POST /v1/pdf/edit/delete-text
When using regular expressions in JSON payloads, ensure that backslashes are properly escaped. For example, a single backslash \ should be written as \\.
Attributes
Attributes are case-sensitive and should be inside JSON for POST request. for example: { "url": "https://example.com/file1.pdf" }
| Attribute | Type | Required | Default | Description |
url | string | Yes | - | URL to the source file url attribute |
callback | string | No | - | The callback URL (or Webhook) used to receive the POST data. see Webhooks & Callbacks. This is only applicable when async is set to true. |
httpusername | string | No | - | HTTP auth user name if required to access source URL. |
httppassword | string | No | - | HTTP auth password if required to access source URL. |
searchStrings | array[string] | Yes | - | The array of strings to search. |
redactions | array | No | - | A list of redaction objects, each defining a rectangular area to remove or cover. Each redaction object includes the following fields: |
page | integer | Yes | - | The zero-based index of the page where the redaction should be applied. For example, 0 = first page. |
x | float | Yes | - | The X-coordinate of the top-left corner of the redaction box, in PDF units (points). Use PDF Edit Add Helper to measure coordinates. |
y | float | Yes | - | The Y-coordinate of the top-left corner of the redaction box, in PDF units (points). Use PDF Edit Add Helper to measure coordinates. |
width | float | Yes | - | The width of the redaction area in points. Use PDF Edit Add Helper to measure coordinates. |
height | float | Yes | - | The height of the redaction area in points. Use PDF Edit Add Helper to measure coordinates. |
replacementLimit | integer | No | 0 | Limit the number of searches & replacements for every item. The value 0 means every found occurrence will be replaced. |
caseSensitive | boolean | No | true | Set to false to don’t use case-sensitive search. |
regex | boolean | No | false | Set to true to use regular expression for search string(s). |
MakeUnsearchable | boolean | No | false | If true, the output PDF is made unsearchable by replacing all pages with images. If false, the document remains searchable with only the specified text removed. |
name | string | No | - | File name for the generated output, the input must be in string format. |
expiration | integer | No | 60 | Set the expiration time for the output link in minutes. After this specified duration, any generated output file(s) will be automatically deleted from PDF.co Temporary Files Storage. The maximum duration for link expiration varies based on your current subscription plan. To store permanent input files (e.g. re-usable images, pdf templates, documents) consider using PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. |
pages | string | No | all pages | Specify page indices as comma-separated values or ranges to process (e.g. “0, 1, 2-” or “1, 2, 3-7”). The first-page index is 0. If not specified, the default configuration processes all pages. |
password | string | No | - | Password for the PDF file. |
async | boolean | No | false | Set async to true for long processes to run in the background, API will then return a jobId which you can use with the Background Job Check endpoint. Also see Webhooks & Callbacks |
profiles | object | No | - | See Profiles for more information. |
outputDataFormat | string | No | - | If you require your output as base64 format, set this to base64 |
removeTextUnderPatch | boolean | No | true | Controls whether to remove text under the patch or not |
usepatch | boolean | No | false | Controls whether to use a patch or not |
patchColor | string | No | #000000 | Controls the color of the patch |
DataEncryptionAlgorithm | string | No | - | Controls the encryption algorithm used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256. |
DataEncryptionKey | string | No | - | Controls the encryption key used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataEncryptionIV | string | No | - | Controls the encryption IV used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataDecryptionAlgorithm | string | No | - | Controls the decryption algorithm used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256. |
DataDecryptionKey | string | No | - | Controls the decryption key used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
DataDecryptionIV | string | No | - | Controls the decryption IV used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. |
Showing Redacted Text
By default when we delete text using post-tag-pdf-edit-delete-text it will simply remove text leaving a space where the text was.
In the case where you need to blackout deleted text it can be acheived using following profiles parameters.
-
Set
UsePatch parameter to true.
-
Set
PatchColor parameter to color we want to use for redacting in hex format. For example: 'PatchColor': '#000000'.
