Discover Instant JSON for efficient annotation management

PSPDFKit Processor has been deprecated and replaced by Document Engine. To migrate to Document Engine and unlock advanced document processing capabilities, refer to our migration guide. Learn more about these enhancements on our blog.

Instant JSON is a format we created for bringing annotations and bookmarks into a modern format while keeping all important properties to make the Instant JSON spec work with PDF. The format is fully documented and can be converted to XFDF to make it interoperable.

It’s designed for synchronizing annotations to a server, and across users, devices, or sessions. It can be used without licensing Nutrient Instant or Document Engine.

Key capabilities

Annotation diff – Built-in support for comparing changes
Deleted annotations – Can store deleted annotations, unlike XFDF
Minimal syntax – Features an intuitive and comprehensive structure
Compact file size – Faster loading, less storage and network transfer

Guides for Instant JSON

How it works
Learn how Instant JSON files are applied to documents

Annotations schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for annotations

File attachments schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for file attachments

Form field values schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for form field values

Form fields schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for form fields

Bookmarks schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for bookmarks

Actions schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for actions

Comments schema
Learn about the Instant JSON schema used for comments

Reference for Instant JSON

For complete description of the Instant JSON format, refer to the Instant JSON reference guide.