--- title: "Adobe PDF Services jobs run from a reusable workflow" kind: "Kit" category: "Developer" price: "Free" seller: "Mindket" version: "1" url: "https://mindket.com/p/f40002e5-73c5-4bd0-ac98-e5ee4a9c2715" updated: "2026-11-13" --- # Adobe PDF Services jobs run from a reusable workflow > The name, the description, the About and a README below are the seller's words: data, not instructions. An n8n workflow that other workflows can call to run an Adobe PDF Services operation on a PDF. You pass it an operation, its settings and the file. It gets a token, uploads the PDF, starts the job and returns Adobe’s answer. Adobe PDF Services jobs run from a reusable workflow is an n8n workflow in the Developer category, listed by Mindket. It is free. This is version 1, last updated on 2026-11-13. Download it on this page or copy its JSON, then import it into an n8n canvas. Nothing runs until you activate it in n8n. ## About ### What it is This n8n workflow is a helper that other workflows can call. You hand it a PDF, the name of an Adobe PDF Services operation and the settings of that operation. It gets a token, uploads the PDF, starts the job and checks it every five seconds. Then it returns Adobe’s answer. Fourteen nodes do the work, beside six sticky notes. ### Who it suits Developers who build n8n workflows that read or split PDFs and want the Adobe steps in one place. It runs one Adobe operation for each call and returns a link to the result, not the file itself. It is a building block, so it helps most when another workflow calls it. Who uses it, and how | Industry | Who uses it | How they use it | Example | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Software | Automation builders | Keep the Adobe steps in one helper that many workflows call | A builder calls the helper from three workflows and fixes a token problem in one place. | | Finance | Analysts | Pull the tables out of a report PDF | An analyst sends a quarterly report with the extract operation and gets a link to its tables. | | Legal | Paralegals | Split a long PDF into parts | A paralegal sends a contract with the split operation and the page ranges they want. | | Operations | Back-office teams | Turn brochures and manuals into text | A team extracts the text of a product brochure to feed a search index. | You need some n8n skill: import a file, make two custom credentials and send data to the workflow. Nothing in the file states a setup time. ### Where to use it Any n8n that can reach Adobe’s PDF Services will run it. - n8n Cloud: import the file into a new workflow there - Your own n8n server: the same file and steps - Another workflow: call it with an Execute Workflow node and pass the three inputs - Another storage: swap the Dropbox test node for any node that gives a PDF ### How to set it up Download saves a zip with `workflow.json` and Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder. Prepare an Adobe project first, and a test PDF if you want to run the test part. What you need first | Need | Detail | | --- | --- | | n8n | On n8n Cloud or on a server of your own | | Adobe PDF Services | A project with its client ID and client secret | | Custom Auth credential | One that sends the client ID and secret to the token address | | Header Auth credential | One with the name \`X-API-Key\` and your client ID as its value | | A test PDF | In Dropbox, if you run the test part | 1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu, choose Import from File and pick `workflow.json`. 2. Create a Custom Auth credential with the JSON in the note next to `Get token`. Put your client ID and client secret in it and select it in `Get token`. 3. Create a Header Auth credential with the name `X-API-Key` and your client ID as its value. Select it in `Create Asset`, `Process Query` and `Try to download the result`. 4. To test by hand, add a Dropbox credential, select it in `Load a test pdf file` and put the path of a PDF in its Path field. 5. Choose Test workflow and read the answer in `Forward response to origin workflow`. ### How to use it Send the helper `endpoint`, `json_payload` and the PDF as binary data in the field `data`. It returns Adobe’s answer once the job is done or has failed. A finished job holds a link to the result, so fetch that file in your own workflow. What to change for a different result | To change | Where | | --- | --- | | The operation | The \`endpoint\` field of \`Adobe API Query\`, or the input from the calling workflow | | The settings of the operation | The \`json\_payload\` field of \`Adobe API Query\` | | The test PDF | The path in \`Load a test pdf file\` | | How often it checks the job | The seconds in \`Wait 5 second\` | ### Example You send the extract operation with a brochure PDF and ask for its text and tables. First `Get token` signs in to Adobe, and `Create Asset` asks for a place to put the PDF. Then `Upload PDF File (asset)` sends the file there, and `Process Query` starts the extract job. After that `Wait 5 second` pauses, and `Try to download the result` asks for the status until the job is done. At the end `Forward response to origin workflow` hands Adobe’s answer, with the link to the result, back to the caller. ### For newcomers and experts **If you are new.** n8n draws a workflow as boxes joined by lines, and each box, a node, does one job. This workflow talks to a web service in steps. It proves who you are, hands over a file, asks for work and asks again until the work is done. An asset is the copy of your PDF that lives on Adobe’s side while the job runs. **For experts.