In case we want to only blackout text, but not remove it so that we can still copy it, we can do so using RemoveTextUnderPatch parameter and set it to false.
If RemoveTextUnderPatch is set to false then a user could still copy the text making the redaction less secure than you might require!
{
"profiles": "{'UsePatch': true, 'PatchColor': '#000000', 'RemoveTextUnderPatch': true}"
}
Query parameters
No query parameters accepted.
Responses
| Parameter | Type | Description |
url | string | Direct URL to the final PDF file stored in S3. |
outputLinkValidTill | string | Timestamp indicating when the output link will expire |
pageCount | integer | Number of pages in the PDF document. |
error | boolean | Indicates whether an error occurred (false means success) |
status | string | Status code of the request (200, 404, 500, etc.). For more information, see Response Codes. |
name | string | Name of the output file |
credits | integer | Number of credits consumed by the request |
remainingCredits | integer | Number of credits remaining in the account |
duration | integer | Time taken for the operation in milliseconds |
Example Payload
{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-to-text/sample.pdf",
"name": "pdfWithTextDeleted",
"caseSensitive": "false",
"searchString": "Invoice",
"replacementLimit": 0,
"async": false
}
Example Response
To see the main response codes, please refer to the
Response Codes page.
{
"url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ZOSEQZFNVCYLD5N5CJFVIYQKBVLR8OKD/pdfWithTextDeleted.pdf?X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Security-Token=FwoGZXIvYXdzECYaDKOO4WmO5C5shyOYYSKCAVsAo6VkB5HQjTBd9dMlJujQdEkPfNdPeLfq2mF54s2ESZBmIAJ5UgDUo3J9R475CCS4M3nuuo%2FSJwRy5gNiJdb1ZY0uCtP87x83nH%2B%2BSDu5JK%2F%2BEOrd3MREt8KE3BsQOrv%2FKMdnK%2BT5nJ2x2hC87vHue%2FudY7%2FWX54vx4tfFobEyhEozLbPnwYyKOdEsYYWH7e8tm7XV4UeKxCoKMaXSEPvOod80hR62qXnEI42fOsON3M%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIA4NRRSZPHLUVIAIPX/20230220/us-west-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230220T205521Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9f79c1a30d4f373e495e735e908375dad2ae6dcafcee761a477748c2b8298605",
"pageCount": 1,
"error": false,
"status": 200,
"name": "pdfWithTextDeleted.pdf",
"credits": 21,
"duration": 189,
"remainingCredits": 96235635
}
Inconsistent URL Encoding in cURL Output: When using cURL to make API requests, the output JSON may show URL characters encoded as Unicode escape sequences. For example, the ampersand character (&) may appear as \u0026 in the cURL output. This is normal JSON encoding behavior and does not affect the validity of the URL. The URL will function correctly when used, as JSON parsers automatically decode these escape sequences. If you’re parsing the response programmatically, your JSON parser will handle this conversion automatically.
Code Samples
CURL
JavaScript/Node.js
Python
C#
Java
PHP
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/edit/delete-text' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--data-raw '{
"url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-to-text/sample.pdf",
"name": "pdfWithTextDeleted",
"caseSensitive": "false",
"searchString": "Invoice",
"replacementLimit": 0,
"async": false
}'
var https = require("https");
var path = require("path");
var fs = require("fs");
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
const API_KEY = "***********************************";
// Direct URL of source PDF file.
// You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
const SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-split/sample.pdf";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
const Password = "";
// Destination PDF file name
const DestinationFile = "./result.pdf";
// Prepare request to `Delete Text from PDF` API endpoint
var queryPath = `/v1/pdf/edit/delete-text`;
// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
name: path.basename(destinationFile), password: password, url: SourceFileUrl, searchString: 'conspicuous'
});
var reqOptions = {
host: "api.pdf.co",
method: "POST",
path: queryPath,
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
}
};
// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
response.on("data", (d) => {
// Parse JSON response
var data = JSON.parse(d);
if (data.error == false) {
// Download PDF file
var file = fs.createWriteStream(DestinationFile);
https.get(data.url, (response2) => {
response2.pipe(file)
.on("close", () => {
console.log(`Generated PDF file saved as "${DestinationFile}" file.`);
});
});
}
else {
// Service reported error
console.log(data.message);
}
});
}).on("error", (e) => {
// Request error
console.log(e);
});
// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();
