---
title: "Edit a generated PDF server-side | Nutrient"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/edit-a-generated-pdf/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/edit-a-generated-pdf.md"
last_updated: "2026-05-23T00:08:18.043Z"
description: "Discover how to finalize PDFs with cover pages, watermarks, and more using Document Engine. Combine PDF Generation and actions in one command for optimal result"
---
# Edit a generated PDF
After generating a PDF, you may still want to perform extra operations to finalize your document. Examples of these operations include adding a cover page, adding watermarks, setting page labels, and more. Any [`action`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#model/BuildInstructions) provided by Document Engine can be used with PDF Generation. To learn more about the actions you can perform with Document Engine, see the [API Reference](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API).
This guide shows how PDF Generation and additional actions are combined in one command to produce the final document.
## Generating a PDF from HTML
The example consists of a simple styled form, which can be seen in the following HTML:
```html
Data Science Online Course
Data Science
Course Signup
Learn how to make informed decisions, create beautiful visualizations,
and even try to predict future events through Machine Learning.
Terms and Conditions
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit....
```
This form includes some text boxes, a select box, and a checkbox. These have all been styled to ensure they display nicely on an A4 page.
In addition to the form, there’s a Terms and Conditions section, which is referenced on the form. To ensure this section is generated on a separate page, set the `page-break-after` property to `always` in the `container` class. This forces a page break when generated.
To generate a PDF with the form and the terms and conditions, send a multipart message using the `curl` example below. This code has margins defined for the page layout of the generated PDF:
### SHELL
```shell
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
-H "Authorization: Token token=" \
-F page.html=@/path/to/page.html \
-F instructions='{
"parts": [
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
]
}' \
-o result.pdf
```
### HTTP
```http
POST /api/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary
Authorization: Token token=
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="page.html"; filename="page.html"
Content-Type: text/html
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json
{
"parts": [
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
]
}
--customboundary--
```
## Adding a Cover Page
To add a cover page to the generated PDF, send a request like in the example below to the [`/api/build` endpoint](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API). To learn more about combining various documents and pages, read our [merging documents](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/editor/page-manipulation/move-or-rearrange.md) guide.
The name of the cover page in the multipart request needs to be the same name referenced by `file` in the [`FilePart`](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#model/BuildInstructions). If you don’t have a suitable PDF document, use the sample [cover page PDF](https://www.nutrient.io/downloads/examples/generation-cover-page.pdf):
### SHELL
```shell
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
-H "Authorization: Token token=" \
-F page.html=@/path/to/page.html \
-F cover-page=@/path/to/cover-page.pdf \
-F instructions='{
"parts": [
{
"file": "cover-page"
},
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
]
}' \
-o result.pdf
```
### HTTP
```http
POST /api/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary
Authorization: Token token=
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="page.html"; filename="page.html"
Content-Type: text/html
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="cover-page"; filename="cover-page.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json
{
"parts": [
{
"file": "cover-page"
},
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
]
}
--customboundary--
```
## Adding a Watermark
To add a [`watermark`] to the document, use the example below.
To learn more about how to add watermarks to documents, refer to our [watermark](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#model/WatermarkAction) guide.
### SHELL
```shell
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/build \
-H "Authorization: Token token=" \
-F page.html=@/path/to/page.html \
-F cover-page=@/path/to/cover-page.pdf \
-F instructions='{
"parts": [
{
"file": "cover-page"
},
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
],
"actions": [
{
"type": "watermark",
"text": "Property of PSPDFKit",
"width": 250,
"height": 200,
"left": 0,
"bottom": "50%",
"opacity": 0.5,
"rotation": 10,
"fontSize": 50,
"fontColor": "#FF0000",
"fontStyle": [
"italic",
"bold"
],
"fontFamily": "Helvetica"
}
]
}' \
-o result.pdf
```
### HTTP
```http
POST /api/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary
Authorization: Token token=
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="page.html"; filename="page.html"
Content-Type: text/html
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="cover-page"; filename="cover-page.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json
{
"parts": [
{
"file": "cover-page"
},
{
"html": "page.html",
"layout": {
"size": "a4",
"margin": {
"left": 10,
"right": 10,
"top": 40,
"bottom": 10
}
}
}
],
"actions": [
{
"type": "watermark",
"text": "Property of PSPDFKit",
"width": 250,
"height": 200,
"left": 0,
"bottom": "50%",
"opacity": 0.5,
"rotation": 10,
"fontSize": 50,
"fontColor": "#FF0000",
"fontStyle": [
"italic",
"bold"
],
"fontFamily": "Helvetica"
}
]
}
--customboundary--
```
To learn more, go to the [API Reference](https://www.nutrient.io/api/reference/document-engine/upstream/#tag/Build-API) and the [overview](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation.md) guide.
---
## Related pages
- [Generate a blank PDF](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/blank-pdf.md)
- [Customize the page header and footer](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/page-header-footer.md)
- [Java](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/java.md)
- [Generate fillable PDF forms from HTML](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/fillable-pdf-forms.md)
- [Create PDFs from scratch](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/from-scratch.md)
- [HTML-to-PDF conversion server sample code](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/sample-code.md)
- [HTML-to-PDF generation schema](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/schema.md)
- [HTML template design for generating PDFs](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/template-design.md)
- [JavaScript](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/javascript.md)
- [PHP](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/php.md)
- [Python](/guides/document-engine/pdf-generation/from-html/python.md)