Guide

PDF Export in Activepieces

Overview

PDF Export by PDFCrowd converts webpage URLs or HTML content to PDF in Activepieces flows. Prepare the input with no-code pieces and use the generated PDF in a later step.

Set up the piece

  1. Add the PDFCrowd piece to your Activepieces flow.
  2. Connect your PDFCrowd account.
  3. Provide a publicly accessible webpage URL or HTML content. For dynamic content, insert values from previous flow steps into your HTML template.
  4. Optionally set PDF options such as page size, margins, headers and footers.
  5. Use the PDF data in subsequent flow steps.

Open in Activepieces

Quick Start

The following examples show how to configure PDF Export actions in your Activepieces flows.

Enter your PDFCrowd username and API key in the PDFCrowd connection settings. You can run the examples without a PDFCrowd account by entering demo in both the username and API key fields.

Example 1: Convert a URL to PDF

Convert a public webpage URL to PDF. Replace the example URL with a page on your website that PDFCrowd can access.

Flow Configuration
Piece: PDFCrowd
Action: Convert a URL to PDF
URL: https://your-site.example/invoice/123
Output Filename: invoice.pdf

The action outputs PDF data that you can use in subsequent steps - for example, to attach to an email, upload to cloud storage, or send via webhook.

Example 2: Convert HTML Content to PDF

Convert HTML content directly - useful when generating PDFs from templates or data from previous flow steps.

Flow Configuration
Piece: PDFCrowd
Action: Convert an HTML to PDF
HTML Content: 
<html>
<body>
  <h1>Invoice #123</h1>
  <p>Amount: $99.00</p>
  <p>Date: 2026-03-25</p>
</body>
</html>
Output Filename: invoice-123.pdf

Use Activepieces data references to insert dynamic values from trigger data or previous step outputs into your HTML template.

Example 3: Customized PDF Output

Set the page size, margins, headers and footers.

Flow Configuration
Piece: PDFCrowd
Action: Convert a URL to PDF
URL: https://your-site.example/report
Page Size: Letter
Orientation: landscape
Margin Top: 1in
Margin Bottom: 1in
Footer HTML: 
<div style="text-align: center; font-size: 10px;">
  Page <span class="pdfcrowd-page-number"></span>
  of <span class="pdfcrowd-page-count"></span>
</div>

Access all available conversion options including headers, footers, watermarks, and advanced page setup.

Full Options Reference: For a complete list of all available conversion options, see the API Reference documentation.

Example 4: Complete Flow

A typical flow that generates a PDF and sends it via email:

Flow Steps
  1. Trigger: Webhook receives form submission
  2. Action: PDFCrowd - Convert an HTML to PDF
    • HTML Content: Custom HTML template with form data
    • Output Filename: submission.pdf
  3. Action: Gmail - Send Email
    • Attachment: PDF from step 2

The PDF output from PDFCrowd can be used directly as an attachment in email actions, uploaded to cloud storage, or processed by other pieces.

Authentication

When you add the PDFCrowd piece to your flow, Activepieces will prompt you to connect your PDFCrowd account.

Required Credentials

Username
Your PDFCrowd account username.
API Key
Your PDFCrowd API key (not your account password). To get an API key, sign up for a license.

Connecting Your Account

  1. Add the "PDFCrowd" piece to your flow
  2. Click "Connect" when prompted
  3. Enter your PDFCrowd username and API key
  4. Click "Save" to store the connection

Once connected, Activepieces securely stores your credentials. You can manage your connections in Activepieces settings.

Error Handling

Common Errors

401 Unauthorized
Invalid username or API key. Reconnect your PDFCrowd account in Activepieces.
403 Forbidden
Account suspended or insufficient credits. Check your PDFCrowd account.
400 Bad Request
Invalid field values. Ensure you provide either a URL or HTML Content.
430 Too Many Concurrent Requests
Concurrent request limit reached. Configure retry logic in your flow or add a delay between requests.

See status codes reference for details.

Debugging

  • Check your flow's execution logs for error details
  • Verify step references and data mappings are correct
  • Test URLs in the API Playground first
  • Reconnect your PDFCrowd account if authentication fails

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

  • Use your API key, not your account password
  • Reconnect your account if you have changed your API key
  • Check Activepieces settings to manage stored connections

Conversion Issues

Output differs from expected

Missing images

  • Use absolute URLs for images
  • Ensure images are publicly accessible
  • For lazy-loaded images, set Content Viewport Height

Support

Activepieces Reference

Refer for details to the Activepieces Reference.