How to import and export instant JSON annotations
PSPDFKit Server has been deprecated and replaced by Document Engine. To start using Document Engine, refer to the migration guide. With Document Engine, you’ll have access to robust new capabilities (read the blog for more information).
You can import and export annotations from documents you’ve uploaded to PSPDFKit Server. One of the supported formats for this is Instant JSON. This guide explains how to import and export annotations in the Instant JSON format.
Exporting Instant JSON
You can export the current annotations of a document as an Instant JSON file via a GET
request to /api/documents/:document_id/document.json
. To get the current annotations of a layer, send a GET
request to /api/documents/:document_id/layers/:layer_name/document.json
:
Request
GET /api/documents/:document_id/document.json Authorization: Token token="<secret token>"
$ curl "http://localhost:5000/api/documents/abc/document.json" \ -H "Authorization: Token token=<secret token>"
Response
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: application/json <JSON data>
Importing Instant JSON
PSPDFKit Server supports importing annotations from an Instant JSON file when uploading a document via the /api/documents
endpoint. Send a multipart/form-data
POST
request, including the PDF and the Instant JSON file, to import the annotations in the given PDF file. This will replace all existing annotations in the uploaded PDF with the annotations from the uploaded Instant JSON file. If you want to add annotations to already existing ones instead of replacing them, you can set keep_current_annotations
to true
:
Request
POST /api/documents Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=customboundary Authorization: Token token="<secret token>" --customboundary Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="Example Document.pdf" Content-Type: application/pdf <PDF data> --customboundary Content-Disposition: form-data; name="attachment"; filename="attachment.json" Content-Type: application/json <annotations data> --customboundary
Importing Instant JSON on Existing Documents
PSPDFKit Server supports importing annotations from an Instant JSON file on an existing document via three different endpoints:
-
POST /apply_instant_json
receives aninstant.json
file and updates the document in place using theinstant.json
file. -
POST /pdf_with_instant_json
receives aninstant.json
file and responds with the resulting PDF of the document/layer and the importedinstant.json
. -
POST /copy_with_instant_json
can optionally receive aninstant.json
file and will persist the resulting PDF of the document/layer and the importedinstant.json
file as a new document. The JSON response will include thedocument_id
of the document.