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API REFERENCEv2

JSON to PDF API

Prepare a PDF table document from an application JSON response with the TableConvert conversion API. Flatten nested JSON before rendering and choose the required columns; the output shows the flat grid rather than the full object tree.

REST APIv2 · Direct outputJSON → PDF table5 credits per successful conversion

Try this conversion

Inspect a real sample, preview locally, or send a live request with your own key.

Verified sample
POSThttps://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/json-to-pdf

PDF table response

json-to-pdf.pdf
Content-Type
application/pdf
Size
1,707 bytes
Download sample response

Binary previews show the verified sample file. Send a live API request to generate a new file from your input.

Conversion options
A successful live request uses 5 credits.

Your key is sent only to the conversion API and is never saved by this page.

Things to check before integrating

Before you integrate

Select and flatten the required record fields before sending nested JSON.

Before you integrate

Page layout, CSS, TeX macros and source document artwork are not preserved by this table export.

Before you integrate

The public PDF API uses title and theme; only theme=dark enables dark styling, while other values use the light table style. headerColor, showHead and description are ignored by this API renderer.

Code examples

These examples send the sample as multipart/form-data and save the returned bytes unchanged. Set TABLECONVERT_API_KEY in your environment.

JSON to PDF API · cURL

curl --fail-with-body --max-time 40 \
  'https://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/json-to-pdf' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TABLECONVERT_API_KEY" \
  --form-string 'data=[
  {
    "item": "Notebook",
    "quantity": "12",
    "price": "4.00"
  },
  {
    "item": "Marker",
    "quantity": "8",
    "price": "3.00"
  }
]' \
  --form-string 'output[theme]=striped' \
  --form-string 'output[title]=' \
  --output 'json-to-pdf.pdf'

Requires cURL. Download the sample input first when this example uploads a file.

Authentication

Send Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. Let the HTTP client set the multipart boundary; do not set Content-Type manually.

Keep production API keys in server-side environment variables.

Request parameters

A nonempty array of flat objects is the clearest record input. Object keys form a union of columns; nested structures are not automatically flattened.

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
datastring—Inline JSON table content. Choose one of data, file or url.
filebinary—Upload a json file using multipart/form-data.
urlstring—A supported publicly accessible HTTP or HTTPS file URL.

Send one source: data, file, or url. The examples below use the source mode appropriate for this format.

Output options

Render normalized records into a PDF table document using the API’s light or dark style and optional title. This is a data-table export, not a whole-page HTML renderer or TeX compiler.

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
output[theme]stringstripedThe API renderer uses a dark palette only for dark; other values use the light palette.
output[title]stringEmpty stringAdd a title to the generated table output.

Conversion rules

CaseBehavior
Mapping rule 1The union of object keys forms the header, and each flat object supplies one row of text cells.
Mapping rule 2The extracted header and records are laid out as a new paginated table.
Mapping rule 3Flatten nested JSON before rendering and choose the required columns; the output shows the flat grid rather than the full object tree.

How the input is read

  • For object arrays, columns follow keys in first-seen order; missing keys yield empty cells.
  • null becomes the literal text null, while numbers and booleans become text during table normalization.
  • A nested object becomes [object Object]; an array inside a field becomes comma-joined text rather than additional rows.
  • Prepare explicit flat fields before conversion; the endpoint has no generic flatten parameter.

How the output is written

  • Save the binary response as a PDF; the table is paginated by the conversion renderer.
  • The public PDF API uses title and theme; only theme=dark enables dark styling, while other values use the light table style. headerColor, showHead and description are ignored by this API renderer.
  • Check page width, long values and supported character rendering in the result.

When to use this API

This conversion in practice

Use an application JSON response as the starting dataset for a printable review or reporting attachment. Select and flatten the required record fields before sending nested JSON.

PDF table

Produce a printable data snapshot for review, audit attachments or reporting.

Responses and errors

HTTP statusDescription
200application/pdf
400Invalid input or conversion parameters.
402Insufficient credits for this request.
403Missing or invalid API key.
413The input exceeds the configured request limit.
415Unsupported input media type.
429Rate limit exceeded.
500The conversion could not be completed.
503The renderer is unavailable or the request timed out.

Check the response before retrying. A new HTTP request is a new conversion and may use credits again.

Limits, billing and versions

Local previews accept up to 200 KB. The current API implementation allows one uploaded file up to 50 MiB, limits each multipart text field to 1 MiB, and gives v2 conversion tasks a 30-second deadline. Deployment limits may be stricter. Read the returned error before retrying; some parser or renderer failures return HTTP 500.

Live calls follow the API credit policy. Failed conversions are refunded; a completed conversion is not undone if the download connection later fails.

View API pricing and credits

Using API v1?

This page documents v2, which returns the output directly. API v1 wraps the result in a JSON envelope. Check the overview before changing an existing integration.

API overview

References and format specifications

Format references explain the underlying syntax. The conversion rules and samples above describe TableConvert’s implementation.