Split PDF API

Split PDF documents into smaller, organized files using a PDF splitting API built for extracting specific sections, separating batches, packet routing, and automated document workflows.

Try for free

Precise PDF splitting

Split PDFs by page ranges or document sections so downstream systems receive the exact file boundaries they need for routing, review, storage, or delivery.

Built for automated document routing

Use REST, Postman, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, PHP, or HTTP to break large PDFs into smaller outputs for packet separation, export jobs, intake workflows, and archive-ready processing pipelines.

Simple and transparent pricing

Select a package that suits your needs according to the number of credits you wish to spend. Each API tool and action has a specific credit cost.

Try it out

This example will split your document into two documents. The first PDF will contain all pages except the last five, and the second PDF will contain the remaining five pages.

Try it out in three steps

Add a PDF named document.pdf to your project folder.
Run the code from the same folder.
Open first_half.pdf in your project folder to view the results.

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
  -o first_half.pdf \
  --fail \
  -F document=@document.pdf \
  -F instructions='{
      "parts": [
        {
          "file": "document",
          "pages": {
            "end": -6
          }
        }
      ]
    }'

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
  -o second_half.pdf \
  --fail \
  -F document=@document.pdf \
  -F instructions='{
      "parts": [
        {
          "file": "document",
          "pages": {
            "start": -5
          }
        }
      ]
    }'

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build ^
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" ^
  -o first_half.pdf ^
  --fail ^
  -F document=@document.pdf ^
  -F instructions="{\"parts\": [{\"file\": \"document\", \"pages\": {\"end\": -6}}]}"

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build ^
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" ^
  -o second_half.pdf ^
  --fail ^
  -F document=@document.pdf ^
  -F instructions="{\"parts\": [{\"file\": \"document\", \"pages\": {\"start\": -5}}]}"

package com.example.pspdfkit;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.FileSystems;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONObject;

import okhttp3.MediaType;
import okhttp3.MultipartBody;
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient;
import okhttp3.Request;
import okhttp3.RequestBody;
import okhttp3.Response;

public final class PspdfkitApiExample {
  public static void main(final String[] args) throws IOException {
    final RequestBody firstHalfBody = new MultipartBody.Builder()
      .setType(MultipartBody.FORM)
      .addFormDataPart(
        "document",
        "document.pdf",
        RequestBody.create(
          MediaType.parse("application/pdf"),
          new File("document.pdf")
        )
      )
      .addFormDataPart(
        "instructions",
        new JSONObject()
          .put("parts", new JSONArray()
            .put(new JSONObject()
              .put("file", "document")
              .put("pages", new JSONObject()
                .put("end", -6)
              )
            )
          ).toString()
      )
      .build();

    final Request firstHalfRequest = new Request.Builder()
      .url("https://api.nutrient.io/build")
      .method("POST", firstHalfBody)
      .addHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
      .build();

    final RequestBody secondHalfBody = new MultipartBody.Builder()
      .setType(MultipartBody.FORM)
      .addFormDataPart(
        "document",
        "document.pdf",
        RequestBody.create(
          MediaType.parse("application/pdf"),
          new File("document.pdf")
        )
      )
      .addFormDataPart(
        "instructions",
        new JSONObject()
          .put("parts", new JSONArray()
            .put(new JSONObject()
              .put("file", "document")
              .put("pages", new JSONObject()
                .put("start", -5)
              )
            )
          ).toString()
      )
      .build();

    final Request secondHalfRequest = new Request.Builder()
      .url("https://api.nutrient.io/build")
      .method("POST", secondHalfBody)
      .addHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
      .build();

    executeRequest(firstHalfRequest, "first_half.pdf");
    executeRequest(secondHalfRequest, "second_half.pdf");
  }

  private static void executeRequest(final Request request, final String outputFileName) throws IOException {
    final OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient()
      .newBuilder()
      .build();

