Show HN: Docverter: Convert your text content to PDF/HTML/EPUB with one REST API | Hacker News Reader

EPUB with one REST API

docverter.com

58 pointszrail27 comments

This looks like a landing page site to measure interest.

I was hoping to try it out too but it looks like the API spec isnt finalized.

Some working demos would be great, as html to pdf is quite precarious especially when it comes to reliable output given all kinds of html that can be put into this kind of convertors. Reliable url to pdf is another thing altogether.

I like the "buffer approach" (fake landing page and plans) personally, although I have never implemented it so far.

I don't feel cheated - instead I'm glad someone is verifying the usefulness of something before building it.

Life is short so I can only hope more software will be developed that way :)

I've learned over the past few years that building something without any known interest is a recipe for complete failure. I have a trail of burned out wreckage behind me to prove it.

That said, there very much is software in the works here but it's not quite ready for prime time, hence the beta invite page.

Congrats, really, for doing this.

A few months back I was a bit uncomfortable with the approach. But today it really makes sense to me, both as an implementer and a user, especially if there is at least a bit of beta in place behind.

Agreed, I don't have any problem with it ending up in a sign up screen, it's good to have a sense of interest. Sorry if it came across in any other way to the OP.

Perhaps I found this more to be an Ask instead of a show? Just thinking out loud for what I might do with my own ideas in the future here.

I think you nailed what's off about this. I don't mind landing pages, but when I see "Show HN" in the URL, I expect something already built. I don't feel cheated, but I won't be upvoting either.

I don't get why I should pay for this service. I could just download and install pandoc for free on my system. Am I missing something?

It's targeted at people using a cloud provider like Heroku or Appfog, who want to use pandoc but can't install 2-3gb of software along with their app.

Alright, that makes sense. Great idea and reasonable pricing, I wish you the best of luck with your project.

I used this for a recipe on IFTTT. It is just PDF though, but free. Seems to be similar in that regard.

http://pdfmyurl.com

A corollary to this service, on OSX and only for pdf, is to put the OS CUPS print driver to use. I've always been impressed with how well the print -> save as pdf functionality works on OS X. Recently I needed to batch it for text files and looked up the specifics. (It works for html as well, just save your sites procedurally and batch.)

/System/Library/Printers/Libraries/convert -f infile -o outfile

As stated somewhere in the comments this service is probably aimed at people on remote machines, but the above has been a handy trick for my local life.

I'm sure equivalents exist on Windows (PDFcreator comes to mind) and Linux.

The OS X Save as PDF feature is amazing. I use it many times every day and I never have messy random files laying around. It has never, ever failed me.

Nice :), though I would consider making your $5 tier free, in order to encourage developer adoption.

Even though $5 isn't much, it's a bit more friction in the decision making process.

would you consider having a discounted version for educational accounts? As a grad student I would find this immensely useful, but I couldn't necessarily afford it/justify the extra expense.

e.g. Prezi give 2nd tier accounts to academic email addresses for 1st tier price (free).

obviously, it seems fair to wait until the system has a good revenue stream before adding this kind of discount...

I would definitely consider it. Go ahead and sign up for a beta invite and I'll add it to the todo list.

Thanks, have done.

Just FYI, I didn't even click on the pricing buttons to see that there was even a beta! Brain got to the 'it costs $5 per month' stage and went 'awwwww...'

You could always install pandoc locally. It's free, and it's the same software docverter is using. (For PDF output, you'd also need to install texlive, but that too is free.)

Would be nice to have a demo example thing. I have had problems with bad formatting results for these things before and don't want to sign up if I am not sure it will work. Even something like the samples at http://htmltolatex.sourceforge.net/ would be nice

Fair point. I'll have a demo and some samples up soon.

> And when you outgrow it, we'll grow with you. Automatically.

Does this mean that when you exceed your quota, Docverter starts charging you more without your permission?

Great question. Docverter will charge you the smaller of 1) your selected payment plan, 2) your payment plan + the additional per document charge * the number of additional documents, or 3) the next payment plan up. Does that sound fair, or do you think it would be better to get cut off? Maybe a toggle switch in account settings?

The smallest would always be #1. You probably meant to only say 2 and 3. I think a toggle switch would be a good idea. That's how most services allow you to control your spending.

Yep, you're right. Toggle switch and cost control options are now on the todo list. Thanks!

Kinda unrelated but, thats a nice customised boostrap, did you do that yourself or use something pre-made?

Thanks. It's a slightly customized pre-made theme off of bootswatch[1]

[1]: http://bootswatch.com/spacelab/

Looks interesting. Is there a limit on document size?

There isn't one right now but I may put one in depending on usage patterns.

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