Convert and Merge Multiple Types of Files Together

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Create One Complete PDF Package from Mixed Source Files

A single business submission can arrive as a Word cover letter, an Excel cost sheet, a PowerPoint overview, scanned receipts, photographs, and a PDF appendix. Reviewers still need one coherent package they can read, archive, print, or send to the next system. Asking people to manually open each format, export it, and assemble the result creates inconsistent order and unnecessary operational work.

pdfRest turns that mixed input into one standardized PDF workflow. The Convert to PDF API Tool first normalizes each supported source file as PDF. The Merge PDFs API Tool then combines the generated PDFs in the order the application specifies.

That two-stage approach is valuable because it separates format handling from document assembly. The application can accept the source files its users actually submit, while the output is a single PDF package that downstream teams and systems can handle consistently.

Convert the Formats That Belong in the Package

Convert to PDF supports a far broader set of current source formats: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents; JPEG, TIFF, BMP, and PNG images; .eml email files; PostScript and EPS; HTML files and public web-page URLs; and structured text including Markdown, plain text, JSON, XML, and CSV.

Structured-text inputs make the workflow useful for more than traditional file conversion. An application can turn a Markdown report, CSV export, JSON payload, or XML record into a paginated PDF with configurable presentation and then include it in the same merged package as the customer-facing documents.

For example, an insurance intake portal can accept a DOCX claim narrative, XLSX inventory, JPG damage photos, an EML email record, and a signed PDF statement. It can also generate a PDF summary page from the claim's JSON data. The portal converts each source to PDF and assembles the generated PDFs into one ordered claim package for review.

Assemble the PDF in the Order the Reader Needs

Merge PDFs accepts uploaded PDFs or resource IDs returned by earlier pdfRest operations. A merge_list defines the sequence of inputs, and the request can select all pages or a page range from each source. That makes it possible to place a cover document first, include only the relevant worksheet pages, add photographic evidence, and end with the signed appendix.

Because each successful conversion returns a resource ID, the application can pass converted files directly to Merge PDFs without downloading and uploading each intermediate document. The workflow stays focused on producing the final package, while the application remains in control of file order, selected pages, naming, access rules, and retention.

This is more than a convenience for one-off document cleanup. It gives portals, records systems, and automated intake pipelines a repeatable way to transform diverse inbound files into the one PDF deliverable their users and downstream processes expect.

Convert a Source File to PDF

API_URL="https://api.pdfrest.com"
API_KEY="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"

DOCX_ID=$(curl -X POST "$API_URL/pdf" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/claim_narrative.docx" \
  -F "output=claim_narrative" \
  | jq -r '.outputId')

# Repeat this current Convert to PDF request pattern for each non-PDF source.
# Store each returned outputId for the Merge PDFs request.

Merge the Generated PDFs in Order

curl -X POST "$API_URL/merged-pdf" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -F "id[]=$DOCX_ID" \
  -F "pages[]=1-last" \
  -F "type[]=id" \
  -F "id[]=PDF_APPENDIX_ID" \
  -F "pages[]=1-last" \
  -F "type[]=id" \
  -F "output=complete_claim_package"

Convert to PDF

Merge PDFs

Convert to PDF

Merge PDFs