Guide

PDF Export in Pipedream

Overview

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

Set up the action

  1. Add the PDFCrowd action to your Pipedream workflow.
  2. Connect your PDFCrowd account.
  3. Provide a publicly accessible webpage URL or HTML content. For dynamic content, insert values from previous workflow 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 workflow steps.

Open in Pipedream

Quick Start

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

Workflow Configuration
Action: Convert HTML 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 workflow steps.

Workflow Configuration
Action: Convert HTML to PDF
HTML Content: 
<html>
<body>
  <h1>Invoice #${steps.trigger.event.invoice_number}</h1>
  <p>Amount: $${steps.trigger.event.amount}</p>
  <p>Date: ${steps.trigger.event.date}</p>
</body>
</html>
Output Filename: invoice-${steps.trigger.event.invoice_number}.pdf

Use Pipedream's 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.

Workflow Configuration
Action: 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>

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:

Workflow Steps
  1. Trigger: HTTP webhook receives form submission
  2. Action: PDFCrowd - Convert HTML to PDF
    • HTML Content: Custom HTML template with form data
    • Output Filename: submission-${steps.trigger.event.id}.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 apps.

Authentication

When you add the PDFCrowd action to your workflow, Pipedream 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 "PDFCrowd" action to your workflow
  2. Click "Connect Account" when prompted
  3. Enter your PDFCrowd username and API key
  4. Click "Save" to store the connection

Once connected, Pipedream securely stores your credentials. You can manage your connections in Pipedream's Connected Accounts settings.

Error Handling

Common Errors

401 Unauthorized
Invalid username or API key. Reconnect your PDFCrowd account in Pipedream.
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 workflow or add a delay between requests.

See status codes reference for details.

Debugging

  • Check your workflow'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 Pipedream's Connected Accounts 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

Pipedream Reference

Refer for details to the Pipedream Reference.