plan at any time, or contact us to discuss your needs if you consistently exceed your current tier.

Do you offer volume discounts?

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Yes, higher-tier plans offer better per-request pricing. Contact us for custom enterprise pricing for very high volumes.

When do you charge my card?

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For monthly plans, we charge on the same date each month. Annual plans are charged once per year. We send email reminders 7 days before any renewal charge.

Can I change my plan?

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Yes, you can upgrade immediately (with pro-rated billing) or downgrade at the end of your current billing cycle through your account dashboard.

Troubleshooting

My PDFs don't look as expected. What should I check?

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First, verify your HTML renders correctly in a browser. Common issues include missing external resources or CSS that doesn't translate well to print format.

I'm getting errors. How do I debug?

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Check our API response messages for specific error details. Our documentation includes common error scenarios and solutions.

Can I test the API before integrating?

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Yes, you can test all features using standard HTTP tools or by following our quick start guide.

My text extraction isn't working properly. What should I check?

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Ensure your PDF contains actual text (not just scanned images). If the PDF was created from a scanner, text extraction may not work as expected with our current version.

How do I report bugs or request features?

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Contact our support team at support@pdf-technologies.com with detailed information about the issue or feature request.

Getting Started

What do I need to get started?

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Just sign up for an account to get your API key, then follow our quick start guide. You can be generating PDFs in under 5 minutes.

Do you have documentation?

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Yes, we provide comprehensive API documentation with examples, code samples, and integration guides.

Is there a trial period?

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Yes, our free tier allows you to test all features and evaluate the service before committing to a paid plan.

Can I migrate from another PDF solution?

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Yes, our API is designed to be a drop-in replacement for most PDF processing workflows. Contact support if you need migration assistance.

Still have questions? Contact our developer support team at support@pdf-technologies.com