Frequently Asked Questions

Credits can be used to perform actions on the PDFen platform (like conversion, organizing, optimizing, or merging documents). Most of the times an action costs 1 credit per document.

In principle, 1 action costs 1 credit per document. I.e. if you convert 3 word documents to 3 PDF documents, it will cost 3 credits.

2 exceptions apply:

• Merging and splitting documents always costs just 1 credit. I.e. merging 3 word documents into one PDF will cost just 1 credit.
• For email conversions, emails and attachments are counted and converted separately. Hence, converting 1 email with 3 attachments will cost 4 credits.

Yes, credits can expire. One-time credit packages: validity depends on the package size (3-24 months). The validity period is shown on the pricing page and in your account. Free and Premium subscriptions: credits reset monthly - unused credits do not roll over to the next month.

Yes! You’re able to buy packages of credits (ranging from €5 to €90) by going here. Bought credits remain valid for 6 months. These are one-time payments; for our subscriptions, go here.

We offer a free subscription! All of our services are available through this subscription, although you are limited to 15 credits (file conversions) every month. Restrictions on file size and bulk conversions also apply. Want to convert more? Consider buying single-use credits or upgrading to our premium subscription.

To see your current credit balance click on the icon top right, and go to credits. Your credit balance is also visible at every conversion.
Not enough credits? You can buy single-use credits by going here.
For the free and premium subscriptions, credits renew monthly.

This feature is available for all of our paid customers. In your account it is possible to create a team, add team members, and manage your team. All team members will be able to use credits to convert, merge, and so on.

Converting a file to PDF ensures your document stays consistent and accessible. PDFs lock in formatting, design, and structure, preventing layout shifts that can happen with editable file types. They’re compatible with virtually all devices and operating systems, making them ideal for professional documents, forms, reports, and presentations. PDFs are also easy to distribute; whether through email, downloads, cloud platforms, or QR-codes that let users open a file instantly on their phone.

Our intelligent software minimizes quality loss when converting documents. As such, documents can be converted without having to worry about quality loss for a great number of times.

No; our intelligent PDF software recognizes document layouts and transforms them accurately onto a new file format. Was your lay-out or format not transformed accurately? Consider applying OCR, or applying different customization settings to convert it correctly.

Yes! There are no limits to converting documents, and documents can safely and easily be converted back and forth. Conversion can be handy to edit a PDF document in Word, and later convert it back into an organized PDF format.

To merge PDF documents simply go to our converter, choose the file format you’re merging, and drag and drop the files you want to merge. Then you have the opportunity to edit some settings, press merge, and you’re done! You can download your merged file right away.

Yes, PDFengine offers various means of customizing your (PDF) documents. Consider adding a cover page, applying OCR, or using PDF/A as output.

If the text is not copyable, clickable, or searchable, that means the text is not recognized within the PDF. Try uploading your document onto PDFen and applying OCR. OCR technology will make your text readable. In case it doesn’t work completely in one go: apply OCR a second time.

All our data is stored at secure data centers in the Netherlands (EU).

We protect your files with strong industry-standard security measures. All uploads are secured with HTTPS (TLS 1.2+) during transfer, and files are stored in encrypted form on our servers while processing. Your documents are only used to complete the requested conversion and are never viewed manually.

Processed files and temporary uploads are automatically deleted within 24 hours. We continuously monitor our systems, follow secure-coding practices, and host all data in the EU on GDPR-compliant infrastructure.

Yes! You can upload multiple files or ZIP archives for batch processing. Our system automatically handles queue management and provides real-time progress tracking for large batch operations. Upgrade to premium to get the most out of your bulk conversions.

Email to PDF uses a hybrid conversion approach. Either the email body, the email attachments, or both can be converted. Upload either .Eml, .msg, and/or .zip files, and enjoy quick bulk conversion processes.

PDF/A is an ISO compliant PDF file format, meaning that no matter any software or system changes, your PDF document will remain independently accessible. It ensures long-term storage. Read more about PDF/A and its different types here.

