Convert PDF to Text in Go

While the inability to edit PDF files makes them ideal for sharing, it can be a real pain if you have changes you need to make to the information within. A simple solution to this issue is to convert the PDF document to text. In this article we will provide instructions on how to use an API in Go to perform the conversion automatically; no tedious transcription required.

In order to use the API, you simply need to input the file, configure the API key, and call the function with the following code:

package main
import (
     "fmt"
     "bytes"
     "mime/multipart"
     "os"
     "path/filepath"
     "io"
     "net/http"
     "io/ioutil"
)
func main() {
url := "https://api.cloudmersive.com/ocr/pdf/toText"
     method := "POST"
payload := &bytes.Buffer{}
     writer := multipart.NewWriter(payload)
     file, errFile1 := os.Open("/path/to/file")
     defer file.Close()
     part1,
         errFile1 := writer.CreateFormFile("imageFile",filepath.Base("/path/to/file"))
     _, errFile1 = io.Copy(part1, file)
     if errFile1 != nil {
          fmt.Println(errFile1)
          return
     }
     err := writer.Close()
     if err != nil {
          fmt.Println(err)
          return
     }
client := &http.Client {
     }
     req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, payload)
if err != nil {
          fmt.Println(err)
          return
     }
     req.Header.Add("recognitionMode", "<string>")
     req.Header.Add("language", "<string>")
     req.Header.Add("preprocessing", "<string>")
     req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "multipart/form-data")
     req.Header.Add("Apikey", "YOUR-API-KEY-HERE")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", writer.FormDataContentType())
     res, err := client.Do(req)
     if err != nil {
          fmt.Println(err)
          return
     }
     defer res.Body.Close()
body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)
     if err != nil {
          fmt.Println(err)
          return
     }
     fmt.Println(string(body))
}

And that’s it! The API will provide an instant result, allowing you to continue to the next step of your project. To retrieve your personal API key, head to the Cloudmersive website and register for a free account; this will give you access to 800 calls/month across our library of APIs.