> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://parabola.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Email a PDF file
> Generate a formatted PDF from your data and email it to a fixed list of recipients.
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](/docs/product/integration/email-attachment) to send a CSV or Excel file.
* You need to send a separate email per row — use [Send emails by row](/docs/product/integration/send-emails).
## Setup
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
## Design the PDF
| Setting | What it does |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Document title** | Large title at the top of page 1. |
| **Header — left / right column** | Header lines on page 1, one per row. Adding right-column lines creates a two-column header. |
| **Logo** | A PNG/JPG image at the top of the document; position left, center, or right. |
| **Footer** | Lines rendered below the table. |
| **Signature** | Text rendered in a script font near the bottom of the document. |
| **Footer image** | A second image (such as a signature graphic); position left, center, or right. |
| **Max lines per cell** | Caps how many wrapped lines a cell shows before truncating with an ellipsis. *No limit* by default. |
| **Shade the header row** | Adds a light background tint to the table's header row. On by default. |
| **Page orientation** | Portrait or Landscape. |
| **Page size** | US Letter or A4. |
## 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.
## 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.
## 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.
## Related steps
Send your data as a CSV or Excel attachment instead of a formatted PDF.
Send a separate, personalized email for each row of your data.