    final Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

    if (response.isSuccessful()) {
      Files.copy(
        response.body().byteStream(),
        FileSystems.getDefault().getPath(outputFileName),
        StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING
      );
    } else {
      // Handle the error
      throw new IOException(response.body().string());
    }
  }
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using RestSharp;

namespace PspdfkitApiDemo
{
  class Program
  {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      var client = new RestClient("https://api.nutrient.io/build");

      var firstHalfRequest = new RestRequest(Method.POST)
        .AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
        .AddFile("document", "document.pdf")
        .AddParameter("instructions", new JsonObject
        {
          ["parts"] = new JsonArray
          {
            new JsonObject
            {
              ["file"] = "document",
              ["pages"] = new JsonObject
              {
                ["end"] = -6
              }
            }
          }
        }.ToString());

      firstHalfRequest.AdvancedResponseWriter = OutputFileResponseWriter("first_half.pdf");

      var secondHalfRequest = new RestRequest(Method.POST)
        .AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
        .AddFile("document", "document.pdf")
        .AddParameter("instructions", new JsonObject
        {
          ["parts"] = new JsonArray
          {
            new JsonObject
            {
              ["file"] = "document",
              ["pages"] = new JsonObject
              {
                ["start"] = -5
              }
            }
          }
        }.ToString());

      secondHalfRequest.AdvancedResponseWriter = OutputFileResponseWriter("second_half.pdf");

      client.Execute(firstHalfRequest);
      client.Execute(secondHalfRequest);
    }

    static Action<Stream, IHttpResponse> OutputFileResponseWriter(string outputFileName)
    {
      return (responseStream, response) =>
      {
        if (response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
        {
          using (responseStream)
          {
            using var outputFileWriter = File.OpenWrite(outputFileName);
            responseStream.CopyTo(outputFileWriter);
          }
        }
        else
        {
          var responseStreamReader = new StreamReader(responseStream);
          Console.Write(responseStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
        }
      };
    }
  }
}

// This code requires Node.js. Do not run this code directly in a web browser.

const axios = require('axios')
const FormData = require('form-data')
const fs = require('fs')

;(async () => {
  const firstHalf = new FormData()
  firstHalf.append('instructions', JSON.stringify({
    parts: [
      {
        file: "document",
        pages: {
          end: -6
        }
      }
    ]
  }))
  firstHalf.append('document', fs.createReadStream('document.pdf'))

  const secondHalf = new FormData()
  secondHalf.append('instructions', JSON.stringify({
    parts: [
      {
        file: "document",
        pages: {
          start: -5
        }
      }
    ]
  }))
  secondHalf.append('document', fs.createReadStream('document.pdf'))

  await executeRequest(firstHalf, "first_half.pdf")
  await executeRequest(secondHalf, "second_half.pdf")
})()

async function executeRequest(formData, outputFile) {
  try {
    const response = await axios.post('https://api.nutrient.io/build', formData, {
      headers: formData.getHeaders({
        'Authorization': 'Bearer your_api_key_here'
      }),
      responseType: "stream"
    })

    response.data.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(outputFile))
  } catch (e) {
    const errorString = await streamToString(e.response.data)
    console.log(errorString)
  }
}

function streamToString(stream) {
  const chunks = []
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    stream.on("data", (chunk) => chunks.push(Buffer.from(chunk)))
    stream.on("error", (err) => reject(err))
    stream.on("end", () => resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8")))
  })
}

import requests
import json

def process_first_half():
  response = requests.request(
    'POST',
    'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
    headers = {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer your_api_key_here'
    },
    files = {
      'document': open('document.pdf', 'rb')
    },
    data = {
      'instructions': json.dumps({
        'parts': [
          {
            'file': 'document',
            'pages': {
              'end': -6
            }
          }
        ]
      })
    },
    stream = True
  )

  if response.ok:
    with open('first_half.pdf', 'wb') as fd:
      for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8096):
        fd.write(chunk)
  else:
    print(response.text)
    exit()

def process_second_half():
  response = requests.request(
    'POST',
    'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
    headers = {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer your_api_key_here'
    },
    files = {
      'document': open('document.pdf', 'rb')
    },
    data = {
      'instructions': json.dumps({
        'parts': [
          {
            'file': 'document',
            'pages': {
              'start': -5
            }
          }
        ]
      })
    },
    stream = True
  )

  if response.ok:
    with open('second_half.pdf', 'wb') as fd:
      for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8096):
        fd.write(chunk)
  else:
    print(response.text)
    exit()

process_first_half()
process_second_half()

