How to Use PDF API in Zapier, Make.com, and Power Automate Workflows
Meta Description:
Tired of manual PDF tasks in your workflows? Learn how to automate document processing using imPDF Cloud PDF REST API in Zapier, Make.com, and Power Automate.
Every workflow broke the moment a PDF showed up...
You've been there.
Maybe it's a contract approval in SharePoint, or you're scraping form data into Excel. Everything's automated... until someone uploads a PDF.
Now you're stuck manually downloading it, converting it, extracting info, or cleaning it up.
It's painful.
For me, it was a nightmare syncing supplier invoices from email to our finance system. PDF attachments came in every shape and format. The manual conversion wasted hours every week.
Then I found the imPDF Cloud PDF REST API, and that changed everything.
What's the deal with imPDF Cloud PDF REST API?
At its core, it's like a Swiss Army knife for PDFsbut made for developers, low-code builders, and automation addicts.
You don't need to install anything. It's all cloud-based. RESTful endpoints. Simple payloads. Blazing fast. Compatible with Zapier, Make.com, Power Automate, or any system that can make an HTTP call.
You get access to a ridiculous amount of featuresseriously, this thing can convert, optimise, split, merge, OCR, secure, flatten, extract, watermark, and zip PDFs like a beast.
How I used it with Zapier to fix my invoice automation problem
So here's the flow:
Trigger: New email in Gmail with PDF attachment
Action 1: Upload the PDF to imPDF using their Upload Files API
Action 2: Convert the PDF to Excel using PDF to Excel API
Action 3: Push the Excel rows to Google Sheets
Action 4: Alert the finance team on Slack
It took me 15 minutes to set up using Zapier's Webhooks by Zapier and imPDF's sample payloads. No more email downloads. No more copy-paste. Zero human input. Fully hands-off.
Here's what stood out:
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API Lab: Before I even touched Zapier, I validated the flow directly in the browser. Uploaded a sample invoice, picked the right API, and the tool spat out working code for me.
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Documentation: Surprisingly human. No jargon maze. I found exactly what I needed in minutes.
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Conversion accuracy: imPDF nailed formatting, even with messy tables and weird fonts.
Using imPDF with Make.com (formerly Integromat)
Make.com is for the tinkerers. The ones who want complete control over their automation flows.
I built a workflow for our legal team:
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When a new document is added to a SharePoint folder,
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It sends the PDF to imPDF to convert it to Word
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Then it uploads the editable file back into SharePoint
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Final step: Notify the legal lead via MS Teams
We added conditional logic:
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If it's over 10 pages, the workflow compresses the PDF first using
Compress PDF API -
If it contains scanned pages, we trigger OCR using
OCR PDF API
The flexibility is nuts. You can chain multiple imPDF API calls inside Make and get granular control over the output.
Power Automate? Yep, that too.
This one's for the Microsoft crowd.
I had a client in HR who needed to extract data from job application forms in PDF format, store them in Excel, and email the summary.
We did it like this:
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Power Automate grabs the PDF from OneDrive
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It hits the imPDF endpoint to extract text and form data
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The extracted data gets mapped into an Excel row
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A formatted summary email is sent to HR
Again, imPDF handled the hard part: figuring out what the heck is inside that PDF.
Bonus: They had some legacy XFA forms. Most tools choked on those. imPDF? Just used XFA to Acroforms API + Flatten PDF Forms API, and it worked like magic.
Why not just use other tools?
I tried others before. Here's why they didn't cut it:
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Zapier's built-in PDF tools? Limited to just merging or splitting. No conversions. No OCR. No security.
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Adobe PDF API? Powerful but complex, costly, and locked down with weird quotas.
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PDF.co or PDF4me? Decent for small stuff, but they got overwhelmed with larger files or complex workflows.
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imPDF hit the sweet spot: full control, massive features, super fast, and predictable pricing.
Who should care about this?
You, if:
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You're drowning in PDF attachments
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You build automated workflows in Zapier, Make.com, Power Automate, or custom apps
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You process contracts, invoices, application forms, reports, or any document-based workflows
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You want end-to-end automation that doesn't break the moment a PDF shows up
Whether you're in legal, HR, logistics, finance, or just a tech lead who's sick of babysitting broken automationsthis is for you.
Real use cases I've seen work
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Extract tables from supplier invoices to Excel
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Convert client reports to PDF/A for archiving
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Add watermarks to confidential PDFs before distribution
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Flatten annotations before sending to print vendors
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Split multi-page job applications and route based on role
There's a ridiculous amount of ways you can apply this.
If you can think it, you can build it.
So what's the catch?
Honestly? I haven't hit one.
The pricing is transparent. There's a free tier so you can try before you commit. The support is solid. The uptime has been flawless.
It's fast, scalable, and just works.
My recommendation?
Don't waste another hour doing PDF grunt work manually.
This API will save you time. It will save your team's sanity. And it will level up your automations.
I'd recommend imPDF Cloud PDF REST API to anyone dealing with large volumes of PDFs inside automated workflows.
Click here to try it out for yourself:
https://impdf.com
Custom Development Services by imPDF
Need something even more tailored?
imPDF offers custom development services for PDF automation, virtual printer drivers, API integrations, and much more.
Whether you're on Windows, Linux, macOS, or running enterprise-scale workflows, they can help you build:
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Custom PDF processing tools (OCR, conversion, extraction)
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Virtual printer drivers (PDF, EMF, PCL, TIFF)
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Document security features (DRM, watermarking, encryption)
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System hooks to monitor print or file activity
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Full workflow automation for legal, HR, finance, logistics
They work with C/C++, Python, C#, .NET, JavaScript, PHP, HTML5, Android, iOS, and everything in between.
Got a weird requirement? Good. That's their jam.
Reach out via their support centre:
http://support.verypdf.com/
FAQ
1. Can I use imPDF API with Zapier directly?
Yes! Use the "Webhooks by Zapier" action to make POST requests to imPDF's endpoints.
2. Does imPDF support OCR for scanned PDFs?
Absolutely. Use the OCR PDF API to make scanned files searchable and extractable.
3. Can I convert PDFs to Word or Excel?
Yep. They've got dedicated APIs like PDF to Word API and PDF to Excel API, and they actually work well.
4. Is there a free tier to test with?
Yes. You can get started for free in seconds. No credit card required.
**5.