Load and Adjust a File

Reference documentation on loading and manipulating files using Mindee client libraries.

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Requirements

You'll nee to have your Mindee client configured correctly as described in the Configure the Client page.

Overview

Overall, the steps to sending a file are:

1. Load a source file.

2. Optional: adjust the source file before sending.

3. Use the Mindee client instance to send the file.

Load a Source File

You can load a source file from a path, from raw bytes, from a bytes stream, or from a language-specific object. Choose the appropriate type based on your application requirements.

If you're unsure of which to use, we recommend loading from a path.

Python

You'll need to use the mindee_client instance created in Configure the Client.

To load a path string, use source_from_path .

input_path = "/path/to/the/file.ext"
input_source = mindee_client.source_from_path(input_path)

To load a Path instance, use source_from_path.

from pathlib import Path

input_path = Path("/path/to/the/file.ext")
input_source = mindee_client.source_from_path(input_path)

To load raw bytes, use source_from_bytes .

from pathlib import Path

input_path = Path("/path/to/the/file.ext")
with input_path.open("rb") as fh:
    input_bytes = fh.read()

input_source = mindee_client.source_from_bytes(
    input_bytes,
    filename="file.ext",
)

To load a base-64 string, use source_from_b64string . The string will be decoded into bytes internally.

from pathlib import Path

input_base64 = "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABgAAA ..."

input_source = mindee_client.source_from_b64string(
    input_base64,
    filename="base64_file.txt",
)

To load a file handle, use source_from_file. It must be opened in binary mode, as a BinaryIO .

from pathlib import Path

input_path = Path("/path/to/the/file.ext")
with input_path.open("rb") as fh:
    input_source = mindee_client.source_from_file(fh)
    # IMPORTANT:
    # Continue all operations inside the 'with' statement.
    mindee_client.enqueue_and_get_inference(
        input_source, params
    )

Node.js

To load a file, you'll need to import the corresponding input class and instantiate it.

Make sure to import the needed classes:

end using TypeScript.
const mindee = require("mindee");
// for TS or modules:
// import * as mindee from "mindee";

To load a path string, use PathInput.

const filePath = "/path/to/the/file.ext";
const inputSource = new mindee.PathInput({ inputPath: filePath });

To load a Buffer instance, use BufferInput .

const buffer = Buffer.from(
  await fs.promises.readFile("/path/to/the/file.ext")
);

const inputSource = new mindee.BufferInput({
  buffer: buffer,
  filename: "file.ext",
});

To load raw bytes, use BytesInput .

const inputBytes = await fs.promises.readFile("/path/to/the/file.ext");

const inputSource = new mindee.BytesInput({
  inputBytes: inputBytes,
  filename: "file.ext",
});

To load a Stream, use StreamInput.

const stream = fs.createReadStream("/path/to/the/file.ext");

const input = new mindee.StreamInput({
  inputStream: stream,
  filename: "file.ext",
});

To load a base-64 string, use Base64Input .

const b64String = "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABgAAA ...";

const input = new mindee.Base64Input({
  inputString: b64String,
  filename: "base64_file.txt",
});

PHP

To load a file, you'll need to import the corresponding input class from the Mindee\Input namespace.

To load a path string, use PathInput.

use Mindee\Input\PathInput;

$filePath = "/path/to/the/file.ext";
$inputSource = new PathInput($filePath);

To load a file resource, use FileInput.

use Mindee\Input\FileInput;

$handle = fopen("/path/to/the/file.ext", "rb");
$inputSource = new FileInput($handle);

To load raw bytes, use BytesInput.

use Mindee\Input\BytesInput;

$filePath = "/path/to/the/file.ext";
$handle = fopen($filePath, "rb");
$contents = fread($handle, filesize($filePath));

$inputSource = new BytesInput($contents, "file.ext");

To load a base-64 string, use Base64Input . The string will be decoded into bytes internally.

use Mindee\Input\Base64Input;

$inputBase64 = "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABgAAA ..."

$inputSource = Base64Input($inputBase64, "base64_file.txt");

Java

To load a file, initialize it using the LocalInputSource class.

This class has different constructors to allow for opening various types of inputs.

To load a path string:

String filePath = "/path/to/the/file.ext";

LocalInputSource inputSource = new LocalInputSource(filePath);

To load a File instance:

File file = new File("/path/to/the/file.ext");

LocalInputSource inputSource = new LocalInputSource(file);

To load a byte array:

byte[] fileBytes = Files.readAllBytes("/path/to/the/file.ext");
String filename = "file.ext";

LocalInputSource inputSource = new LocalInputSource(fileBytes, filename);

To load an InputStream instance:

InputStream fileStream = new FileInputStream(
    new File("/path/to/the/file.ext")
);
String filename = "file.ext";

LocalInputSource inputSource = new LocalInputSource(fileStream, filename);

To load a base-64 string:

String inputBase64 = "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABgAAA ...";
String filename = "file.ext";

LocalInputSource inputSource = new LocalInputSource(inputBase64, filename);

.NET

To load a file, initialize it using the LocalInputSource class.

