Automate Adobe PDF Processing with n8n Workflow

Opening Problem Statement

Meet Lara, a documentation specialist at a growing consulting firm. Every week, Lara receives dozens of PDF reports packed with tables and text data she needs to extract and analyze quickly. Doing this manually means copying data into spreadsheets—taking up to 4 hours per batch—and often introduces errors and delays her team’s projects.

Lara needs a reliable automated solution to upload PDFs, extract tables and text effortlessly, and get results she can use right away. Without it, her productivity suffers and critical deadlines are missed, costing her company both time and money.

What This Automation Does

This specific n8n workflow integrates with Adobe PDF Services API to automate the entire PDF processing lifecycle for Lara, delivering:

• Automated authentication with Adobe PDF Services API to securely access PDF tools.
• Upload of PDF files directly from Dropbox into Adobe’s platform.
• Specification of extraction parameters to get text and table data from PDFs.
• Polling the Adobe API with timed wait periods to check processing status.
• Downloading the processed results automatically when ready.
• Returning extracted data for easy integration with other tools or workflows.

By automating these steps, Lara saves around 3-4 hours per batch and eliminates human errors from manual copying.

Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account (cloud or self-hosted environment).
• Adobe PDF Services API credentials: Custom Auth for obtaining OAuth token, and Header Auth for API requests.
• Dropbox account with OAuth 2.0 enabled for file loading.
• Basic understanding of n8n node setup for HTTP requests and merges.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Set up Manual Trigger to test workflow

Navigate to + Add Node → Manual Trigger. This node facilitates manual testing of the entire process. No parameters required here.

You’ll see an interactive button “Execute Workflow” at the top in n8n editor to start the test manually.

Common mistake: Forgetting to connect this trigger as the workflow start point.

Step 2: Load PDF from Dropbox

Add the Dropbox node and configure it to download a sample PDF file. Use the path from the workflow: “/valerian/w/prod/_freelance/ADEZIF/AI/Source data/Brochures pour GPT/Brochure 3M/3M_doc_emballage VERSION FINALE.pdf”.

Authenticate with Dropbox OAuth credentials.

On execution, verify you receive a binary PDF file.

Common mistake: Incorrect Dropbox file path or missing OAuth authentication.

Step 3: Define Adobe API Request Parameters with Set Node

Add the Set node to specify extraction parameters. Copy this JSON payload:

{
 "renditionsToExtract": [
 "tables"
 ],
 "elementsToExtract": [
 "text",
 "tables"
 ]
}

Also, set the endpoint as “extractpdf” to instruct Adobe to extract content.

This defines what data Adobe should extract from the PDF.

Common mistake: Using incorrect field names or forgetting to set endpoint.

Step 4: Merge Query Parameters and File Data

Use a Merge node set to “Combine by Position” to combine the query parameters with the Dropbox binary file data.

Ensure the Merge node correctly outputs a single combined item with both the file and extraction settings.

Common mistake: Merge mode set incorrectly, causing data mismatch.

Step 5: Authenticate to Adobe API

Add an HTTP Request node for token fetching. Use the URL https://pdf-services.adobe.io/token, method POST with content type application/x-www-form-urlencoded. Setup Custom Auth with client ID and secret.

This step obtains the OAuth token for subsequent calls.

Common mistake: Missing credentials or incorrect header/body format.

Step 6: Create Asset on Adobe Platform

Now add the HTTP Request node to POST to https://pdf-services.adobe.io/assets, sending headers including the Bearer token from step 5 and specifying mediaType “application/pdf” in the body.

This call creates a blank asset on Adobe to upload the PDF into.

Common mistake: Failing to include token in Authorization header correctly.

Step 7: Upload PDF File to Adobe

Add another HTTP Request node to PUT binary PDF data to the upload URI returned in the previous step. Set content type to binary data.

Check upload succeeds with a 200 status.

Common mistake: Not mapping binary data field correctly in node settings.

Step 8: Process the Adobe API Query

Add another HTTP Request node to POST to https://pdf-services.adobe.io/operation/extractpdf, passing assetID and extraction parameters JSON together in the request body. Use Bearer token in headers.

This triggers the extraction job on Adobe.

Step 9: Implement Wait Node to Poll Status

Insert a Wait node to pause the workflow for 5 seconds before status check.

This avoids hammering the Adobe API and respects rate-limits.

Step 10: Download the Processed Result

Use an HTTP Request node to GET the location URL returned by the processing response headers. Authorization header with Bearer token required.

This downloads the result file—could be JSON, ZIP, or another format.

Step 11: Implement Switch Node to Check Status

Add a Switch node to branch workflow based on the status field in the response JSON.

If status is “in progress”, loop back to Wait node. If “failed”, send error message back. Otherwise, proceed to output.

Step 12: Forward Result to Origin Workflow

Add a Set node to pass the final processed result out, including any other fields as needed.

Customizations ✏️

• Change extraction elements: In the “Adobe API Query” Set node, modify elementsToExtract to add “images” or other supported elements for richer data output.
• Adjust wait time: Increase or decrease the “Wait 5 second” node duration to optimize polling frequency based on Adobe API responsiveness.
• Use another file source: Replace the Dropbox node with Google Drive or FTP node if you prefer different storage integrations.
• Dynamic endpoint setting: Modify the “Query” Set node to take input parameters via webhook or UI form to let users choose different PDF operations like “splitpdf” or “combinepdf”.

Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: Authentication fails with 401 Unauthorized

Cause: Incorrect client ID/secret or token expired.

Solution: Verify the Custom Auth credentials for token fetch node. Recreate credentials if necessary. Also, ensure proper header content types.

Problem: Upload fails with 400 Bad Request

Cause: Missing or malformed upload URI.

Solution: Confirm that the “Create Asset” node returns valid uploadUri and that it is properly passed to the “Upload PDF File” node.

Problem: Processing hangs on “in progress” status

Cause: File too large or Adobe service delay.

Solution: Increase wait time before retry or check Adobe API service status pages.

Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Verify Adobe API credentials and test token acquisition manually.
• Ensure Dropbox test file is accessible and correct path set.
• Run workflow with small PDF file first to validate all steps.
• Check HTTP Request nodes for correct URLs, headers, and body payloads.
• Confirm the Switch node branches correctly based on status values.

Deployment Guide

Activate the workflow by turning on the trigger node for your chosen input. For ongoing use, automate file imports by replacing manual trigger with webhook or schedule nodes.

Monitor the workflow executions and review logs inside n8n for any errors or rate-limit warnings.

Conclusion

You have successfully built an end-to-end automated PDF processing workflow that uploads files to Adobe PDF Services, triggers data extraction, waits for completion, and retrieves results automatically.

For Lara, this cuts manual processing time by over 75%, delivering faster insights and reducing costly errors.

Next, consider automating PDF splitting or adding integration to Google Sheets to directly send extracted table data.

Keep exploring more n8n nodes and API workflows to make document management even smoother.