December 5, 2024

How to Convert PDF to JSON with AI

Kavian Braanaas
Reading time: 3 min

Without the right tool, converting PDF files into clean, exportable JSON becomes a manual data entry hassle that eats up internal resources.

Cradl AI makes it easy to automate PDF to JSON conversion using AI models to accurately extract information as JSON from your PDFs. Then, you can send your JSON data from Cradl AI to any service that supports webhooks.

Let's build it in 3 easy, no-code steps.

Create a Cradl AI model for your documents

Before we begin, make sure you’ve created a free Cradl AI account.

Once you're inside the app, your first step is to create an AI model that understands your PDFs.

To do that, define the specific data points you want to extract from your documents. For instance, if you're working with various Bills of lading, you might want to extract details like the bill of lading number, carrier name, vessel name, port of loading, port of discharge, and so on.

Screenshot of the data points config inside Cradl AI

Converting your first PDF to JSON

With your AI model set up, converting a PDF or image to JSON is as simple as clicking "Run," uploading a document, and waiting for your AI model process the document. Once processed, you can view the extracted data in the Validator.

Screenshot of the document and the data extracted from it inside Cradl AI


Look out for fields with red or orange confidence scores—these indicate areas where the AI may need human validation. Click "Validate" to finalize the output.

Once validated, you can view the extracted data in JSON format by clicking the three dots next to your document.

Screenshot of the document its JSON output inside Cradl AI

Automating PDF to JSON conversion with webhooks

In many industries, the volume of incoming documents makes manual PDF to JSON conversion impractical. Fortunately, Cradl AI allows you to easily automate this process entirely. Let's use our webhook integration as an example:

  • Visit webhook.site, which auto-generates a unique webhook URL that you can use for testing. Copy it.
  • Back in Cradl AI, select “Webhook” from the export options and paste the webhook URL.
  • Upload and validate a document. Its JSON out will be sent directly to your test webhook, ready for integration with your other apps!
Screenshot from inside the Cradl AI app, displaying the webhook interface overlapped by the JSON output of a webhook call


Cradl AI’s integrates seamlessly with other popular apps and platforms like Excel, Google Sheets, Zapier, Power Automate, UiPath, any mailbox, and APIs.

Summary

Cradl AI makes it easy to convert and automate PDF to JSON workflows using AI models to accurately extract information as JSON from your PDFs, and sends it to any app that supports webhooks. to create AI models that understands your  empowers businesses to become more data-driven by making key information readily accessible for insights and analytics.

Get started for free

We’ll help get you started with your document automation journey.

Schedule a free demo with our team today!