Customize grid view for pdf output : create multipage reports

[Tanguy_Auffret-]

Hey everyone.
When you have a large set of records, grid view with grouping / filtering / sorting is a great way to create reports and surface meaningful insights.
The problem for me, is when I have to turn this view into a PDF document that looks professional.
A- Page designer, is great for adding headers, logos etc but it doesn’t support embedding a grid view with grouped records etc… and it only works with single pages.
B- On the other hand, printing the grid view creates a very raw layout without headers or titles…

I would love to see a report designer block with the ability to customize logos, headers but also border styles and fonts for a grid view

Hope I’m not the only one wishing for this one…

[Germain_Brisson]

Indeed!
Multi-page page designer block or reports would enable so many new uses!
I vote for that!

[Olivia_Schlicht]

Tanguy_Auffret-Post1:

The problem for me, is when I have to turn this view into a PDF document that looks professional.
A- Page designer, is great for adding headers, logos etc but it doesn’t support embedding a grid view with grouped records etc… and it only works with single pages.

This is what is really limiting our small company’s full integration into Airtable! The Page Designer limitation of only printing one record per page, not being able to resize the grids is making it impossible to get what we want. We are currently using Google Sheets to create our customized pdf reports of our data, but the amount and sizing of the rows are so specific to each project, that it seems hopeless to automate from our data already inputted into Airtable.

Has anyone found a solution to this? Our recipients need attached pdfs and sometimes there’s 50+ cues (records) each with their own main headers and then group headers and we can’t print 50 (or even 25 if I “half” the printing dimensions). Printing as a pdf straight from a view is so difficult to read, impossible to create the right group headings.

Things like Formstack or Plumsail are just an added expense, and from what I hear aren’t worth the cost. Creating a Zap to Google Sheets would require the number of rows and columns to always be the same, correct? That won’t work either for us.

Do we really have to copy and paste all this data every time? If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

[LarryFlores]

Hey everyone,

For all those who are still interested in solving this problem, you might want to take a look at Plumsail Documents. The tool solves the problems of Page Designer by allowing you to create multi-page document templates in Microsoft Word, then dynamically fill them out and export them. The whole process is also fully automated.

Here is an article describing pros and cons of each tool: Airtable Page Designer Alternative

You might also find the following article useful if you decide to try the tool out:
How to auto generate contracts from Airtable data in Zapier — Plumsail Documents

Note: the solution is paid, with a one-month free trial.