PDF Creation and emailing from Airtable Automations

Yes - the approach you use will depend on the reporting requirements. Here’s a related post -

This is possible with Airtable automations, but probably not a as straightforward as you would like, and possibly requires multiple steps.

Step 1: Create a pdf file with field data.

Airtable automations cannot do this directly. However, you can use a script that gets the field values and then sends the data to a 3rd party service to create a pdf file.

Step 2. Where to put the pdf file

Some pdf creation services will send the actual pdf and others will provide a link to the .pdf file on their servers. If the .pdf file is on their servers, it will exist for only a limited amount of time, so you will probably need to move it to somewhere else, like in an attachment field. If the 3rd party service sends you the actual file, you will need to put the .pdf file somewhere else.

Step 3. How to send the email

If you send the email through Airtable automations, you can send either the .pdf file itself, or a link to the .pdf file. If the pdf file is stored as an attachment to the record, you can simply attach the attachment. Note that this might need to be a second automation that is triggered after the attachment is uploaded to the record.

You might also want to investigate using Zapier or Integromat if you do not feel up to writing code or do not have the budget to hire a coder.

Hi! You can automate PDF creation and emailing in Airtable using Automations and extensions like Plumsail Documents. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Install and configure the Plumsail Documents extension directly in your Airtable base to generate documents.
2. Set any action as the trigger in Automations.
3. Add an action to run a script that uses the extension to create a PDF.
4. Plumsail Documents will automatically generate the document and send it via email to the specified recipients whenever the trigger is activated, with no additional configuration needed.

Plumsail Documents supports various templates and can attach the generated document to the Airtable record. An example of how to use this extension with Automations is described in the article Create and manage documents in Airtable Interfaces and Automations.

If you're looking for a solution, Typeflow can help you quickly generate PDFs from Airtable data using Google Docs templates. It's straightforward and efficient.

Feel free to give it a try, and I'd love to hear your feedback! I'm also offering a lifetime plan for early users at just $100. Ping me if you're interested or have any questions.

Here are 4 popular solutions for generating documents from Airtable that can do what you’re looking to do:

1. DocuMint — the original document creation app for Airtable. Creates PDF files.

2. DocsAutomator — creates Google Docs documents or PDF files. 

3. Make’s integrations — which can be integrated with any document-creation app of your choosing, even something as simple as custom Microsoft Word documents.
   
   If you’ve never used Make before, I’ve assembled a bunch of Make training resources in this thread. For example, here is one way that you can instantly trigger a Make automation from Airtable.

4. Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable — which offers hundreds of features that Airtable’s forms don’t offer, such as the ability to automatically generate custom PDF files from a form submission.
   
   I show off this feature on this Airtable podcast episode:

   Using Fillout to create an eSignature approval process with PDF file creation.

Hope this helps!

If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with this or anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld