Process documents at scale — without the overhead

The Nutrient DWS Processor API is a cloud-based document processing API that provides over 30 modular tools for automating document workflows. It's designed for backend operations like PDF generation from HTML and Office files, document format conversion, OCR and data extraction, document editing and manipulation, watermarking and digital signatures, AI-powered redaction, and PDF/A archiving. The API handles everything from simple conversions to complex multi-step document processing workflows — all through simple HTTP API calls without requiring any server infrastructure.

The Processor API offers comprehensive document processing capabilities organized into several categories: Generation - Create PDFs from HTML, Office documents, and images; Conversion - Convert between PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats (JPG, PNG, WebP, TIFF); Extraction - Extract text, images, tables, and key-value pairs from documents; OCR - Convert scanned documents and images to searchable, editable text; Editing - Merge, split, delete pages, flatten forms, rotate, and optimize PDFs; Security - Apply watermarks, digital signatures, and secure redaction; AI Features - Automated key-value extraction, table extraction to Excel/JSON/CSV/XML, and AI-powered redaction for sensitive data.

We use a simple credit-based system where 1 credit equals 1 API operation. Different tools consume different credits (for example, HTML to PDF uses 0.5 credits, while OCR uses 2 credits). Plans start at $75/month for 1,000 credits, with volume discounts available. Annual plans save you 10% compared to monthly billing. Unused credits don't roll over. View our detailed pricing page for more information.

Yes! We offer a free tier with 200 credits to help you get started. You can test all our features at no cost. Note that commercial use on the free tier is restricted for enterprises with more than 20 employees or over $1 million in annual revenue. You can upgrade to a paid plan anytime as your needs grow.

Most developers integrate our API in just a few hours. We provide official SDK libraries for TypeScript and Python, along with comprehensive documentation and code samples. Our getting started guide walks you through integration step-by-step, and you can test everything with our interactive API reference .

The Processor API supports extensive format conversion: Input formats include PDF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), HTML, and images (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tiff). Output formats include PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, and images (JPG, PNG, WebP, TIFF). You can also extract data to JSON, XML, or CSV formats. The API handles bidirectional conversion—for example, PDF to Word for editing, then Word back to PDF for distribution. All conversions preserve formatting, fonts, images, and document structure with high fidelity.

Our OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine analyzes scanned documents, images, and non-searchable PDFs to extract text with high accuracy. The OCR processes the document in the cloud, recognizes text using advanced machine learning algorithms, converts it to searchable and editable content, and preserves the original document layout and formatting. The output PDF contains a searchable text layer while maintaining the visual appearance of the original. OCR supports multiple languages and handles various challenges like tilted text, mixed languages, tables and forms, and low-quality scans. You can specify the language or let the API auto-detect it for optimal accuracy.

Yes! The Processor API includes AI-powered data extraction specifically designed for structured documents. Our table extraction tool converts tables from PDFs into Excel spreadsheets, JSON, XML, or CSV formats while preserving rows, columns, and cell relationships. The key-value extraction feature automatically identifies and extracts field-label pairs like "Invoice Number: 12345" or "Total Amount: $500.00" from forms, invoices, and receipts. This is perfect for automating document processing workflows, invoice processing and accounts payable, data entry from forms and applications, and extracting structured data for analysis or storage in databases.

The Processor API is designed for both single-document and high-volume batch processing. You can process documents one at a time for real-time workflows (perfect for user-initiated operations like "Download as PDF"), or implement batch processing by making multiple API calls concurrently from your application. Our cloud infrastructure automatically scales to handle your workload, whether you're processing 10 documents per day or 10,000 per hour. Many customers integrate the API into their ETL pipelines, document management systems, scheduled automation tasks (cron jobs), and webhook-triggered workflows for efficient batch operations.

Security is fundamental to our architecture. We're SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant. Key security features include: Encryption - All documents are encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS and at rest using AES-256; No Storage - Documents are processed immediately and never permanently stored on our infrastructure; Isolation - Each request is processed in an isolated environment; Secure Redaction - Our redaction tool permanently removes content from PDFs (not just covering it with black boxes); Compliance - Built-in features to help meet GDPR, HIPAA, and other data privacy regulations. You maintain complete control over your documents throughout the processing lifecycle. Learn more about our security practices .

