Zapier generate PDF: add a Create PDF action and fill a template from any trigger

Zapier generate PDF: how the action works

To generate a PDF in Zapier, add a PDF app's action to a Zap, connect it with an API key, pick a template and map your trigger's fields to it. This page is for someone who has a Zap, or plans one, and wants a PDF built from its data.

Zapier defines a Zap as a trigger plus one or more actions: the trigger is the event that starts it, and an action is what the Zap does next. CraftMyPDF's app in Zapier is action only, so any trigger can start it. CraftMyPDF's examples are Typeform, Google Sheets, Airtable, HubSpot, Stripe and Jotform.

Set up the Create PDF action

1. In the Zap editor, select the Action step, then search for and select the app. Zapier's listing names it CraftMyPDF.com.
2. Select the event. CraftMyPDF's guide says to choose Create PDF, while Zapier's listing calls the action Generate PDF Document, so the label in your editor may differ.
3. Connect your account with the API key from the API Integration tab of your CraftMyPDF dashboard.
4. Pick the template and a payload type, then map the trigger's fields. Required fields carry an asterisk, and a value can be typed, mapped from an earlier step or chosen from a list.
5. Test the step, then click Publish to turn the Zap on. Zapier warns that testing is live and may change data in your app, and CraftMyPDF does not say whether a test uses a credit.

CraftMyPDF's Zapier app has a Create PDF action and is listed on every CraftMyPDF plan, including Free; the best PDF generator API list compares it with other tools.

Choose how the data reaches the template

A payload type is how Zapier sends data to the template. CraftMyPDF's help pages list three: Schema of Data, which it recommends and which builds input fields from the sample data in the template's Data tab; Dictionary; and JSON. The Data tab is where you paste sample JSON in the template editor, so its fields can be dragged into the layout.

JSON suits rows that repeat, such as invoice lines. CraftMyPDF's Google Sheets tutorial builds the JSON in a Code by Zapier step, and generate PDF from Google Sheets walks through it.

Use the PDF in the next step

The action's output is the generated PDF, and the next step can use it; CraftMyPDF's example attaches it to an email. CraftMyPDF's API reference gives a stored PDF link 5 minutes by default, adjustable from 1 minute to 7 days with an expiration setting, so use the file in the same Zap.

Plans and limits on both sides

CraftMyPDF lists Zapier on every plan, Free included. One PDF is one credit, and the Free plan covers 50 PDFs or images a month and 3 templates, with no credit card needed to start.

On Zapier's side, the Free plan allows two-step Zaps, one trigger and one action, and 100 tasks a month, where a task is a successful action. A Zap whose only action is the CraftMyPDF step stays within the two-step limit.

Zapier's listing does not say whether it treats the CraftMyPDF app as a premium app, which Zapier reserves for paid plans and trials. Add an email step and the Zap becomes multi-step, which Zapier lists for paid plans.

n8n and Make users have routes of their own. n8n's listing says its CraftMyPDF node is built and maintained by CraftMyPDF and verified by n8n, and CraftMyPDF n8n covers it. Make's listing labels the CraftMyPDF.com app Verified.