Guide

PDF Export in Appy Pie

Overview

PDF Export by PDFCrowd converts webpage URLs or HTML content to PDF in Appy Pie Automate workflows. Prepare the input in your workflow and use the generated PDF in a later step.

Set up the action

  1. Add the "Export URL to PDF" action to your workflow.
  2. Connect your PDFCrowd account.
  3. Provide a publicly accessible webpage URL or HTML content from a previous step. For file inputs, use file URLs from uploads, attachments or storage services in earlier steps.
  4. Optionally set PDF options such as page size, margins, headers and footers.
  5. Use the downloadable PDF file URL in subsequent actions.

Open in Appy Pie Automate

Quick Start

The following examples show how to configure PDF Export actions in your Appy Pie Automate workflows.

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.

Automation Configuration
Action: Export URL to PDF
URL: https://your-site.example/invoice/123
Output Filename: invoice.pdf

The action outputs a file URL that you can use in subsequent steps - for example, to attach to an email or upload to cloud storage.

Example 2: Convert HTML Content to PDF

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

Automation Configuration
Action: Export URL to PDF
HTML Content: 
<html>
<body>
  <h1>Invoice #{{invoice_number}}</h1>
  <p>Amount: ${{amount}}</p>
  <p>Date: {{date}}</p>
</body>
</html>
Output Filename: invoice-{{invoice_number}}.pdf

Use Appy Pie's data mapping to insert dynamic values from trigger data or previous action outputs into your HTML template.

Example 3: Customized PDF Output

Set the page size, margins, headers and footers.

Automation Configuration
Action: Export 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 Workflow

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

Automation Steps
  1. Trigger: New form submission in Google Forms
  2. Action: Export URL to PDF
    • HTML Content: Custom HTML template with form data
    • Output Filename: submission-{{submission_id}}.pdf
  3. Action: Send Email in Gmail
    • Attachment: PDF file from step 2

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

Authentication

When you add the PDF Export action to your automation, Appy Pie Automate 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 "PDF Export by PDFCrowd" action to your automation
  2. Select the "Export URL to PDF" action
  3. Click "Connect" when prompted
  4. Enter your PDFCrowd username and API key
  5. Click "Save" to store the connection

Once connected, Appy Pie Automate securely stores your credentials. You can manage your connections in Appy Pie's settings.

Error Handling

Common Errors

401 Unauthorized
Invalid username or API key. Reconnect your PDFCrowd account in Appy Pie Automate.
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. Appy Pie's auto-retry will attempt the action again automatically.

See status codes reference for details.

Debugging

  • Check your automation's History tab for error details
  • Verify field 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 Appy Pie's connection settings to manage stored credentials

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

Appy Pie Reference

Refer for details to the Appy Pie Reference.