How to convert Excel to PDF using Python

Convert Excel files to PDFs using Nutrient DWS Processor’s XLSX-to-PDF Python API. The free plan includes 200 credits. Different operations consume different amounts of credits. Create a free account(opens in a new tab) to get your API key.

Why convert Excel to PDF?

Converting Excel files to PDF is essential for workflows requiring document standardization and sharing. Common use cases include:

• Document preservation — Convert spreadsheets to PDFs to preserve formatting, formulas, and layouts regardless of software or device used to view them.
• Professional reporting — Generate polished financial reports, invoices, and data summaries that maintain consistent appearance across platforms.
• Compliance and archiving — Create tamper-resistant records for auditing, regulatory compliance, and long-term document storage.
• Universal sharing — Share data with stakeholders who don’t have Excel or prefer read-only formats that prevent accidental editing.
• Print-ready documents — Ensure spreadsheets print exactly as intended without pagination or formatting issues.

The Excel-to-PDF API automates this process in your workflow.

Nutrient DWS Processor API

Converting Excel-to-PDF is one of 30+ operations available through our PDF API tools. Combine Excel-to-PDF conversion with other tools for complex workflows:

• Converting various file formats and consolidating them into PDFs
• Converting Excel files and then watermarking and flattening the PDFs
• Processing multiple Excel files before merging them into a single PDF

Your account includes access to all PDF API tools.

Step 1 — Creating a free account on Nutrient DWS Processor

Go to the signup page(opens in a new tab) to create your free account.

After account creation, the dashboard shows your plan details.

You start with 200 credits and access to all PDF API tools.

Step 2 — Obtaining the API key

After email verification, get your API key from the dashboard. Click API keys in the left menu to see your keys.

Copy the Live API key for the Excel-to-PDF API.

Step 3 — Setting up folders and files

Create a folder called excel_to_pdf and open it in a code editor. This tutorial uses VS Code. Create two folders inside excel_to_pdf: input_documents and processed_documents.

Copy your Excel file to the input_documents folder and rename it to document.xlsx. Use the demo document if needed.

In the root folder, excel_to_pdf, create a file called processor.py for your code.

Your folder structure will look like this:

excel_to_pdf
├── input_documents
|    └── document.xlsx
├── processed_documents
└── processor.py

Step 4 — Writing the code

Open the processor.py file and paste the code below into it:

import requests
import json

response = requests.request(
  'POST',
  'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
  headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
  },
  files = {
    'file': open('input_documents/document.xlsx', 'rb')
  },
  data = {
    'instructions': json.dumps({
      'parts': [
        {
          'file': 'file'
        }
      ]
    })
  },
  stream = True
)

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

Code explanation

The code imports the requests and json dependencies, and then creates the instructions for the API call.

Use the requests module to make the API call. Once it succeeds, the result is saved to the processed_documents folder.

Output

Run the code:

python3 processor.py

After execution, you’ll find result.pdf in the processed_documents folder.

The folder structure will look like this:

excel_to_pdf
├── input_documents
|    └── document.xlsx
├── processed_documents
|    └── result.pdf
└── processor.py

Additional resources

Explore more ways to work with Nutrient API:

• Postman collection — Test API endpoints directly in Postman
• Zapier integration — Automate document workflows without code
• MCP Server — PDF automation for LLM applications
• Python client — Official Python library for Nutrient API

Conclusion

This post covered converting Excel files to PDF documents using the Python API.

Integrate these functions into your existing applications. The same API token works for other operations like merging documents, adding watermarks, and more. Sign up(opens in a new tab) for a free trial.

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