pdf-2-audio

A basic express API app that has a upload POST route that accepts a PDF and returns a generated .wav file. The project uses OS specific TTS (text to speech) provided by say.js.

Warning for use

Very large PDFs will currently time out, this is a hobby project so I haven't worked through optimization. Currently only supports single files.

Setup & Installation

After downloading or cloning the repo, follow these steps. The project relies on Node so be sure that it is installed properly on your system.

1. Create a .env file with the PORT if you would like to set a designated port for the project to run on other than localhost:3000.
2. In your terminal run npm install.
3. Run npm run start to start up the server.
4. You can now access the API however you see fit.

Routes available

• GET http://your_api_endpoint_url: This returns a generic welcome .wav file with instructions directing you to the upload POST route.
• POST http://your_api_endpoint_url/upload: This allows you to submit any PDF you would like for conversion.

How to use (Documented by ChatGPT)

To submit a POST request with a PDF attached, you can use various tools or libraries. One of the most popular tools for testing API endpoints is Postman. Alternatively, you could use curl from the command line, or use a programming language's HTTP client.

Here's how you can do it using all three methods:

1. Using Postman:

1. Download and install Postman.
2. Open Postman and create a new request.
3. Set the request method to POST.
4. Enter the API endpoint URL.
5. In the Body tab, select form-data.
6. Enter a key (e.g., "pdf") and select the type as File from the dropdown. Choose your PDF by clicking the "Select Files" button.
7. Click "Send".

2. Using curl:

From your terminal or command prompt:

curl -X POST -F "pdf=@path_to_your_file.pdf" http://your_api_endpoint_url/upload

Make sure to replace path_to_your_file.pdf with the path to your PDF file and http://your_api_endpoint_url/upload with your actual API endpoint.

3. Using Node.js with axios:

First, you need to install the required packages:

npm install axios form-data

Then, you can use the following code to make a POST request with the attached PDF:

const axios = require('axios');
const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');

const form = new FormData();
form.append('pdf', fs.createReadStream('path_to_your_file.pdf'));

axios.post('http://your_api_endpoint_url/upload', form, {
    headers: {
        ...form.getHeaders()
    }
})
.then(response => {
    console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(error => {
    console.error('Error uploading the file:', error);
});

Replace path_to_your_file.pdf with the path to your PDF and http://your_api_endpoint_url/upload with your actual API endpoint.

Choose whichever method is most convenient for you. If you're doing this for testing or debugging, tools like Postman are especially handy due to their user-friendly interface and features.