---
title: "PDF-to-Office server-side conversion | Nutrient"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/conversion/pdf-to-office/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/conversion/pdf-to-office.md"
last_updated: "2026-05-23T00:08:18.039Z"
description: "To convert a PDF document to Office format, send a multipart request to the /api/build API endpoint, including both the source document."
---

# Convert PDF to Office

To convert a PDF document to Office format, send a multipart request to the [`/api/build` API endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Document-Editing/operation/build-document), including both the source document and the [`instructions` JSON](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API/Instructions-Schema). In response, you’ll receive a ZIP archive containing the Office document.

Rendering a document requires you to provide the desired output format via a [`format` option](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API#output). Supported Office formats are DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX.

Only one format — `DOCX`, `XLSX`, or `PPTX` — can be chosen for the output document.

- Ensure [Document Engine is up and running](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/document-engine/getting-started.md).

- Send a [multipart POST request](https://www.baeldung.com/postman-form-data-raw-x-www-form-urlencoded) with [instructions](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API) to Document Engine’s `/api/build` endpoint.

For more information, refer to the [API reference](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API) to learn about the `/api/build` endpoint and all the actions you can perform on PDFs with Document Engine.

For an overview of multipart requests, refer to the [brief tour of multipart requests](https://www.nutrient.io/blog/a-brief-tour-of-multipart-requests/) blog post.









## Converting a PDF document from a local file to Office format

Send a multipart request to the [`/api/build` endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Document-Editing/operation/build-document), attaching an input file and the [`instructions` JSON](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API/Instructions-Schema). Below is an example for converting a PDF document to Word (DOCX):

### SHELL

```shell

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=<API token>" \
  -F document=@/path/to/example-document.pdf \
  -F instructions='{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document"
    }
  ],
  "output": {
    "type": "office",
    "format": "docx",
    "pages": {
      "range": "1-5"
    }
  }
}' \
  -o result.zip

```

### HTTP

```http

POST /api/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary
Authorization: Token token=<API token>

--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="document"; filename="example-document.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf

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

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document"
    }
  ],
  "output": {
    "type": "office",
    "format": "docx",
    "pages": {
      "range": "1-5"
    }
  }
}
--customboundary--

```

## Converting a PDF document from a URL to Office format

Send a multipart request to the [`/api/build` endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Document-Editing/operation/build-document), attaching a URL pointing to an input file and the [`instructions` JSON](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API/Instructions-Schema). Below is an example for converting a PDF document to Excel (XLSX):

### SHELL

```shell

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=<API token>" \
  -F instructions='{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": {
        "url": "https://www.nutrient.io/downloads/examples/paper.pdf"
      }
    }
  ],
  "output": {
    "type": "office",
    "format": "xlsx",
    "pages": {
      "start": 1,
      "end": 1
    }
  }
}' \
  -o output-image.png

```

### HTTP

```http

POST /api/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary
Authorization: Token token=<API token>

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

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": {
        "url": "https://www.nutrient.io/downloads/examples/paper.pdf"
      }
    }
  ],
  "output": {
    "type": "office",
    "format": "xlsx",
    "pages": {
      "start": 1,
      "end": 1
    }
  }
}
--customboundary--

```
---

## Related pages

- [Convert CAD files to PDF](/guides/document-engine/conversion/cad-to-pdf.md)
- [Convert image files to PDF](/guides/document-engine/conversion/image-to-pdf.md)
- [Convert HTML to PDF](/guides/document-engine/conversion/html-to-pdf.md)
- [PDF and document conversion server](/guides/document-engine/conversion.md)
- [Convert Office files to PDF](/guides/document-engine/conversion/office-to-pdf.md)
- [PDF to Excel](/guides/document-engine/conversion/pdf-to-excel.md)
- [Convert text files to PDF](/guides/document-engine/conversion/text-to-pdf.md)
- [Convert PDF to image](/guides/document-engine/conversion/pdf-to-image.md)
- [Easily convert documents to PDF/A formats](/guides/document-engine/conversion/to-pdfa.md)
- [Convert PDFs to PDF/UA-1](/guides/document-engine/conversion/to-pdfua.md)
- [Convert MS Office documents to image files](/guides/document-engine/conversion/office-to-image.md)