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Zapier Tutorial: Create & Send a PDF
Zapier Tutorial: Create & Send a PDF

Ever wanted to send a generated PDF with dynamic data?

Zachary avatar
Written by Zachary
Updated over a week ago

Zapier is a service that acts as a hub spoke centerpiece which sits between LeadSimple and thousands of other services allowing them to freely communicate with one another. View LeadSimple actions and triggers here.

Creating a PDF with dynamic data from LeadSimple with Zapier is easy! 

Use Cases

  • Deal is closed and you want to generate & send a management agreement.

  • Tenant application comes in and you want to automatically generate & send a document to them.

  • Send Realtor Referral brochure with dynamic data from the LeadSimple deal like their name etc.

  • Any other possible reason you want to generate & send a PDF :)

How it works:

  • Sign up for a Zapier account (if you haven't already)

  • Create a Zap

  • Set up a trigger for when a Lead/Deal is created in LeadSimple

  • Add an action to create a Google Docs document from a template

  • Search for the generated document

  • Add an action to generate a PDF from the Google Docs file using Google Cloud Print

  • Search to locate the PDF file using Google Drive

  • Send an email (or do anything you want with the PDF)

Clear as mud? Yep, that's what I thought ;). Continue reading for step by step instructions with screenshots.

Creating a Zap in Zapier

Zapier is a tool to connect thousands of different apps. All of these apps have actions, like a lead being created in LeadSimple, that can be set up to trigger an action in another app, like sending an email from your Gmail account.

Log into Zapier or create an account, then click the orange "Make a Zap" button.

Trigger: Lead Created in LeadSimple

Now you need to link your LeadSimple account with Zapier. 

If you're using Zapier for the first time, you'll need to get your LeadSimple API key from "Settings > Integrations" under the Zapier Tab.

Then return to Zapier and click the "Connect an Account" button and put in your API key.

Action: Create a new document from a Google Docs template

Now you need to create your Google Docs template you plan to sue for the PDF. Login to your Google Account:

Add a step and select "Create Document from Template" as the action. Find the template you just created and customize it:

You can use any document, just make sure it has fields in it using double curly brackets {{example_field}}. When you select your Google Docs template inside Zapier, hit “Refresh Fields” at the bottom of the page, and you’ll see that all of the fields from your Google Docs template have been pulled in.

Ensure this step is successful:

Now you can check in your Google Drive to make sure the document was created successfully. 

Search: Locate the document in Google Docs

We’ve already generated the Google Docs report from the template, so that will already be in your Google Drive.

Now, we have to locate that file using the Google Docs API so we can turn it into a PDF.

First, add another step. This time, it’s a “Search” step, but you just do exactly the same thing as you did before – click “Add a Step” in the left panel, select “Action/Search”, and look for “Google Docs”.

The difference is, now you have to select “Find a Document” as the option:

Connect your Google Docs account, same as before, and proceed to setting up the "Customize File" step.

Search by the document name from step 2.

Click continue and confirm it's successful:

Action: Generate a PDF with Google Could Print

First, add another action step, just like you did before, and select Google Cloud Print as the app.

Select "Submit Print Job" as the action:

Link your Google Cloud Print profile, just as you did with Google Docs earlier.

Then configure the document you want to print. You want to select “File” option from step 3 in the required Content field. It may say “(Exists but not shown)”, and this is fine:

Send PDF from your inbox

Now the PDF has been generated! 🎉 We can grab it from Google Drive and send it from your inbox.

Search: Find the PDF with Google Drive

Add another search step, and select Google Drive:

Link your Google profile, as before.

Now, simply set the file name for Google Drive to look for as the field from step 3. I’ve also set the file type to PDF:

Action: Send the PDF via Gmail

Add another action step, and search for Gmail:

Select “Send Email” as the action.

Now set up the contents of the email. There are four fields you’ll need to worry about:

  • To

  • Subject

  • Body

  • Attachments

You can pull the Lead's email from the Lead Created Step 1 action.

Add the PDF as an attachment from Step 5.

Now to test that email. If you’ve done it right, you’ll see a screen like this, and find a new email in your inbox with the PDF attached. Nice job.

Don’t forget to give the Zap a name, and turn it “ON”!

Congratulations!! 🎉

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