Use this step to turn your data into a clean, formatted PDF (a report, invoice, packing list, or certificate of analysis) and email it as an attachment to up to 10 recipients. The subject, body, and every text field on the document support merge tags for personalization.
- You want to send the raw data as a spreadsheet rather than a formatted document. Use Email a file attachment to send a CSV or Excel file.
- You need to send a separate email per row. Use Send emails by row.
Setup
1
Add the step to your Flow
Connect Email a PDF file to the data you want to turn into a document. It takes a single input, and the rows in that input become the table in your PDF.
2
Design the document and the email
Use the controls on the left to lay out the PDF and write the message that carries it. They’re grouped into PDF formatting and Email formatting. See Settings for what each one does.Recipients, Subject, and Body are required. Everything else has a sensible default.
3
Check the preview
Open the Preview tab, where the step opens by default, to see the exact email and document that will go out. Run the step (or the step before it) to populate it.
4
Publish and run
Like other export steps, the email only sends when your Flow runs, not while you’re editing in the builder. Publish your Flow and run it manually, on a schedule, or with a trigger to send the PDF.
Use merge tags
Every text field on the step supports merge tags. Wrap a column name in{ } to merge its value into that field, for example {Region} or {Approved by}. Merge tags pull from the first row of your data, so they’re ideal for values that are the same across the whole document, like a customer name, report date, or region.
Merge tags work in the document title, headers, footer, signature, subject, and body.
If a merge tag references a column that doesn’t exist (for example, a typo like {Custmer}), the step reports an error instead of sending, so a mistake never ships a broken document.
Settings
The step’s controls are grouped into two sections. Fields marked with{ } accept merge tags. Wrap a column name in braces to pull its value from the first row, for example {Region}.
PDF formatting
Email formatting
Preview
The Preview tab is where the step opens. It renders the actual email that goes out, template and all, updating live as you edit so you can confirm both the message and the document before publishing. For large datasets, the preview shows the first 1,000 rows to stay responsive. The emailed PDF always contains all of your data. Email a file attachment and Send emails by row have the same preview.Security
Generated PDFs and any uploaded images are stored in Amazon S3 and transmitted over encrypted (SSL/TLS) connections. Email is delivered through our transactional email provider. Prowork sends fromteam@parabolamail.com, so set Reply-To if you want replies routed to your own address.
Limitations
- Recipients: up to 10 per send. The same PDF is sent to each recipient.
- Maximum email size: 30 MB, including the attachment.
- Maximum PDF size: 20 MB. Very large datasets or images can exceed this. Trim rows, reduce image sizes, or split the data if you hit the cap.
- Images: PNG or JPG only, up to 5 MB each.
- One input: the step accepts a single input and builds one document from it.
- Merge tags use the first row of your data only.
- No data, no email: if the input has zero rows, nothing is sent.
- Email body format: the body takes either HTML or Text. Text is the default and shows any markup literally. Switch to HTML to send the body as markup.
- Emails send only when the Flow runs, not while you’re editing in the builder.
Related steps
Email a file attachment
Send your data as a CSV or Excel attachment instead of a formatted PDF.
Send emails by row
Send a separate, personalized email for each row of your data.