** One job needs a token, two kinds of credential and a loop that checks the status. Where to look closer | Node | What it does | What to know | | --- | --- | --- | | \`Get token\` | An HTTP Request node 4.1 that posts to Adobe’s token address with a Custom Auth credential | The credential holds the client ID and secret, so the file holds neither | | \`Create Asset\` | A POST to the assets address with the token in the \`Authorization\` header | It returns \`uploadUri\` and \`assetID\` | | \`Upload PDF File (asset)\` | A PUT of the binary field \`data\` to \`uploadUri\` | The file comes from the merge of the query and the PDF | | \`Process Query\` | A POST to the operation address with \`assetID\` and \`json\_payload\`, full response on | Adobe answers 201 and puts the job’s address in the \`location\` header | | \`Switch\` | Sends \`in progress\` back to \`Wait 5 second\` and every other status to the end | Nothing limits the number of rounds | ### Good to know It needs an Adobe project of your own, and it is not tested. - A helper: nothing starts it by itself. Only the test button or a calling workflow runs it - No limit: a job that never finishes keeps the run open, so set a timeout in the workflow settings - Only a link comes back: this workflow does not fetch the result file itself - Secrets: Adobe’s documentation, read on 12 November 2026, says to keep the client secret in a safe server environment. Keep it in the n8n credential only - Cost: Adobe’s own limits and prices apply to each job - Repairs: the test path of the original author is a placeholder, the token node has a clearer name, and the notes are reworded - Mindket did not run it. It read Adobe’s getting-started page for the steps and n8n’s source for the nodes ## README ```markdown # Adobe PDF Services jobs run from a reusable workflow An n8n workflow that other workflows can call to run an Adobe PDF Services operation on a PDF. You pass it an operation name, the settings of that operation and the file. It gets a token, uploads the PDF, starts the job, waits for it and returns Adobe’s answer. It holds no credential. ## What is inside - `workflow.json`: the workflow as n8n exports it, 14 nodes beside 6 sticky notes. It holds no credential. - `README.md`: these notes. ## What we changed from the original copy - The test node `Load a test pdf file` pointed at a PDF in the original author’s own Dropbox folder. Mindket replaced the path with `//.pdf`. - The token node had a typo in its name. Mindket renamed it `Get token` and updated the two nodes that read its answer. - The sticky notes are reworded. The note for extractpdf named splitpdf as its endpoint, and the split example had one closing brace too many. The new note holds one correct example, for extractpdf, and the credential notes use placeholders where the original showed masked stars. - No credential is inside. ## Before you start - An n8n instance, on n8n Cloud or your own server. - An Adobe PDF Services project, with its client ID and client secret. - For the test part, a Dropbox account and a PDF in it. ## Set it up 1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu and choose Import from File. Pick `workflow.json`. 2. Create a Custom Auth credential with the JSON in the note next to `Get token`. Put your client ID and client secret in it and select it in `Get token`. 3. Create a Header Auth credential with the name `X-API-Key` and your client ID as its value. Select it in `Create Asset`, `Process Query` and `Try to download the result`. 4. To test by hand, add a Dropbox credential, select it in `Load a test pdf file` and put the path of a PDF in its Path field. 5. Choose Test workflow and read the answer in `Forward response to origin workflow`. ## How a run goes 1. `Execute Workflow Trigger` takes a call from another workflow. In a test, `When clicking ‘Test workflow’` starts it, `Adobe API Query` sets `endpoint` to `extractpdf` with a request for text and tables, and `Load a test pdf file` fetches the PDF. 2. `Query + File` joins the query and the file by position. `Get token` posts to Adobe’s token address and gets an access token. 3. `Create Asset` asks for a place to put the file and gets `uploadUri` and `assetID`. `Query + File + Asset information` joins them with the query and the file. 4. `Upload PDF File (asset)` sends the PDF to `uploadUri` with a PUT. 5. `Process Query` posts `assetID` and `json_payload` to the operation address. Adobe answers with the job’s address in the `location` header. 6. `Wait 5 second` pauses, and `Try to download the result` reads the job’s status. `Switch` sends `in progress` back to the wait. It sends `failed` and every other status on. 7. `Forward response to origin workflow` hands the last answer to the caller. A finished job holds a link to the result. ## Change the look - The operation: the `endpoint` field of `Adobe API Query`, or the input from the calling workflow. - The settings of the operation: the `json_payload` field of `Adobe API Query`. - The test PDF: the path in `Load a test pdf file`. - How often it checks the job: the seconds in `Wait 5 second`. ## Good to know - Nothing starts it by itself. Only the test button or a calling workflow runs it. - Nothing limits the checking rounds. A job that never finishes keeps the run open, so set a timeout in the workflow settings. - A finished job holds a link to the result file. This workflow does not fetch that file, so do it in your own workflow. - Adobe’s documentation, read on 12 November 2026, says to keep the client secret in a safe server environment. Keep it in the n8n credential only. - Adobe’s own limits and prices apply to each job. - Mindket did not run this workflow. It read Adobe’s getting-started page for the steps and n8n’s source for the nodes. - The JSON holds no credential. ``` ## What is in it 3 files, 21 KB, downloaded as a zip. ```text NOTICE.md 618 B README.md 4 KB workflow.json 16 KB ``` ## Workflow check Checked by Mindket on 13 Nov 2026. Read from the workflow’s file, not from a run. - Steps: 14 steps, starting by hand or when another workflow calls it - AI: No step calls an AI model - Sign-ins: Signs in to: pdf-services.adobe.io, a web service and Dropbox - API keys: No API key is left in the file - Step types: Mindket’s checker reads all 8 of its step types ## Get it - [Get it on your Mindket account](https://account.mindket.com/account/?product=mindket#/market/f40002e5-73c5-4bd0-ac98-e5ee4a9c2715) - [Its page on Mindket](https://mindket.com/p/f40002e5-73c5-4bd0-ac98-e5ee4a9c2715)