import os
import requests # pip install requests
# The authentication key (API Key).
# Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
API_KEY = "******************************************"
# Base URL for PDF.co Web API requests
BASE_URL = "https://api.pdf.co/v1"
# Direct URL of source PDF file.
# You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
SourceFileURL = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-split/sample.pdf"
# PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
Password = ""
# Destination PDF file name
DestinationFile = ".\\result.pdf"
def main(args = None):
deleteTextFromPdf(SourceFileURL, DestinationFile)
def deleteTextFromPdf(uploadedFileUrl, destinationFile):
"""Delete Text from PDF using PDF.co Web API"""
# Prepare requests params as JSON
parameters = {}
parameters["name"] = os.path.basename(destinationFile)
parameters["password"] = Password
parameters["url"] = uploadedFileUrl
parameters["searchString"] = "conspicuous"
# Prepare URL for 'Delete Text from PDF' API request
url = "{}/pdf/edit/delete-text".format(BASE_URL)
# Execute request and get response as JSON
response = requests.post(url, data=parameters, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY })
if (response.status_code == 200):
json = response.json()
if json["error"] == False:
# Get URL of result file
resultFileUrl = json["url"]
# Download result file
r = requests.get(resultFileUrl, stream=True)
if (r.status_code == 200):
with open(destinationFile, 'wb') as file:
for chunk in r:
file.write(chunk)
print(f"Result file saved as \"{destinationFile}\" file.")
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
else:
# Show service reported error
print(json["message"])
else:
print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
namespace PDFcoApiExample
{
class Program
{
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
const String API_KEY = "***********************************";
// Direct URL of source PDF file.
// You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
const string SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-split/sample.pdf";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
const string Password = "";
// Destination PDF file name
const string DestinationFile = @".\result.pdf";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create standard .NET web client instance
WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
// Set API Key
webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY);
// Prepare requests params as JSON
Dictionary<string, string> parameters = new Dictionary<string, string>();
parameters.Add("name", Path.GetFileName(DestinationFile));
parameters.Add("password", Password);
parameters.Add("url", SourceFileUrl);
parameters.Add("searchString", "conspicuous");
// Convert dictionary of params to JSON
string jsonPayload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);
// URL of `Delete Text from PDF` API call
string url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/edit/delete-text";
try
{
// Execute POST request with JSON payload
string response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload);
// Parse JSON response
JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);
if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
{
// Get URL of generated PDF file
string resultFileUrl = json["url"].ToString();
// Download PDF file
webClient.DownloadFile(resultFileUrl, DestinationFile);
Console.WriteLine("Generated PDF file saved as \"{0}\" file.", DestinationFile);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
}
}
catch (WebException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
webClient.Dispose();
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Press any key...");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
package com.company;
import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
import com.google.gson.JsonParser;
import okhttp3.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
public class Main
{
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
final static String API_KEY = "**********************************";
// Direct URL of source PDF file.
