PDF Services API Licensing
Paid programs
Adobe PDF Services API licensing is measured per Document Transaction (previously known as PDF Transactions) which is based on the initial endpoint request (i.e., API call) and the digital output, with each operation in the table described below. Content limits apply and are provided along with examples for clarity.
Paid credentials enable a greater processing quota and require entering into a separate written agreement. To learn more, please see our pricing page for purchase options.
Document Transactions for the Operations below resulting in a Document will be counted with the following page limits:
Document Transactions for the Operations below resulting in a Document will be counted with the following page limits:
- Extract PDF Operation: up to 5 pages per Document Transaction
- All other Operations: up to 50 pages per Document Transaction
Metrics
| Operation | Capability | Metric |
|---|---|---|
Document Generation | Create PDF and Word documents from your own authored Microsoft Word templates and JSON data | Document Transaction |
Extract PDF | Extracts PDF Elements such as text, images, tables in a structured format from a PDF. | Document Transaction (up to 5 pages) |
Create | Create PDF from static/dynamic HTML, HTML(with inline CSS), HTML(specified via URL), MS Office and other supported file types. File types: BMP, DOC, DOCX, GIF, JPEG, JPG, PNG, PPT, PPTX, RTF, TIF, TIFF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, ZIP | Document Transaction |
Export | Convert PDF to MS Office and other supported file types. File types: DOC, DOCX, JPEG, PNG, PPTX, RTF, XLSX | Document Transaction |
Combine | Combine multiple PDFs or pages in PDFs to a single PDF | Document Transaction |
OCR | Convert scanned PDF to editable and searchable PDF | Document Transaction |
Compress | Reduce the size of a PDF | Document Transaction |
Protect | Set user password in a PDF to prevent others from opening and viewing the Document | Document Transaction |
Remove Password | Remove password security from a PDF document. This can only be accomplished using the owner password of the document, which must be passed in the operation. | Document Transaction |
Linearize | Optimize a PDF for Fast Web View | Document Transaction |
Split | Split a PDF document into multiple smaller PDFs | Document Transaction |
Insert Pages | Insert one or more pages from different PDFs into a PDF | Document Transaction |
Replace Pages | Replace one or more pages in a single PDF from pages in other PDFs | Document Transaction |
Delete Pages | Delete one or more pages in a single PDF | Document Transaction |
Rotate Pages | Rotate one or more pages in a single PDF | Document Transaction |
Reorder Pages | Reorder one or more pages in a single PDF | Document Transaction |
Get PDF Properties | Get XMP metadata properties of a PDF file | Document Transaction: the 50-page count does not apply |
Examples
The number of documents used to calculate Document Transactions is rounded up on a 5-page basis for Extract PDF and on a 50-page basis for other PDF Tools.
| Operation | Example | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
Document Generation | Generating a fifteen-page PDF Document from a two-page Microsoft Word template and 1MB JSON file consumes one Document Transaction | 1 (Operation: Document Generation) x 1 (Document) = 1 Document Transaction |
Extract PDF | Extracting PDF Elements from an 8 page PDF Document consumes two Document Transactions | 1 (Operation: Extract PDF) x 2 (5 page document) = 2 Document Transactions |
Create, Export | Converting ten single page Word Documents into ten PDF Documents consumes ten Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: create) x 10 (documents) = 10 Document Transactions |
Combine | Combining six different PDF Documents into a single 250 page PDF Document consumes five Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: combine) x 5 (50 page documents) = 5 Document Transactions |
OCR | Running OCR on a single 50 page document consumes one Document Transaction | 1 (Operation: OCR) x 1 (50 page document) = 1 Document Transaction |
Compress, Protect | Setting password protection for a single PDF document consumes one Document Transaction | 1 (Operation: protect) x 1 (document) = 1 Document Transaction |
Linearize | Optimizing one PDF document with three pages will consume one Document Transaction. | 1 (Operation: Linearize) x 1 (document) = 1 Document Transaction |
Insert, replace, rotate, reorder, delete pages | Inserting ten pages into a 100 page PDF document consumes three Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: Insert) x 3 (50-page documents) = 2 Document Transactions |
Create + Reorder | Converting a 10 page Word Document into a single PDF and then reordering five of the pages in the same PDF Document consumes two Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: create) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: reorder) x 1 (document) = 2 Document Transactions |
Combine + Rotate + OCR | Combining three PDF Documents into a single 30 page PDF, then rotating two pages of the PDF, and then running OCR on the PDF consumes three Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: combine) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: rotate) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: OCR) x 1 (document) = 3 Document Transactions |
Replace + Delete + Export | Replacing seven pages in a single 45 page PDF document, then deleting three pages on the same PDF document, and finally exporting the PDF document to a PPT document will consume three Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: replace) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: delete) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: export) x 1 (document) = 3 Document Transactions |
Create + Combine + Protect | Creating a 10 page PDF document from an HTML page, then combining the PDF into four other 5 page PDF documents, and finally password protecting all four PDF documents will consume nine Document Transactions. | 1 (Operation: create) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: combine) x 4 (documents) + 1 (Operation: export) x 4 (documents) = 9 Document Transactions |
Usage limits
There are several usage limits that apply to operation metrics. Files submitted for processing that exceed content limits below will fail and result in an error message.
| Usage limit | Value |
|---|---|
Document limit (combine, insert, replace, split) | 20 |
Document file size | 100MB |
Output images per Document Transaction (export) | 50 |
Page limit (OCR)* | 100 |
Page limit(Non-Scanned - Extract API)* | 400 |
JSON file size (Document Generation and HTML to PDF) | 10MB |
Maximum Requests Per Minute | 25 RPM |
*Page limits may be lower for documents with a large number of tables.
Licensing Metrics & Free Tier
The PDF Services API has a Free Tier so that you can take a deep dive into its cool features at zero cost. Free Tier users get free credentials that enable the processing of 500 Document Transactions per month. A Document Transaction is based on the initial endpoint request (i.e., API call) and the digital output. For detailed licensing metrics, please see the tables above.
Processing is calculated on a per Document Transaction basis.
Example 1:
- Converting a ten-page Word document into PDF consumes 1 Document Transaction of the trial quota.
- 1 (Operation: convert) x 1 (document) = 1 Document Transaction
Example 2:
- Combining 20 single page documents into one PDF and then running OCR on the PDF consumes 2 Document Transactions of the trial quota.
- 1 (Operation: combine) x 1 (document) + 1 (Operation: OCR) x 1 (document) = 2 Document Transactions
This generous allowance of processing power should allow you to get up and running with the easy-to-use APIs with little investment.
Paid credentials enable a greater processing quota and require entering into a separate written agreement. To learn more, please see our pricing page for purchase options.