Fill PDF using Zapier vs Power Automate

Create a Zap

• To begin, please log in to your Zapier account and locate the Create a Zap button.

Add PDF.co and PDF Filler Action

• Next, navigate to the action step and find the PDF.co app. From there, select the PDF Filler feature, which allows you to easily add text, images, and signatures into PDF documents, as well as fill out PDF forms.

Configure PDF.co Settings

Let’s set up the PDF Filler configuration.

• For the Source PDF field, enter the direct URL of your source file. If you’re using a file instead of a URL, you can use the PDF.co File Storage service to convert your file to URL. Please note that this URL is only for use in PDF.co processing.
• For the Text Annotations field, provide the coordinates (x and y) where you want the text to appear in the PDF document. You can use the PDF.co PDF Edit Add Helper tool to easily obtain the coordinates. Additionally, include the list of pages, font size, font name, and font color for the annotations. The PDF.co API Docs provide the correct format for adding annotations, so please refer to them for more information.
• For the Image Embeds field, specify the x and y coordinates as well as the page range where you want to add the image in the PDF document. Include the image URL. The PDF.co File Storage service can convert the image file to a URL for PDF.co processing. You can use the PDF.co PDF Edit Add Helper tool to get the coordinates.
• For Fillable Form Fields, enter the page value to specify the specific page where you want to fill out the form. Use the PDF.co PDF Edit Add Helper tool to easily retrieve the form field names and fill them out.
• In the Output PDF Name field, enter the desired name for your output PDF file.

Once you have configured the settings, you can proceed to test them in order to verify that everything has been set up correctly.

Test Step Result

• The test has been successfully completed, and PDF.co has successfully processed the request. You can now copy the resulting URL and paste it into your web browser to view the output.

Create a New Custom Flow

• To begin, access your Power Automate account and initiate the process of creating a flow.

Add a Flow Name

• Now, let’s proceed with creating a new custom flow specifically for the Fill PDF task. Ensure that you select the Manually trigger a flow type. Then, click on the Create button.

Incorporate PDF.co Connector

• Next, choose the PDF Filler function within the PDF.co custom connector. In this step, you will need to input values for its parameters, including the URL, annotation string value, image values, and form field values. These values must be entered in a specific format. For further information, please refer to the documentation. You can utilize the PDF.co PDF Edit Helper tool to conveniently obtain the coordinates of the PDF document and the field names of the form.

Create Notifications for Output

• We will proceed to generate a send email notifications for monitoring the output. Specifically, we will create an email notification that includes the subject line and embeds the output URL within the email body.

Test and Run Flow

• Let’s save the flow and begin the testing and execution process. Once the execution is successful, you can check your email notifications to view the output.