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Quick Start

Minimal examples to get you started fast.

Generate PDF from HTML​

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input_type":"html","html":"<h1>Hello</h1>"}' \
  --output output.pdf

Generate PDF from Markdown​

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input_type":"markdown","markdown":"# Hello\n\nWorld"}' \
  --output output.pdf

Generate PDF from a URL​

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input_type":"url","url":"https://example.com/invoice.html"}' \
  --output output.pdf

Public HTTPS URLs only. The page is fetched server-side, so relative assets on it do not resolve — see URL fetching.

Generate PDF from Images​

# Single image
curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -F "input_type=image" \
  -F "images=@photo.jpg" \
  --output photo.pdf

# Multiple images
curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -F "input_type=image" \
  -F "images=@photo1.jpg" \
  -F "images=@photo2.jpg" \
  -F 'options={"format":"A4","fit":"contain"}' \
  --output album.pdf

With Custom Options​

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "input_type": "html",
    "html": "<h1>Custom PDF</h1>",
    "options": {
      "format": "A4",
      "margin": {"top":"20mm","right":"20mm","bottom":"20mm","left":"20mm"},
      "landscape": false
    }
  }' \
  --output custom.pdf

Convert Many Files at Once (Bulk)​

Send the files and get a ZIP of PDFs back. For a small batch, multipart is the shortest path:

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/bulkjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -F bundle_type=html \
  -F 'paths=["reports/january.html","reports/css/site.css"]' \
  -F files=@january.html \
  -F files=@css/site.css

Larger batches go through a presigned ZIP upload — see the guide below.

You get a job_id back. Poll it and download the output ZIP when it's done:

curl https://api.podpdf.com/jobs/JOB_ID \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here"

curl https://api.podpdf.com/jobs/JOB_ID/download \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here"

Full walkthrough →

Keep the PDF for Later​

Add "store": true and you get JSON with a signed download URL instead of the binary:

curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input_type":"html","html":"<h1>Hello</h1>","store":true}'

The link is valid for one hour; the file is kept for 30 days and you can reissue the link from GET /jobs/{job_id}/download.

Using Environment Variables​

# Set your API key
export PODPDF_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

# Use it in requests
curl -X POST https://api.podpdf.com/quickjob \
  -H "X-API-Key: $PODPDF_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input_type":"html","html":"<h1>Hello</h1>"}' \
  --output output.pdf

More examples →