This class has different constructors to allow for opening various types of inputs.

To load a path string:

string filePath = "/path/to/the/file.ext";

var inputSource = new LocalInputSource(filePath)

To load a FileInfo instance:

FileInfo fileinfo = new FileInfo("/path/to/the/file.ext");

var inputSource = new LocalInputSource(fileinfo)

To load a byte array:

byte[] fileBytes = File.ReadAllBytes("/path/to/the/file.ext");
string filename = "file.ext";

var inputSource = new LocalInputSource(fileBytes, filename)

To load a Stream instance:

Stream fileStream = FileStream SourceStream = File.Open(
    "/path/to/the/file.ext", FileMode.Open);
string filename = "file.ext";

var inputSource = new LocalInputSource(fileStream, filename)

Adjust the Source File

Optionally make changes and adjustments to the source file before sending.

All file adjustments are applied in-memory to the source file instance.

If loaded from disk, the original file is not modified.

Fixing PDF Headers

In some cases, PDFs will have corrupt or invalid headers. These files will return a 4xx HTTP error as the server will be unable to process them.

You can try to fix the headers using the provided functions.

Note: this feature is not yet available for all languages.

Python

Using the input_source instance created above.

input_source.fix_pdf()

PHP

Using the $inputSource instance created above.

$inputSource->fixPDF();

File Compression

There is no need to send excessively large files to the Mindee API.

Unfortunately, many modern smartphones can take very high resolution images.

We provide a way to compress images before sending to the API.

Python

Using the input_source instance created above.

Basic usage is very simple, and can be applied to both images and PDFs:

input_source.compress(quality=85)

For images, you can also set a maximum height and/or width. The aspect ratio will always be preserved.

For example to compress and resize to no greater than 1920x1920 pixels:

input_source.compress(
    quality=85, max_width=1920, max_height=1920
)

Node.js

Using the inputSource instance created above.

Basic usage is very simple, and can be applied to both images and PDFs:

inputSource.compress(85);

For images, you can also set a maximum height and/or width. The aspect ratio will always be preserved.

For example to compress and resize to no greater than 1920x1920 pixels:

inputSource.compress(85, 1920, 1920);

PHP

Using the $inputSource instance created above.

Basic usage is very simple, and can be applied to both images and PDFs:

$inputSource->compress(quality: 85);

For images, you can also set a maximum height and/or width. The aspect ratio will always be preserved.

For example to compress and resize to no greater than 1920x1920 pixels:

$inputSource->compress(
    quality: 85, maxWidth: 1920, maxHeight: 1920
);

Java

Using the inputSource instance created above.

Basic usage is very simple, and can be applied to both images and PDFs:

inputSource.compress(85);

For images, you can also set a maximum height and/or width. The aspect ratio will always be preserved.

For example to compress and resize to no greater than 1920x1920 pixels:

inputSource.compress(85, 1920, 1920);

.NET

Using the inputSource instance created above.

Basic usage is very simple, and can be applied to both images and PDFs:

inputSource.Compress(quality: 85);

For images, you can also set a maximum height and/or width. The aspect ratio will always be preserved.

For example to compress and resize to no greater than 1920x1920 pixels:

inputSource.Compress(
    quality: 85, maxWidth: 1920, maxHeight: 1920);

PDF Page Manipulations

In some cases, PDFs will have some superfluous pages present.

For example a cover page or terms and conditions which are not useful to the desired data extraction.

These extra pages count towards your billing and slow down processing.

It is therefore in your best interest to remove them before sending.

Parameters:

• "Page Indexes" is required and is a list of 0-based page indexes. Use negative values to specify indexes starting from the end, i.e. -1 for the last page.

• "Operation" specifies whether to keep only specified pages or remove specified pages. One of "Keep Only" or "Remove".

• "On Min Pages" is optional and specifies the minimum number of pages a document must have for the operation to take place. The value of 0 means any number of pages.

Exact naming of parameters will depend on the language, see below.

Python

Using the input_source instance created above.

from mindee import PageOptions

# Set the options as follows:
# For all documents, keep only the first page
page_options = PageOptions(
    operation="KEEP_ONLY",
    page_indexes=[0],
)

# Apply in-memory
input_source.apply_page_options(page_options)

Some other examples:

# Only for documents having 3 or more pages:
# Keep only these pages: first, penultimate, last
PageOptions(
    operation="KEEP_ONLY",
    on_min_pages=3,
    page_indexes=[0, -2, -1],
)

# For all documents:
# Remove the first page
PageOptions(
    operation="REMOVE",
    page_indexes=[0],
)

# Only for documents having 10 or more pages:
# Remove the first 5 pages
PageOptions(
    operation="REMOVE",
    on_min_pages=10,
    page_indexes=list(range(5)),
)

Node.js

Using the inputSource instance created above.

