Extract text from PDFs with Nutrient Document Web Services API on Zapier

Hulya Masharipov

February 10, 2025

This tutorial walks you through creating a Zap that automatically extracts plain and structured text from PDFs using the Nutrient Document Web Services API. Use it to retrieve text for search indexing or another application. To create searchable PDFs from scans, use the separate OCR action.

Extract text from PDFs with Nutrient Document Web Services API on Zapier

What is Zapier?

Zapier(opens in a new tab) is an automation platform that connects your favorite apps and services with no code required. You can build “Zaps” to automate repetitive tasks by setting up triggers and actions between apps like Google Drive, Slack, Gmail, and more.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Zapier to automatically extract plain and structured text from PDF documents using Nutrient DWS Processor API.

What is Nutrient DWS Processor API?

Nutrient DWS Processor API is a powerful platform for document automation. With your free account(opens in a new tab), you get 50 credits, which you can use to perform various document operations. Each tool (e.g. conversion, signing, flattening) consumes a different amount of credits depending on complexity.

Nutrient offers more than 30 tools with the ability to:

Convert images and documents to PDF
Merge, split, or reorder pages
Add digital signatures, watermarks, or annotations
Run OCR, redact, flatten, and more

What you’ll need

A Zapier(opens in a new tab) account (a pro plan is necessary for multistep Zaps)
A Google Drive account
A PDF file uploaded to Google Drive
A Nutrient DWS Processor API key — sign up here(opens in a new tab)

Step 1 — Trigger a new file in a Google Drive folder

Select Google Drive as the trigger app.

Google Drive selected as trigger app in Zapier

Choose the New File in Folder trigger event.

Trigger set to New File in Folder

Connect your Google Drive account.
Set up the trigger:

In the Drive field, select your Google Drive.
In the Folder field, select or create a folder (e.g. pdf-to-text).

Drive and folder selected for PDF upload monitoring

Test this step with a sample PDF file.

Test result showing PDF found in Google Drive folder

Step 2 — Extract text from PDF action using Nutrient DWS Processor API

Select Nutrient Document Web Services API as your action app.

Nutrient DWS Processor API selected as action app

Choose the Extract Text From PDF action.

Action dropdown showing Extract Text from PDF selected

Connect your Nutrient DWS Processor API account using your API key.

Paste API key to connect Nutrient account

You can find your key in the Nutrient dashboard(opens in a new tab).

Where to find your API key in the dashboard

Configure the action:
- PDF File URL — Use the output from step 1.
- Output File Name — Optional.

Fields filled with PDF URL and output file name

Make sure the file is publicly accessible or uploaded through a supported trigger like Google Drive.

Test the action and inspect the returned page fields, including Extracted Text Pages Plain Text. Compare the text with your source PDF.

Test result showing successfully extracted text

For a multipage PDF, check the output for every page you need. A successful action alone doesn’t confirm that all text was recovered correctly.

Conclusion

This Zap retrieves PDF text through Nutrient DWS Processor API(opens in a new tab). Check the returned text against your source PDF before using it for indexing or another application. To get started, create a Processor API account(opens in a new tab) and connect it in Zapier.

For different outputs, see the PDF table-extraction tutorial or the OCR tutorial for searchable PDFs.