Top 5 Workflows to Automate PDF Report Generation

Workflow 1: Create a Pipedrive New Deal Report

This workflow generates a PDF whenever a new deal is created in Pipedrive.

Step 1: Configure the Pipedrive Trigger

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Select Pipedrive as the trigger app.
3. Choose New Deal as the Trigger Event.
4. Connect your Pipedrive account.
5. Test the trigger and retrieve a recent deal.

Confirm that the test record contains the information needed for the report, such as:

• Deal title
• Deal value and currency
• Contact person
• Organization
• Deal owner
• Pipeline stage
• Expected close date

If no test data is available, create a sample deal in Pipedrive and test again.

Step 2: Add PDF.co

1. Add an action after the Pipedrive trigger.
2. Select PDF.co.
3. Choose HTML to PDF.
4. Connect your PDF.co account through OAuth.

Step 3: Create the Report

In HTML or URL Input, enter an HTML report layout and insert the appropriate Pipedrive fields.

For example:

<h1>New Deal Report</h1>
<p><strong>Deal:</strong> [Map the Pipedrive deal title]</p>
<p><strong>Organization:</strong> [Map the organization]</p>
<p><strong>Contact:</strong> [Map the contact person]</p>
<p><strong>Value:</strong> [Map the value and currency]</p>
<p><strong>Owner:</strong> [Map the deal owner]</p>
<p><strong>Expected Close:</strong> [Map the expected close date]</p>

You can also configure the page size, orientation, margins, and output filename.

Use a meaningful filename such as the deal title followed by .pdf.

Step 4: Test and Save the Report

Test the PDF.co action and open the returned URL to review the report.

The PDF.co output URL is temporary. Add a Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or other storage action if the report must be retained permanently.

Workflow 2: Generate a Report from monday.com Data

This workflow creates a PDF when a new item is added to a specified monday.com board.

Step 1: Configure the monday.com Trigger

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Select monday.com as the trigger app.
3. Choose New Item in Board as the Trigger Event.
4. Connect your monday.com account.
5. Select the board to monitor.
6. Test the trigger and retrieve a recent item.

The older New User trigger should not be used for this workflow because it does not supply report data from a board item.

Step 2: Create the PDF Report

1. Add PDF.co as the action app.
2. Select HTML to PDF.
3. Connect PDF.co through OAuth.
4. Enter an HTML report layout in HTML or URL Input.
5. Map the desired monday.com values into the HTML.

Depending on the board, the report could include:

• Item name
• Item ID
• Status
• Owner
• Priority
• Start and due dates
• Budget
• Project notes

Enter a descriptive output filename and configure the desired page settings.

Step 3: Test the Workflow

Test the PDF.co action and verify that the monday.com values appear correctly in the PDF.

Add another action if the report should be stored, emailed, or attached to a monday.com item.

Workflow 3: Create PDF Reports from Airtable Records

This workflow creates a PDF whenever a qualifying record is added to Airtable.

Step 1: Configure the Airtable Trigger

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Select Airtable.
3. Choose New Record as the Trigger Event.
4. Connect your Airtable account.
5. Select the appropriate Base and Table.
6. Optionally select a view under Limit to View.

Limiting the trigger to a view is useful when reports should only be created for approved or completed records.

Only enable attachment-content retrieval if the workflow requires the contents of Airtable attachments.

Step 2: Test the Trigger

Test the Airtable trigger and confirm that Zapier retrieves a representative record with all required fields.

Step 3: Generate the PDF

1. Add a PDF.co action.
2. Select HTML to PDF.
3. Connect PDF.co through OAuth.
4. Enter raw HTML in HTML or URL Input, or select a PDF.co HTML Template ID.
5. Map the Airtable fields into the report.
6. Configure the page size, orientation, margins, and output filename.

When using a saved PDF.co template, supply the mapped Airtable values through HTML Template Data in JSON or CSV format.

Step 4: Test and Store the Result

Test the PDF.co action and review the returned PDF.