// Set the options as follows:
// For all documents, keep only the first page
const pageOptions: mindee.PageOptions = {
  operation: mindee.PageOptionsOperation.KeepOnly,
  pageIndexes: [0],
};

// Apply in-memory
await inputDoc.applyPageOptions(pageOptions);

Some other examples:

// Only for documents having 3 or more pages:
// Keep only these pages: first, penultimate, last
const pageOptions: mindee.PageOptions = {
  operation: mindee.PageOptionsOperation.KeepOnly,
  onMinPages: 3,
  pageIndexes: [0, -2, -1],
};

// For all documents:
// Remove the first page
const pageOptions: mindee.PageOptions = {
  operation: mindee.PageOptionsOperation.Remove,
  pageIndexes: [0],
};

// Only for documents having 10 or more pages:
// Remove the first 5 pages
const pageOptions: mindee.PageOptions = {
  operation: mindee.PageOptionsOperation.Remove,
  onMinPages: 10,
  pageIndexes: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4],
};

PHP

Using the $inputSource instance created above.

use Mindee\Input\PageOptions;
use const Mindee\Input\KEEP_ONLY;

// Set the options as follows:
// For all documents, keep only the first page
$pageOptions = new PageOptions(
    pageIndexes: [0],
    operation: KEEP_ONLY
);

// Apply in-memory
$inputSource->applyPageOptions($pageOptions);

Some other examples:

use Mindee\Input\PageOptions;
use const Mindee\Input\KEEP_ONLY;
use const Mindee\Input\REMOVE;

// Only for documents having 3 or more pages:
// Keep only these pages: first, penultimate, last
$pageOptions = new PageOptions(
    pageIndexes: [0, -2, -1],
    operation: KEEP_ONLY,
    onMinPage: 3
);

// For all documents:
// Remove the first page
$pageOptions = new PageOptions(
    pageIndexes: [0],
    operation: REMOVE
);

// Only for documents having 10 or more pages:
// Remove the first 5 pages
$pageOptions = new PageOptions(
    pageIndexes: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4],
    operation: REMOVE,
    onMinPage: 10
);

Java

Using the inputSource instance created above.

import com.mindee.input.PageOptions;
import com.mindee.input.PageOptionsOperation;

// Set the options as follows:
// For all documents, keep only the first page
PageOptions pageOptions = new PageOptions.Builder()
    .pageIndexes(new Integer[]{ 0 })
    .operation(PageOptionsOperation.KEEP_ONLY)
    .build();

Some other examples:

import com.mindee.input.PageOptions;
import com.mindee.input.PageOptionsOperation;

// Only for documents having 3 or more pages:
// Keep only these pages: first, penultimate, last
PageOptions pageOptions = new PageOptions.Builder()
    .pageIndexes(new Integer[]{ 0, -2, -1 })
    .operation(PageOptionsOperation.KEEP_ONLY)
    .onMinPages(3)
    .build();

// For all documents:
// Remove the first page
PageOptions pageOptions = new PageOptions.Builder()
    .pageIndexes(new Integer[]{ 0 })
    .operation(PageOptionsOperation.REMOVE)
    .build();

// Only for documents having 10 or more pages:
// Remove the first 5 pages
PageOptions pageOptions = new PageOptions.Builder()
    .pageIndexes(new Integer[]{ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 })
    .operation(PageOptionsOperation.REMOVE)
    .onMinPages(10)
    .build();

.NET

Using the inputSource instance created above.

// Set the options as follows:
// For all documents, keep only the first page
var pageOptions = new PageOptions(
    operation: PageOptionsOperation.KeepOnly
    , pageIndexes: [ 0 ]);

// Apply in-memory
inputSource.ApplyPageOptions(pageOptions);

Some other examples:

// Only for documents having 3 or more pages:
// Keep only these pages: first, penultimate, last
new PageOptions(
    operation: PageOptionsOperation.KeepOnly
    , onMinPages: 3
    , pageIndexes: new short[] { 0, -2, -1 }
);

// For all documents:
// Remove the first page
new PageOptions(
    operation: PageOptionsOperation.Remove
    , pageIndexes: new short[] { 0 }
);

// Only for documents having 10 or more pages:
// Remove the first 5 pages
new PageOptions(
    operation: PageOptionsOperation.Remove
    , onMinPages: 10
    , pageIndexes: new short[] { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 }
);

Send the File

Now that your file is ready, you'll want to send it to the Mindee servers for processing.

Head on over to the Send for Processing section for details on the next step.