The Processor API provides detailed error responses to help you handle failures gracefully. Common error scenarios include: invalid input format, corrupted or password-protected files, processing timeouts for extremely large documents, and insufficient credits. You're never charged credits for failed requests (4xx or 5xx responses). Our API returns clear error messages with specific codes indicating what went wrong and suggested resolutions. We recommend implementing retry logic with exponential backoff for transient errors, validating input files before processing, and monitoring your credit balance to avoid service interruptions. Our support team is available to help troubleshoot persistent issues.

Our HTML to PDF engine is built on modern browser technology (Chromium), ensuring high-fidelity conversion that accurately renders complex web layouts. The engine supports: Latest Web Standards - Full HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Flexbox, Grid, and responsive design; Custom Fonts - Web fonts, Google Fonts, and custom font files with proper embedding; Advanced Styling - Gradients, shadows, animations, and modern CSS features; Images & Media - Background images, SVGs, and external resources; Print Optimization - Page breaks, margins, headers/footers, and page sizing. The rendered PDF looks exactly like the webpage in a modern browser. You can pass URLs or raw HTML, control page size and orientation, and configure margins and scaling for perfect output every time.

Yes! One of the most powerful features of the Processor API is the ability to chain multiple operations in a single workflow. For example, you can convert a Word document to PDF, apply a watermark, run OCR, and compress the file—all in one API call. This approach reduces API calls and network overhead, lowers costs (though you still pay credits for each operation), simplifies error handling, and ensures faster processing. Our API documentation includes examples of common chained workflows such as "Scan → OCR → Redact → Watermark" for sensitive documents, "Office → PDF → Optimize" for web distribution, and "PDF → Extract Tables → Convert to Excel" for data analysis.

Yes, the Processor API supports digital signatures with certificate-based authentication to ensure document integrity and legal validity. Digital signatures provide cryptographic proof that the document hasn't been altered since signing and verify the identity of the signer using X.509 certificates. This makes signed documents legally binding and compliant with standards like eIDAS (EU), ESIGN Act (US), and other electronic signature regulations. Use cases include contract execution, regulatory document approval, secure form submissions, and automated document certification. The API also supports applying visible signature fields and timestamp authorities for additional verification.

The Processor API is designed to handle high volumes of requests without strict rate limits. Instead of hard request-per-second caps, we use a credit-based system that naturally governs usage. Your plan determines your monthly credit allocation, and operations consume credits based on complexity. During processing, our infrastructure automatically scales to handle concurrent requests—most customers can process dozens of documents simultaneously without issues. For enterprise customers with extremely high-volume needs (millions of documents per month), we offer custom plans with dedicated infrastructure, priority processing, and guaranteed SLAs. Contact our sales team to discuss enterprise requirements.

Our AI-powered redaction automatically identifies and permanently removes sensitive information from documents. The AI scans documents for personally identifiable information (PII) like names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses; financial data including credit card numbers, bank accounts, and SSNs; protected health information (PHI) for HIPAA compliance; and custom patterns you define. Unlike simple "cover-up" tools, our redaction permanently removes the underlying text and images from the PDF file, making recovery impossible. This is essential for compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other privacy regulations. The API also supports manual redaction where you specify exact coordinates or search terms for removal.

The DWS Processor API offers several advantages over traditional on-premise PDF libraries: Zero Infrastructure - No servers to set up, scale, or maintain vs. deploying and managing your own servers; Instant Scalability - Automatically handles traffic spikes vs. capacity planning and hardware provisioning; Always Updated - Latest features and security patches vs. manual updates and version management; Pay-as-you-go - Credit-based pricing vs. upfront licensing costs; Multi-language Support - REST API works with any language vs. library-specific language bindings. On-premise solutions may be preferred for strict data residency requirements or extremely high volumes where per-document costs favor self-hosting. We can help you evaluate which approach best fits your needs.