Guide

PDF Export in Make Documentation

Overview

PDF Export by PDFCrowd provides PDF generation modules for Make scenarios. Convert a webpage URL or HTML prepared in your scenario, or use separate modules for supported Shopify data, Stripe data and raw request data.

Choose a module for your input. The quick starts below cover HTML conversion.

PDF Export in Make product overview

Choose a module

Convert HTML to PDF
Render a public webpage or HTML prepared in your scenario. Use this module when you supply the document layout. See the Make HTML-to-PDF options.
Export Shopify Data to PDF
Create PDF documents such as invoices, receipts or refunds from supported Shopify order data using supplied document layouts.
Export Stripe Data to PDF
Create PDF documents from supported Stripe billing data using supplied document layouts.
Raw Request Data to PDF
Keep a readable PDF record of incoming request data for archiving or troubleshooting. Use HTML conversion for a designed report.

Retrieve and prepare the data in earlier Make modules before conversion. For the underlying Shopify/Stripe document model, see the invoice data adapters.

Quick Start

The following examples demonstrate how to use the PDF Export by PDFCrowd app to convert HTML to PDF in your Make scenarios.

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.

Scenario Configuration
App: PDF Export by PDFCrowd → Convert HTML to PDF
URL: https://your-site.example/invoice/123
Output Filename: invoice.pdf

The app 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 scenario apps.

Scenario Configuration
App: PDF Export by PDFCrowd → Convert HTML 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 Make's data mapping to insert dynamic values from trigger data or previous module outputs into your HTML template. The double-braced names above are illustrative placeholders, not runnable Make mapping syntax; replace them with mapped values in the module editor.

For a report containing several records, group the records and build the complete HTML before the conversion module. PDF Export renders the HTML you send; it does not aggregate incoming bundles into a report.

Example 3: Customized PDF Output

Set the page size, margins, headers and footers.

Scenario Configuration
App: PDF Export by PDFCrowd → Convert HTML 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>

Expand the app settings to 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 Make HTML-to-PDF options documentation.

Example 4: Complete Workflow

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

Scenario Steps
  1. Trigger: New form submission in Google Forms
  2. App: PDF Export by PDFCrowd → Convert HTML to PDF
    • HTML Content: Custom HTML template with form data
    • Output Filename: submission-{{submission_id}}.pdf
  3. App: Gmail → Send an Email
    • Attachment: PDF file from step 2

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

Authentication

Connecting Your PDFCrowd Account

PDF Export requires your PDFCrowd API credentials to authenticate. When you add the app to your scenario for the first time, Make will prompt you to connect your PDFCrowd account.

Required Credentials

Username
Your PDFCrowd username - the same username you use to log in to your PDFCrowd account.
API Key
Your PDFCrowd API key (not your account password). To get your API key, choose a license plan that includes API access.

Security Notes

  • Your API key is stored securely by Make.
  • You can regenerate your API key anytime from your PDFCrowd account if needed.
  • Each Make connection to PDFCrowd counts against your API usage limits.

Error Handling

When a conversion fails in your scenario, Make will show an error message from PDFCrowd explaining what went wrong.

Common Errors

401 Unauthorized
Invalid username or API key. Verify your credentials in the PDFCrowd connection settings within Make. Make sure you're using your API key, not your account password.
403 Forbidden
Service suspended or insufficient credits. Check your PDFCrowd account for credit balance and account status.
430 Too Many Concurrent Requests
Too many simultaneous conversions. Your plan has a limit on concurrent requests. Wait for current conversions to complete or upgrade your plan.

For more information on status codes, see our status codes reference.

Debugging Tips

  • Test URLs manually: Before using in a scenario, test your URL in our API Playground to verify it converts correctly.
  • Check scenario history: Make's execution history shows detailed error messages and the exact input values used.
  • Simplify first: Start with minimal options and add customizations one at a time to identify problematic settings.

Error Handling in Make

Make provides built-in error handling options for your scenarios:

  • Error handlers: Add error handler routes to manage failures gracefully.
  • Retry: Configure automatic retries for transient failures.
  • Break: Stop execution on errors with the Break directive.
  • Resume: Continue execution from where it failed after fixing issues.
  • Rollback: Undo completed operations if later apps fail.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions when using PDFCrowd with Make (formerly Integromat).

Connection Issues

  • Verify you're using your API key, not your account password
  • If you changed your API key in PDFCrowd, reconnect in Make with the new key
  • Try regenerating your API key and reconnecting

Conversion Issues

PDF looks different than expected

  • Missing styles: The page may rely on styles that don't load during conversion. Try the Content Viewport Width option to adjust rendering width.
  • Dynamic content: JavaScript-generated content may not render. Use the Wait For Element or Javascript Delay options to allow content to load.
  • Login required: Pages behind authentication require cookies to be set. Use the Cookies option to pass session cookies.

Images not appearing

  • Ensure images use absolute URLs (not relative paths)
  • Check that images are publicly accessible
  • Some images may be lazy-loaded - use Content Viewport Height set to large

Conversion is slow

  • Large pages with many images take longer to process
  • Pages with heavy JavaScript may need time to render
  • Consider using simpler HTML templates for faster conversion

Output Issues

Can't use PDF file in next app

The PDFCrowd app outputs a temporary file URL. Some Make apps may have limitations on accepting file URLs. In such cases:

  • Use an HTTP app to download the file content first
  • Check if the destination app supports file URLs directly

File name incorrect

Set the Output Filename field to customize the PDF filename. You can use Make's data mapping to create dynamic filenames.

Getting Help

Make Reference

Refer to the Make HTML-to-PDF options for the Convert HTML to PDF module. The data-specific modules have their own settings.