--- title: "How to extract text from PDFs server-side with PDF.js in Node.js" canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/blog/pdfjs-server-side-text-extraction/" md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/blog/pdfjs-server-side-text-extraction.md" last_updated: "2026-07-10T16:52:53.441Z" description: "Learn how to use pdfjs-dist in Node.js for server-side PDF text extraction. Covers basic extraction, TextContent structure, parallel page processing, and CMap configuration." --- **TL;DR** PDF.js’s `pdfjs-dist` package runs in Node.js and can extract structured text from PDFs without rendering. The setup has four moving parts: - Load the document with `getDocument({ data })`, passing a `Uint8Array` from your `Buffer`. - Resolve `standardFontDataUrl` and `cMapUrl` from the `pdfjs-dist` package on disk. - Walk pages and call `page.getTextContent()` — filter for items with `"str" in item`. - Skip the worker configuration (no-op in Node.js) and polyfill `Promise.withResolvers` if your Node version lacks it. For parallel processing, wrap each page in a promise and `Promise.all`. If you’d rather skip the path-resolution dance, [Nutrient Web SDK](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/web-overview/) exposes `textLinesForPageIndex` in one call and Document Engine handles batch extraction over REST (representational state transfer). PDF.js isn’t just for browsers. You can use `pdfjs-dist` in Node.js to extract text from PDFs without any rendering. This is useful for search indexing and content analysis. ## Install Install the `pdfjs-dist` package: ```bash npm install pdfjs-dist ``` ## Basic text extraction The following example loads a PDF buffer, walks each page, and returns an array of per-page text strings: ```tsx import { getDocument, PDFDocumentProxy } from "pdfjs-dist"; import path from "path"; import { createRequire } from "node:module"; // Resolve paths for CMap and font data from the pdfjs-dist package. const require = createRequire(import.meta.url); const pdfjsDistPath = require.resolve("pdfjs-dist"); const fontDataPath = path.join(path.resolve(pdfjsDistPath, "../../standard_fonts"), "/"); const cmapPath = path.join(path.resolve(pdfjsDistPath, "../../cmaps"), "/"); async function extractText(pdfBuffer) { const uint8Array = new Uint8Array(pdfBuffer); const pdf = await getDocument({ data: uint8Array, standardFontDataUrl: fontDataPath, cMapUrl: cmapPath, }).promise; const pageTexts = []; for (let i = 1; i <= pdf.numPages; i++) { const page = await pdf.getPage(i); const textContent = await page.getTextContent(); const pageText = textContent.items.reduce((text, item) => { if ("str" in item && "hasEOL" in item) { return text + item.str + (item.hasEOL? "\n" : ""); } return text; }, ""); pageTexts.push(pageText); } return pageTexts; } ``` ## Understanding TextContent items `page.getTextContent()` returns an object with an `items` array. Each item has: ```ts { str: "Hello world", // The text string. hasEOL: true, // Whether it's followed by a line break. dir: "ltr", // Text direction. width: 120.5, // Width in PDF points. height: 12, // Height in PDF points. transform: [12, 0, 0, 12, 72, 700], // Position/transform matrix. } ``` Filter for items with `str` and `hasEOL` — some items are positioning markers without text. ## Parallel page processing For large PDFs, extract pages in parallel. The snippet below uses the `pdf` document from the basic example above: ```tsx const textPromises = []; for (let i = 1; i <= pdf.numPages; i++) { textPromises.push( pdf.getPage(i).then((page) => page.getTextContent()).then((textContent) => textContent.items.reduce((text, item) => { if ("str" in item && "hasEOL" in item) { return text + item.str + (item.hasEOL? "\n" : ""); } return text; }, ""), ), ); } const allTexts = await Promise.all(textPromises); ``` ## Configuration notes PDF.js requires three adjustments when running in Node.js that differ from a browser setup. ### CMap and font paths In Node.js, you need to resolve these paths from the `pdfjs-dist` package itself: ```tsx const pdfjsDistPath = require.resolve("pdfjs-dist"); const fontDataPath = path.join(path.resolve(pdfjsDistPath, "../../standard_fonts"), "/"); const cmapPath = path.join(path.resolve(pdfjsDistPath, "../../cmaps"), "/"); ``` These are directory paths to the bundled CMap and font files — required for proper text extraction from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) and non-standard fonts. ### No worker needed In Node.js, you don’t need to configure `GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc`. PDF.js falls back to running in the main thread, which is fine for server-side batch processing. ### Polyfill If your Node.js version doesn’t support `Promise.withResolvers`, add a polyfill: ```tsx import "core-js/proposals/promise-with-resolvers"; ``` ## Key points - `pdfjs-dist` works in Node.js without a browser or canvas. - `getDocument({ data })` accepts `Uint8Array` from a `Buffer`. - `page.getTextContent()` gives you structured text with position metadata. - Filter text items for `"str" in item` to skip non-text markers. - No worker configuration is needed for server-side use. - Always configure CMap and standard font paths for proper text extraction. - Text extraction is the foundation for search indexing and content analysis. ## FAQ #### Can I really run PDF.js in Node.js without a browser? Yes. `pdfjs-dist` works in Node.js for text extraction, metadata reading, and structural inspection. The catch is that rendering (canvas painting) requires either a browser environment or an emulated canvas package, so use `pdf-lib`, a headless browser, or a server-side renderer for that. Text extraction itself has no rendering requirement. #### Why do I need to resolve CMap and font paths manually in Node? In the browser, you typically point `cMapUrl` and `standardFontDataUrl` at a content delivery network (CDN). In Node.js, there’s no URL to fetch from, so you have to resolve the bundled `cmaps` and `standard_fonts` directories from inside the `pdfjs-dist` package. Without them, text extraction from PDFs with CJK or embedded standard fonts will return blanks or mojibake. #### What is Promise.withResolvers and why do I need to polyfill it? `Promise.withResolvers` is a recent JavaScript API (Stage 4, available in Node 22+) that PDF.js uses internally. On older Node.js versions, you’ll get a `ReferenceError` at import time. The `core-js/proposals/promise-with-resolvers` polyfill adds it. Node 22+ users can skip the polyfill. #### Why are some textContent.items missing the str field? `getTextContent()` returns a mixed array: Most items are text fragments with a `str` field, but some are positioning markers used internally to recreate the page’s reading order. Filter with `"str" in item` to skip them. The `hasEOL` flag tells you when an item should be followed by a line break in your assembled output. #### Do I need to call worker.destroy() or loadingTask.destroy() after extraction? Yes, for long-running processes. PDF.js holds the parsed document tree in memory, and on a busy server, you’ll leak across requests if you don’t release it. Call `await loadingTask.destroy()` (or `pdf.destroy()`) when you’re done with each PDF. For short-lived scripts, process exit cleans up automatically. #### How do Nutrient Web SDK and Document Engine compare? Nutrient Web SDK exposes `instance.textLinesForPageIndex(pageIndex)` for client-side extraction with one call — no CMap setup, no item filtering. For server-side batch jobs, [Document Engine](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/document-engine/) provides a REST API for text extraction, OCR, redaction, and content analysis without bundling PDF.js into your service. ## How Nutrient Web SDK handles this No Node.js PDF.js setup, no CMap path resolution, and no polyfills are required. Nutrient Web SDK extracts text from any page with a single API call: ```js // Extract text from a page — one line. const textLines = await instance.textLinesForPageIndex(0); console.log(textLines.map((line) => line.contents).join("\n")); ``` For server-side processing, [Nutrient Document Engine](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/document-engine/) provides text extraction, optical character recognition ([OCR](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/ocr.md)), and content analysis through a REST API, with no extra binary dependencies on the host. --- _See [Nutrient Web SDK](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/web-overview/) for an alternative to wiring up PDF.js in Node. The [text extraction](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/web/features/text-extraction.md) and [OCR](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/web/ocr.md) guides cover the API in depth. Follow the [migration guide](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/web/about/migration-guides/migrating-from-mozilla-pdfjs.md) to switch, or [talk to Sales](https://www.nutrient.io/contact-sales/?=sdk) about your requirements._ --- ## Related pages - [Accessibility Untangled Why It Matters Guide](/blog/accessibility-untangled-why-it-matters-guide.md) - [The business case for accessibility: Five ways it drives enterprise value](/blog/5-ways-accessibility-drives-enterprise-value.md) - [Advanced Techniques For React Native Ui Components](/blog/advanced-techniques-for-react-native-ui-components.md) - [Angular File Viewer Pdf Image Office Files](/blog/angular-file-viewer-pdf-image-office-files.md) - [Ai Document Automation Extraction To Action](/blog/ai-document-automation-extraction-to-action.md) - [Auto Tagging And Document Accessibility In Dotnet Sdk](/blog/auto-tagging-and-document-accessibility-in-dotnet-sdk.md) - [Ai Legal Assistant Document Authoring](/blog/ai-legal-assistant-document-authoring.md) - 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