Convert AFP to PDF with One API Call

What Is AFP?

AFP — Advanced Function Presentation — is a document format developed by IBM in the 1980s for high-volume, high-fidelity batch printing on mainframe systems. Originally designed to drive industrial-grade printers at financial institutions, AFP encodes text, images, barcodes, and complex page layouts in a binary format optimized for print throughput, not digital delivery.

Despite being nearly 40 years old, AFP is still the dominant output format for banks, insurance carriers, and healthcare systems that print millions of statements, policies, and explanations of benefits every month. Mainframes are reliable — enterprises don't replace what works. But that reliability creates a problem the moment customers want digital access to those same documents.

The Problem

Enterprises have millions — sometimes billions — of AFP files locked inside legacy print pipelines. The moment a customer asks for a PDF of their 2019 bank statement, that AFP file needs to become a PDF. Fast.

Traditional solutions from vendors like Compart, Crawford Technologies, and MPI Tech were built for the same era as AFP itself. Implementations take 6–12 months. Licensing starts at $100,000 per year. Deployments are on-premises, meaning your team owns maintenance, upgrades, and scaling.

For startups and mid-market enterprises building modern digital experiences on top of legacy data, these tools are simply out of reach — in cost, time, and complexity.

The Solution: Scribo's AFP-to-PDF API

Scribo exposes AFP-to-PDF conversion as a single REST endpoint. No installation, no server maintenance, no licensing negotiation. Send an AFP file, get a PDF back — in milliseconds.

curl -X POST https://scribo-i9ld.polsia.app/api/convert \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
  -F "file=@statement.afp" \
  --output statement.pdf

The API is cloud-native, scales automatically with your volume, and is priced per conversion — not per seat or per year. Start converting in minutes, not months.

Code Examples

import fs from 'fs';
import FormData from 'form-data';
import fetch from 'node-fetch';

const convertAfpToPdf = async (inputPath, outputPath) => {
  const form = new FormData();
  form.append('file', fs.createReadStream(inputPath));

  const res = await fetch('https://scribo-i9ld.polsia.app/api/convert', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-Key': process.env.SCRIBO_API_KEY,
      ...form.getHeaders(),
    },
    body: form,
  });

  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Conversion failed: ${res.status}`);

  const buffer = await res.buffer();
  fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, buffer);
  console.log(`✓ Saved PDF to ${outputPath}`);
};

convertAfpToPdf('./statement.afp', './statement.pdf');

import requests
import os

def convert_afp_to_pdf(input_path: str, output_path: str) -> None:
    api_key = os.environ["SCRIBO_API_KEY"]

    with open(input_path, "rb") as f:
        response = requests.post(
            "https://scribo-i9ld.polsia.app/api/convert",
            headers={"X-API-Key": api_key},
            files={"file": (input_path, f, "application/octet-stream")},
            timeout=30,
        )

    response.raise_for_status()

    with open(output_path, "wb") as out:
        out.write(response.content)

    print(f"✓ Saved PDF to {output_path}")

convert_afp_to_pdf("statement.afp", "statement.pdf")

Comparison Table

How Scribo stacks up against the legacy incumbent vendors:

Try It Now

The fastest way to see Scribo in action: use the live demo with pre-loaded AFP samples. No API key required.

Get Your Free API Key

Sign up in under a minute and start converting AFP files immediately. 100 free conversions every month — no credit card required.

When you're ready to scale, paid plans start at $49/month for higher volume limits, priority processing, and dedicated support.