We support a wide array of file types (over 45 different ones). To check all our PDF solutions and supported files, click here.

Yes! At PDFengine you’re able to set and customize your own cover page to add to converted documents. At every action you can choose whether you’d wish to apply your cover page as 1st page of the document, adding structure to your output.

To edit your PDF document, consider opening it into PDF software like Adobe. Do you wish to edit your PDF more rigorously, but in a smooth way? Convert your PDF to Word, PowerPoint, or another relevant file format, edit, and convert the document back to PDF, using PDFen’s conversion software.

At PDFengine, this feature is currently not available.

If you’d like to embed PowerPoints or other file formats within your PDF document we recommend picking PDF/A type 3. Remember though, that the PDF/A document itself will then be independently accessible and ISO compliant, but your Powerpoint or other embedded format may not. For full guarantees, consider picking PDF/A type 1 or 2. Read more on PDF/A here.

File limits depend on your license: Free: 200MB total, 10 files per conversion. One-time credits: 200MB total, 200 files per conversion. Premium: 500MB total, 200 files per conversion. All tiers support the same file formats including Office documents, images, email files, and ZIP archives.

The API uses Bearer token authentication. Go to Profile → API Tokens to generate a token, then include it in the Authorization header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN. Important: copy the token immediately after creation - it's only shown once! The old username/password authentication is deprecated and will stop working on June 1, 2026.

Yes, the API has the following limits: 60 requests per minute, maximum 200 files per request (up to 500MB total depending on license), and 5 concurrent conversions per user. Consult our pricing page to review exact bulk conversion and file size limits for each subscription tier.

If you are a member of an organization, API requests will automatically use the organization credit pool first. If the organization runs out of credits, the system will fall back to your personal credits. The API response includes information about which credit source was used.

Use the POST /api/v2/convert endpoint with your files and workflow ID. First, get available workflows via GET /api/v2/user/workflows, then submit your files as multipart/form-data with the workflow_id parameter. Set async=true for background processing, then poll the status endpoint until completion. See our API documentation for complete examples.

The API supports a wide range of conversions: To PDF: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, HTML, email (EML/MSG), AutoCAD, eBooks, CSV, Markdown. From PDF: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images (JPG/PNG/WebP), text, HTML, CSV. PDF Operations: merge, split, rotate, compress, protect/unprotect, OCR, PDF/A conversion, and repair. Use GET /api/v2/user/workflows to see all available conversion workflows.

API file limits depend on your chosen license. Consult our pricing page for the current plans that are on offer.

After starting a conversion with async=true, use GET /api/v2/executions/{execution_id} to check the status. The response includes the current status (queued, processing, completed, failed) and progress information. Once completed, use GET /api/v2/executions/{execution_id}/download to retrieve the result.

Complete API documentation is available at pdfen.com/api/docs. This includes interactive Swagger UI for testing endpoints, detailed parameter descriptions, code examples in multiple languages (PHP, Python, JavaScript), and the OpenAPI specification for generating client libraries.

Yes, we offer an official PHP SDK that simplifies API integration: composer require pdfen/php-sdk. The SDK handles authentication, file uploads, status polling, and error handling automatically. More SDKs (Python, JavaScript) are coming soon. See the SDK documentation for usage examples.

The v1 API will be completely shut down on June 1, 2026. After this date, only the v2 API will be available. All users must migrate to v2 before this deadline.

No. New users registered after December 2025 can only use the v2 API. The v1 API is only available for existing integrations to provide a smooth migration period.

Your v1 API integration will continue to work until June 1, 2026. We recommend starting your migration to v2 as soon as possible to avoid any last-minute issues.

Most functionality is preserved. You lose: session-based workflow (v2 uses direct conversion), custom page layouts, chapter structures, and multiple user-defined templates. But you gain: simpler API, more conversion options, better performance, enhanced error handling, and real-time status updates.

Yes, but only if you are an existing user. You can use v1 until June 1, 2026, while gradually migrating to v2. New users (registered after December 2025) can only use v2.