// You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
final static String SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-split/sample.pdf";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
final static String Password = "";
// Destination PDF file name
final static Path DestinationFile = Paths.get(".\\result.pdf");
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
{
// Create HTTP client instance
OkHttpClient webClient = new OkHttpClient();
// Prepare URL for `Delete Text from PDF` API call
String query = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/edit/delete-text";
// Make correctly escaped (encoded) URL
URL url = null;
try
{
url = new URI(null, query, null).toURL();
}
catch (URISyntaxException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
// Create JSON payload
String jsonPayload = String.format("{\"name\": \"%s\", \"password\": \"%s\", \"url\": \"%s\", \"searchString\": \"conspicuous\"}",
DestinationFile.getFileName(),
Password,
SourceFileUrl);
// Prepare request body
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"), jsonPayload);
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(url)
.addHeader("x-api-key", API_KEY) // (!) Set API Key
.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
.post(body)
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
if (response.code() == 200)
{
// Parse JSON response
JsonObject json = new JsonParser().parse(response.body().string()).getAsJsonObject();
boolean error = json.get("error").getAsBoolean();
if (!error)
{
// Get URL of generated PDF file
String resultFileUrl = json.get("url").getAsString();
// Download PDF file
downloadFile(webClient, resultFileUrl, DestinationFile.toFile());
System.out.printf("Generated PDF file saved as \"%s\" file.", DestinationFile.toString());
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
System.out.println(json.get("message").getAsString());
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
System.out.println(response.code() + " " + response.message());
}
}
public static void downloadFile(OkHttpClient webClient, String url, File destinationFile) throws IOException
{
// Prepare request
Request request = new Request.Builder()
.url(url)
.build();
// Execute request
Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();
byte[] fileBytes = response.body().bytes();
// Save downloaded bytes to file
OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(destinationFile);
output.write(fileBytes);
output.flush();
output.close();
response.close();
}
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Cloud API asynchronous "Delete Text from PDF" job example (allows to avoid timeout errors).</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
// Cloud API asynchronous "Delete Text from PDF" job example.
// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
$apiKey = "***********************************";
// Direct URL of source PDF file. Check another example if you need to upload a local file to the cloud.
// You can also upload your own file into PDF.co and use it as url. Check "Upload File" samples for code snippets: https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master/File%20Upload/
$sourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-split/sample.pdf";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
$password = "";
// Prepare URL for `Delete Text from PDF` API call
$url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/edit/delete-text";
// Prepare requests params
$parameters = array();
$parameters["password"] = $password;
$parameters["url"] = $sourceFileUrl;
$parameters["searchString"] = "conspicuous";
$parameters["async"] = true; // (!) Make asynchronous job
// Create Json payload
$data = json_encode($parameters);
// Create request
$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("x-api-key: " . $apiKey, "Content-type: application/json"));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);
// Execute request
$result = curl_exec($curl);
if (curl_errno($curl) == 0)
{
$status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($status_code == 200)
{
$json = json_decode($result, true);
if (!isset($json["error"]) || $json["error"] == false)
{
// URL of generated PDF file that will available after the job completion
$resultFileUrl = $json["url"];
// Asynchronous job ID
$jobId = $json["jobId"];
// Check the job status in a loop
do
{
$status = CheckJobStatus($jobId, $apiKey); // Possible statuses: "working", "failed", "aborted", "success".
// Display timestamp and status (for demo purposes)
echo "<p>" . date(DATE_RFC2822) . ": " . $status . "</p>";
if ($status == "success")
{
// Display link to the file with conversion results
echo "<div><h2>Conversion Result:</h2><a href='" . $resultFileUrl . "' target='_blank'>" . $resultFileUrl . "</a></div>";
break;
}
else if ($status == "working")
{
// Pause for a few seconds
sleep(3);
}
else
{
echo $status . "<br/>";
break;
}
}
while (true);
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display CURL error
echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}
// Cleanup
curl_close($curl);
function CheckJobStatus($jobId, $apiKey)
{
$status = null;
// Create URL
$url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/job/check";
// Prepare requests params
$parameters = array();
$parameters["jobid"] = $jobId;
// Create Json payload
$data = json_encode($parameters);
// Create request
$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("x-api-key: " . $apiKey, "Content-type: application/json"));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);
// Execute request
$result = curl_exec($curl);
if (curl_errno($curl) == 0)
{
$status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
if ($status_code == 200)
{
$json = json_decode($result, true);
if (!isset($json["error"]) || $json["error"] == false)
{
$status = $json["status"];
}
else
{
// Display service reported error
echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display request error
echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
}
}
else
{
// Display CURL error
echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
}
// Cleanup
curl_close($curl);
return $status;
}
?>
</body>
</html>