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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.
The Email a PDF file step builds a single, print-ready PDF from the data flowing into it and emails that one document to a fixed list of recipients. You design the layout — title, headers, footer, logo, signature, page size — and Parabola renders your rows into a formatted table. Reach for a different step if:
  • 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.

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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

Use the controls on the left to lay out your PDF:
  1. Document title — a large title at the top of the first page (e.g. Weekly Report).
  2. Header — left column and Header — right column — one line per row, often used for an address block or report metadata. Adding right-column lines turns it into a two-column header.
  3. Logo — upload a PNG or JPG and choose whether it sits on the left, center, or right.
  4. Footer and Signature — footer lines render below the table; the signature renders in a script font near the bottom.
  5. Footer image — optionally upload a second image (for example, a scanned signature) with its own position.
  6. Page orientation (Portrait or Landscape) and Page size (US Letter or A4).
  7. Table options — Shade the header row, set Max lines per cell to keep long values from overflowing, and Remove merge columns from the PDF to hide columns you only used for merge tags.
3

Write the email

  1. Recipients (required) — one or more email addresses, comma-separated. The same PDF is sent to everyone on the list.
  2. Subject (required) and Body (required) — both support merge tags.
  3. Reply-To (optional) — comma-separated addresses that replies should go to.
  4. Attachment file name — the name of the attached file (e.g. weekly-report). Parabola adds .pdf automatically.
4

Preview the PDF

Open the Preview tab to see the exact document Parabola will email, so you can check the layout before sending. Run the step (or the step before it) to populate the preview.
5

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.

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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.
Turn on Remove merge columns from the PDF if you used a column only to feed a merge tag and don’t want it to show up as a column in the table.
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.

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Design the PDF

SettingWhat it does
Document titleLarge title at the top of page 1.
Header — left / right columnHeader lines on page 1, one per row. Adding right-column lines creates a two-column header.
LogoA PNG/JPG image at the top of the document; position left, center, or right.
FooterLines rendered below the table.
SignatureText rendered in a script font near the bottom of the document.
Footer imageA second image (such as a signature graphic); position left, center, or right.
Max lines per cellCaps how many wrapped lines a cell shows before truncating with an ellipsis. No limit by default.
Shade the header rowAdds a light background tint to the table’s header row. On by default.
Page orientationPortrait or Landscape.
Page sizeUS Letter or A4.

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Preview

The Preview tab renders the same document the step emails, updating live as you edit so you can confirm the layout before publishing. For large datasets, the preview shows the first 50 rows to stay responsive — the emailed PDF always contains all of your data.

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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. Parabola sends from team@parabolamail.com, so set Reply-To if you want replies routed to your own address.

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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.
  • Plain-text email body: the body is plain text (line breaks are preserved). Your formatting lives in the PDF, not the email.
  • Emails send only when the Flow runs, not while you’re editing in the builder.

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.
Last modified on June 25, 2026