Skip to main content
Returns the readable text of a PDF as Zap fields you can map into any later step. The action appears in the picker as Text Extract.

​
Inputs

Reading Order helps on multi-column layouts, but on dense designs it can interleave sentences from adjacent columns. Unordered extraction returns the same output every time for the same file, so leave it off when you need reproducible results.
There is no Output Type field — extractions always return structured fields.

​
Outputs

pages_text is produced by splitting the extracted text on blank lines, not by page boundaries. Treat it as a convenience for chunking, not as a reliable per-page breakdown. To get the text of one specific page, set Page Indices to that page and use Extracted Text.

​
Example Zap

Log the text of every emailed invoice to a spreadsheet.
1

Gmail — New Attachment

Filter to the label or search that catches invoices.
2

Filter by Zapier

Only continue if the attachment name ends with .pdf.
3

Nitro PDF Services — Text Extract

  • PDF File → the trigger’s attachment.
  • Leave Page Indices empty to read the whole document.
4

Google Sheets — Create Spreadsheet Row

Map Extracted Text into a column, alongside the sender and received date from the trigger.
To pull one specific value rather than the whole document, use Form Extract, Parse Invoice or Text Bounding Box Extract From PDF instead — both return structured fields that are much easier to branch on than free text.