Add a storage or delivery action if the report should be:

• Uploaded to cloud storage.
• Added to an Airtable attachment field.
• Sent by email.
• Passed to another approval or document-management system.

Workflow 4: Create and Analyze a Google Sheets Report

This workflow creates a PDF report from a Google Sheets row, extracts its text, asks ChatGPT to analyze it, creates a second PDF containing the analysis, and emails the resulting documents.

The intermediate report PDF is retained because recipients may want both the source report and the generated analysis.

Step 1: Configure the Google Sheets Trigger

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Select Google Sheets.
3. Choose New or Updated Spreadsheet Row as the Trigger Event.
4. Select the spreadsheet and worksheet.
5. If requested, choose a trigger column.
6. Test the trigger and retrieve a representative row.

Keep the spreadsheet’s header structure stable after configuring the Zap because changing columns can affect mapped fields.

Step 2: Generate the Source Report PDF

1. Add PDF.co.
2. Select HTML to PDF.
3. Connect PDF.co through OAuth.
4. Create an HTML report and map the spreadsheet values into it.
5. Enter an output filename.
6. Test the action and review the PDF.

At this stage, the workflow has produced the intermediate report PDF. You may add a storage step here if this report should be retained independently of the analysis.

Step 3: Extract Text from the Report

Add another PDF.co action that converts or extracts the generated PDF into text.

Use the source-report URL from the preceding PDF.co step as the input. Test the action and confirm that the report text is returned or made available through an output file.

This automated extraction replaces the older instruction to manually open the PDF and copy its contents.

Step 4: Analyze the Report

Add the current ChatGPT or OpenAI text-generation action available in Zapier.

Provide clear instructions and map the extracted report text into the prompt. For example:

Analyze the following customer report.

Summarize the most important results, identify unusual changes or risks,
and provide three recommended follow-up actions. Distinguish facts from
inferences and do not invent missing values.

Customer context:
[Map relevant customer or account context]

Reporting period:
[Map the reporting period]

Report:
[Map the text extracted from the PDF]

If the workflow is dedicated to one customer, include stable customer context that improves the analysis.

Only use a conversation or memory key when continuity between separate runs is genuinely required. In that case, use a stable, unique customer identifier. For independent reports, omit conversational memory so information from an earlier report does not influence the next one.

Review AI-generated analysis before using it for financial, legal, medical, compliance, or other high-impact decisions.

Step 5: Convert the Analysis to PDF

1. Add another PDF.co HTML to PDF action.
2. Place the generated analysis into a simple HTML layout.
3. Include the customer name, report period, and analysis heading.
4. Enter a clear output filename.
5. Test the action and review the analysis PDF.

Step 6: Send the Reports by Email

Add a Gmail or other email action.

Configure the recipient, subject, and message, then attach:

• The intermediate PDF report generated from Google Sheets.
• The PDF containing the ChatGPT analysis.

Test the action with an authorized recipient before turning on the Zap.

Workflow 5: Generate a PDF Report from Salesforce Data

This workflow creates a PDF whenever a new Salesforce record is created.

Step 1: Configure the Salesforce Trigger

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Select Salesforce as the trigger app.
3. Choose New Record.
4. Select the Salesforce object to monitor, such as:
   • Lead
   • Opportunity
   • Contact
   • Account
5. Connect your Salesforce account.
6. Test the trigger and retrieve a recent record.

If the workflow only handles leads, the dedicated New Lead trigger can also be used.

Step 2: Add PDF.co

1. Add PDF.co as the action app.
2. Select HTML to PDF.
3. Connect your PDF.co account through OAuth.

Step 3: Configure the Report

Enter an HTML report layout and map the Salesforce fields into it.

For a lead report, you might include:

• Lead name
• Company
• Email and phone number
• Lead source
• Lead owner
• Status
• Industry
• Estimated value
• Notes

Enter an appropriate filename and configure the page settings.

Step 4: Test and Save the Report

Test the PDF.co action and review the generated PDF.

Add another action to save the report, email it, or attach it to the corresponding Salesforce record.