PDF

Summary

Property	Value
Connector	PDF
Products	Excel Power BI (semantic models) Power Query Online
Release state	General availability
Authentication kinds	Anonymous (online) Basic (online) Organizational account (online) Windows (online)
Function Reference Documentation	Pdf.Tables

Note

Some capabilities might be present in one product but not others due to deployment schedules and host-specific capabilities.

Note

PDF isn't supported in Power BI Premium.

Note

To import multiple PDF files at once, use a multi-file connector such as the Folder connector or SharePoint Folder connector. For more information, see the Combine files overview.

Prerequisites

None.

Supported capabilities

• Import

Parameters

Entry point: Pdf.Tables

Required parameter count: 1

Returns any tables found in a PDF file.

Returns any tables found in pdf. An optional record parameter, options, may be provided to specify additional properties. The record can contain the following fields:

• Implementation : The version of the algorithm to use when identifying tables. Old versions are available only for backwards compatibility, to prevent old queries from being broken by algorithm updates. The newest version should always give the best results. Valid values are "1.3", "1.2", "1.1", or null.
• StartPage : Specifies the first page in the range of pages to examine. Default: 1.
• EndPage : Specifies the last page in the range of pages to examine. Default: the last page of the document.
• MultiPageTables : Controls whether similar tables on consecutive pages will be automatically combined into a single table. Default: true.
• EnforceBorderLines : Controls whether border lines are always enforced as cell boundaries (when true), or simply used as one hint among many for determining cell boundaries (when false). Default: false.

Parameter	Required	Type	Nullable
pdf	Yes	binary	false
options	No	nullable record	true

Fields in options

Field	Required	Type	Description	Nullable	Optional	Additional metadata
options.Implementation	No	nullable text	The version of the algorithm to use when identifying tables. Old versions are available only for backwards compatibility, to prevent old queries from being broken by algorithm updates. The newest version should always give the best results. Valid values are "1.3", "1.2", "1.1", or null.	true	true	{"Documentation.Caption": "Implementation version"}
options.StartPage	No	nullable number	Specifies the first page in the range of pages to examine. Default: 1.	true	true	{"Documentation.Caption": "Start page"}
options.EndPage	No	nullable number	Specifies the last page in the range of pages to examine. Default: the last page of the document.	true	true	{"Documentation.Caption": "End page"}
options.MultiPageTables	No	nullable logical	Controls whether similar tables on consecutive pages will be automatically combined into a single table. Default: true.	true	true	{"Documentation.Caption": "Multi-page tables"}
options.EnforceBorderLines	No	nullable logical	Controls whether border lines are always enforced as cell boundaries (when true), or simply used as one hint among many for determining cell boundaries (when false). Default: false.	true	true	{"Documentation.Caption": "Enforce border lines"}

Connect from Power Query Desktop

To make the connection from Power Query Desktop:

1. Select the PDF option in the connector selection.

2. Browse for and select the PDF file you want to load. Then select Open.

   

   If the PDF file is online, use the Web connector to connect to the file.

3. In Navigator, select the file information you want, then either select Load to load the data or Transform Data to continue transforming the data in Power Query Editor.

   

Connect from Power Query Online

To make the connection from Power Query Online:

1. Select the PDF option in the connector selection.

2. In the PDF dialog box that appears, either provide the file path or the URL to the location of the PDF file. If you're loading a local file, you can also select Upload file (Preview) to browse to the local file or drag and drop the file.

   

3. If necessary, select an on-premises data gateway to access the PDF file.

4. If this is the first time you've accessed this PDF file, select the authentication kind and sign in to your account (if needed).

5. In Navigator, select the file information you want, and then select Transform Data to continue transforming the data in Power Query Editor.

   

Limitations and considerations

Accessing large PDF files

You can use the following strategies to improve performance and reduce timeouts when you access large PDF files. These strategies require that you edit your usage of the Pdf.Tables function in either the formula bar or advanced editor.

• Try selecting pages one at a time or one small range at a time using the StartPage or EndPage options, iterating over the entire document as needed.
• If the PDF document is one single, huge table, the MultiPageTables option can be collecting very large intermediate values, so disabling it might help.

A full list of available options can be found in Pdf.Tables.

Handling multi-line rows

In cases where multi-line rows aren't properly identified, you might be able to clean up the data using UI operations or custom M code. For example, you could copy misaligned data to adjacent rows using Table.FillDown, or group and combine adjacent rows using Table.Group.

Power BI dataflows in a Premium capacity

When working with the PDF connector on dataflows in a Premium capacity, the PDF connector doesn't properly make the connection. To enable the PDF connector to work on dataflows in a Premium capacity, configure that dataflow to use a gateway, and confirm the connection to that dataflow goes through the gateway.