You can connect your PDF.co account to Zapier by adding the API Key. You can get the API Key in your PDF.co dashboard.
Automatically Create PDF Form with PDF.co and Store in Airtable using Zapier
5 Minutes Read
Are you tired of spending countless hours creating PDF forms manually only to find errors and have to start over again? Do you struggle to keep track of all the form submissions in your inbox?
PDF.co and Airtable are two powerful tools that can work together through Zapier to automate your PDF form creation and data management processes. With PDF.co, you can quickly and easily create PDF forms and customize their appearance to match your branding.
You can use Zapier to automatically send all form submissions to Airtable, a database management tool. Airtable enables you to easily filter, sort, and view your data in a variety of ways, and even create custom reports and dashboards to track your progress and gain insights into your business.
In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of generating PDF forms using PDF.co and storing them in Airtable using Zapier. So let’s get started!
Follow the simple step-by-step guide below:
Step 1: Create a Zap and Select a Trigger
Sign in to Zapier and create a new Zap. Select the app and event that should initiate PDF generation. For example, you could trigger the Zap when a form is submitted or when a new record is added to Airtable.
Test the trigger so Zapier has sample data available for later steps.
Step 2: Add the PDF.co Action
Add PDF.co as the next action and select the action for converting HTML to PDF.
Connect your PDF.co account using the API key from your PDF.co dashboard.
Step 3: Configure HTML-to-PDF Conversion
In the HTML input field, enter the HTML you want PDF.co to convert. You can include values from the Zap trigger to personalize the document.
Configure the optional page size, orientation, and margins, or leave their default values unchanged. Enter a descriptive output filename ending in .pdf.
Sample HTML Code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Multiple Forms</title>
<style>
label {
display: inline-block;
width: 120px;
text-align: right;
margin-right: 20px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
input[type="text"],
input[type="email"],
input[type="tel"],
input[type="date"],
select,
textarea {
width: 250px;
padding: 5px;
border-radius: 5px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
box-sizing: border-box;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
input[type="file"] {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
input[type="submit"] {
background-color: #4CAF50;
color: #fff;
border: none;
border-radius: 5px;
padding: 10px 20px;
cursor: pointer;
margin-top: 20px;
}
input[type="submit"]:hover {
background-color: #3e8e41;
}
h1 {
text-align: center;
}
form {
width: 600px;
margin: 0 auto;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form action="submit-application.php" method=”post”>
<h2>Application Form</h2>
<label for=”name”>Name:</label>
<input type=”text” id=”name” name=”name”><!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Multiple Forms</title>
<style>
label {
display: inline-block;
width: 120px;
text-align: right;
margin-right: 20px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
input[type="text"],
input[type="email"],
input[type="tel"],
input[type="date"],
select,
textarea {
width: 250px;
padding: 5px;
border-radius: 5px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
box-sizing: border-box;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
input[type="file"] {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
input[type="submit"] {
background-color: #4CAF50;
color: #fff;
border: none;
border-radius: 5px;
padding: 10px 20px;
cursor: pointer;
margin-top: 20px;
}
input[type="submit"]:hover {
background-color: #3e8e41;
}
h1 {
text-align: center;
}
form {
width: 600px;
margin: 0 auto;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form action="submit-application.php" method="post">
<h2>Application Form</h2>
<label for="name">Name:</label>
<input type="text" id="name" name="name"><br>
<label for="email">Email:</label>
<input type="email" id="email" name="email"><br>
<label for="phone">Phone:</label>
<input type="tel" id="phone" name="phone"><br>
<label for="dob">Date of Birth:</label>
<input type="date" id="dob" name="dob"><br>
<label for="address">Address:</label>
<textarea id="address" name="address"></textarea><br>
<label for="position">Position:</label>
<select id="position" name="position">
<option value="developer">Developer</option>
<option value="designer">Designer</option>
<option value="manager">Manager</option>
</select><br>
<label for="resume">Resume:</label>
<input type="file" id="resume" name="resume"><br>
<label for="message">Message:</label>
<textarea id="message" name="message"></textarea><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit Application">
</form><br>
<label for=”email”>Email:</label>
<input type=”email” id=”email” name=”email”><br>
<label for=”phone”>Phone:</label>
<input type=”tel” id=”phone” name=”phone”><br>
<label for=”dob”>Date of Birth:</label>
<input type=”date” id=”dob” name=”dob”><br>
<label for=”address”>Address:</label>
<textarea id=”address” name=”address”></textarea><br>
<label for=”position”>Position:</label>
<select id=”position” name=”position”>
<option value=”developer”>Developer</option>
<option value=”designer”>Designer</option>
<option value=”manager”>Manager</option>
</select><br>
<label for=”resume”>Resume:</label>
<input type=”file” id=”resume” name=”resume”><br>
<label for=”message”>Message:</label>
<textarea id=”message” name=”message”></textarea><br>
<input type=”submit” value=”Submit Application”>
</form>Test the PDF.co action. A successful test returns a temporary URL for the generated PDF.
Step 4: Verify the Generated PDF
Open the URL returned by PDF.co and confirm that the document’s content, page size, margins, and filename are correct.
PDF.co output URLs are temporary, so continue by saving the file or its URL to permanent storage.
Step 5: Add Airtable
Add another action and select Airtable → Create Record. Connect your Airtable account when prompted.
Before configuring the action, create the required fields in Airtable.
Step 6: Configure the Airtable Record
Let’s set up the Airtable configuration.
- First, choose the Base that you want to work with.
- Next, select the Table where you want to add the record.
- Finally, fill out the fields in the Table with the corresponding data from PDF.co.
Step 7: Test and Publish the Zap
Test the Airtable action and confirm that:
- A new record was created in the selected table.
- The generated PDF appears in the attachment field.
- The filename and other mapped values are correct.
Once the complete workflow passes testing, publish the Zap.
This tutorial taught you how to use PDF.co to generate custom PDF forms using data from other sources. You learned how to use Airtable to store and manage data from the generated PDF forms. By following this tutorial, you can learn several valuable skills, acquire practical knowledge, and gain insights into how to improve workflow efficiency and increase productivity.
Related Tutorials