<?php

function process_first_half() {
  $FileHandle = fopen('first_half.pdf', 'w+');

  $curl = curl_init();

  curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array(
      'instructions' => '{
        "parts": [
          {
            "file": "document",
            "pages": {
              "end": -6
            }
          }
        ]
      }',
      'document' => new CURLFILE('document.pdf')
    ),
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
      'Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here'
    ),
    CURLOPT_FILE => $FileHandle,
  ));

  $response = curl_exec($curl);

  curl_close($curl);

  fclose($FileHandle);
}

function process_second_half() {
  $FileHandle = fopen('second_half.pdf', 'w+');

  $curl = curl_init();

  curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array(
      'instructions' => '{
        "parts": [
          {
            "file": "document",
            "pages": {
              "start": -5
            }
          }
        ]
      }',
      'document' => new CURLFILE('document.pdf')
    ),
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
      'Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here'
    ),
    CURLOPT_FILE => $FileHandle,
  ));

  $response = curl_exec($curl);

  curl_close($curl);

  fclose($FileHandle);
}

process_first_half();
process_second_half();

POST https://api.nutrient.io/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=--customboundary
Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here

--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document",
      "pages": {
        "end": -6
      }
    }
  ]
}
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="document"; filename="document.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf

(document data)
--customboundary--

POST https://api.nutrient.io/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=--customboundary
Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here

--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document",
      "pages": {
        "start": -5
      }
    }
  ]
}
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="document"; filename="document.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf

(document data)
--customboundary--

Start now

Create an account to access your API key and start with 50 free credits per month

Start building with DWS Processor API in minutes — no payment information required.

Already have an account? Sign in →

Most common next steps

Connect split PDF evaluation to getting started, pricing, and broader document workflows

OPEN GETTING STARTED

Use the following:

Merge PDF If the workflow also needs to combine documents

Get started:

Getting started For API key setup

Postman collection For the fastest first request

REST API reference For endpoint details

Platform resources:

Processor API pricing For credits

Security documentation For document handling and compliance review

Privacy documentation For data handling review

Processor API overview For broader DWS evaluation of page, packet, and document splitting workflows

Security is our top priority

No document storage

No input or resulting documents are stored on our infrastructure. All files are deleted as soon as a request finishes. Alternatively, check out our self-hosted product.

HTTPS encryption

All communication between your application and Nutrient is done via HTTPS to ensure your data is encrypted when it’s sent to us.

Safe payment processing

All payments are handled by Paddle. Nutrient DWS Processor API never has direct access to any of your payment data.

Frequently asked questions

What is a split PDF API?

A split PDF API divides a single PDF into multiple separate files with one API call. With Nutrient’s DWS Processor API, you can split documents by page ranges or extract specific sections without building your own PDF tooling.

How do I split a PDF programmatically?

Send your PDF and the page ranges you want to the Nutrient DWS Processor API, and it returns the resulting files. You can call it via REST, Postman, curl, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, or PHP.

Can I extract specific page ranges or separate packets?

Yes. You can extract individual pages, defined page ranges, or split a combined document into separate packets — useful for bursting batch-generated or merged PDFs.

Which programming languages does the API support?

You can call the API from any language that can make HTTP requests. We provide quick start examples for JavaScript, Python, Java, C# (.NET), and PHP, plus REST and a Postman collection.

Is there a free split PDF API?

Yes. You can start for free — sign up to receive processing credits and try the split PDF API before choosing a Processor API plan.

Ready to try it?

Create an account to get your DWS Processor API key and start making API calls.

START FOR FREE