---
title: "Convert text (TXT) files to PDF with Document Engine | Nutrient"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/conversion/text-to-pdf/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/conversion/text-to-pdf.md"
last_updated: "2025-07-02T00:00:00.000Z"
description: "Learn how to convert text files to PDF using Document Engine’s API. Includes examples for disk and URL sources with simple conversion instructions."
---

# Convert text files to PDF

To convert a text file to a PDF, send a request to the [`/api/build` endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Document-Editing/operation/build-document), including both the text file as input and the [`instructions` JSON](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API/Instructions-Schema).

The default output from the `/api/build` endpoint is a PDF file. You can also specify other file types. Learn more about the output options in our [API reference](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API#output).

- 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 text file from disk

Send a multipart request to the [`/api/build` endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Document-Editing/operation/build-document) and attach a text file:

### SHELL

```shell

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=<API token>" \
  -F 'document=@/path/to/example-document.txt' \
  -F instructions='{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document"
    }
  ]
}' \
  -o result.pdf

```

### 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.txt"
Content-Type: text/plain

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

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "document"
    }
  ]
}
--customboundary--

```

## Converting a text file from URL

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 the text file:

### SHELL

```shell

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
  -H "Authorization: Token token=<API token>" \
  -F instructions='{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": {
        "url": "https://example.com/document.txt"
      }
    }
  ]
}' \
  -o result.pdf

```

### 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://example.com/document.txt"
      }
    }
  ]
}
--customboundary--

```

## Supported formats

Refer to our [file type support](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/about/file-type-support.md) guide for a list of all supported file formats, along with any license requirements they might have.
---

## Related pages

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