pdf-support changedbuild-with-claude/pdf-support
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3131| Requirement | Limit |
3232| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
3333| Maximum request size | 32 MB (varies by platform; see [request size limits](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/api/overview#request-size-limits)) |
34| Maximum pages per request | 600 (100 when the request's context window is under 1M tokens) |
34| Maximum pages per request | 600 (100 when the request’s context window is under 1M tokens) |
3535| Format | Standard PDF (no passwords/encryption) |
3636
3737Both limits are on the entire request payload, including any other content sent alongside PDFs. For large PDFs, consider uploading with the [Files API](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/files) and referencing by `file_id` to keep request payloads small.
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4040 Dense PDFs (many small-font pages, complex tables, or heavy graphics) can fill the context window before reaching the page limit. Requests with large PDFs can also fail before reaching the page limit, even when using the Files API. Try splitting the document into sections; for large files, because each page is processed as an image, downsampling embedded images can also help.
4141</Tip>
4242
43Because PDF support relies on Claude's vision capabilities, it is subject to the same [limitations and considerations](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/vision#limitations) as other vision tasks.
43Because PDF support relies on Claude’s vision capabilities, it is subject to the same [limitations and considerations](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/vision#limitations) as other vision tasks.
4444
4545### Supported platforms and models
4646
47All [active models](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview) support PDF processing. For PDF support through Amazon Bedrock's Converse API, see [Amazon Bedrock PDF support](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/pdf-support#amazon-bedrock-pdf-support).
47All [active models](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview) support PDF processing. For PDF support through Amazon Bedrock’s Converse API, see [Amazon Bedrock PDF support](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/pdf-support#amazon-bedrock-pdf-support).
4848
4949### Amazon Bedrock PDF support
5050
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5151When using PDF support through the Converse API, part of [Claude on Amazon Bedrock (Opus 4.6 and earlier)](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/claude-on-amazon-bedrock-legacy), there are two distinct document processing modes:
5252
5353<Note>
54 **Important:** To access Claude's full visual PDF understanding capabilities in the Converse API, you must enable citations. Without citations enabled, the API falls back to basic text extraction only. Learn more about [working with citations](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/citations).
54 **Important:** To access Claude’s full visual PDF understanding capabilities in the Converse API, you must enable citations. Without citations enabled, the API falls back to basic text extraction only. Learn more about [working with citations](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/citations).
5555</Note>
5656
5757#### Document processing modes
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7878
7979#### Common issues
8080
81If Claude isn't seeing images or charts in your PDFs when using the Converse API, you likely need to enable the citations flag. Without it, Converse falls back to basic text extraction only.
81If Claude isn’t seeing images or charts in your PDFs when using the Converse API, you likely need to enable the citations flag. Without it, Converse falls back to basic text extraction only.
8282
8383<Note>
8484 This is a known constraint with the Converse API. For applications that require visual PDF analysis without citations, consider using the InvokeModel API instead.
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347347 ```
348348</CodeGroup>
349349
350The response returns Claude's analysis as text blocks in `content`, with token consumption in `usage`:
350The response returns Claude’s analysis as text blocks in `content`, with token consumption in `usage`:
351351
352352```json Output
353353{
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371371
372372#### Option 2: Base64-encoded PDF document
373373
374If you need to send PDFs from your local system or when a URL isn't available:
374If you need to send PDFs from your local system or when a URL isn’t available:
375375
376376<CodeGroup>
377377 ```bash cURL
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712712
713713#### Option 3: Files API
714714
715For PDFs you'll use repeatedly, or when you want to avoid encoding overhead, use the [Files API](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/files):
715For PDFs you’ll use repeatedly, or when you want to avoid encoding overhead, use the [Files API](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/files):
716716
717717<CodeGroup>
718718 ```bash cURL
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10201020<Steps>
10211021 <Step title="The system extracts the contents of the document.">
10221022 * The system converts each page of the document into an image.
1023 * The text from each page is extracted and provided alongside each page's image.
1023 * The text from each page is extracted and provided alongside each page’s image.
10241024 </Step>
10251025
10261026 <Step title="Claude analyzes both the text and images.">
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10281028 * This allows users to ask for insights on visual elements of a PDF, such as charts, diagrams, and other non-textual content.
10291029 </Step>
10301030
1031 <Step title="Claude responds, referencing the PDF's contents if relevant.">
1031 <Step title="Claude responds, referencing the PDF’s contents if relevant.">
10321032 Claude can reference both textual and visual content when it responds. You can further improve performance by integrating PDF support with:
10331033
10341034 * [Use prompt caching](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/pdf-support#use-prompt-caching): To improve performance for repeated analysis.
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19771977
19781978<CardGroup cols={2}>
19791979 <Card title="Vision" icon="image" href="https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/vision">
1980 Claude's vision capabilities allow it to process and analyze images, opening up exciting possibilities for multimodal interaction.
1980 Claude’s vision capabilities allow it to process and analyze images, opening up exciting possibilities for multimodal interaction.
19811981 </Card>
19821982
19831983 <Card title="Try PDF examples" icon="file" href="https://platform.claude.com/cookbook/multimodal-getting-started-with-vision">
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