Does Create PDF support tables, images, or other rich formatting in the content field?

The source schema defines content as a plain string and does not document which formatting is rendered. Test your content — including tables, headings, and any other elements you need — in a non-production automation before deploying.

Can I control the page size or margins of the generated PDF, or convert HTML to a PDF?

Create PDF (Files by UnifyApps) does not expose layout configuration options and does not accept HTML input. If you need HTML/CSS-based layouts, precise page geometry, or embedded styling, use the Convert HTML to PDF action in the Utility by UnifyApps node instead — it can render via a headless browser (Playwright) for higher-fidelity output.

How do I add a cover page to a generated report?

Create the cover page as a separate PDF (either from another Create PDF call or from a static file in Storage), then use the Merge PDF Files action (PDF by UnifyApps) to combine the cover and the report in the desired order.

The Create a PDF file action generates a PDF document from text content your automation builds. Use it to produce formatted reports, summaries, or output documents from data assembled during a run — without an external tool.

Note: Create PDF is an action of the Files by UnifyApps node, not PDF by UnifyApps. Look for "Create a PDF file" under Files by UnifyApps in the builder.

Overview

Create PDF converts a text string into a PDF file. The input is text your automation assembles — combining data from Storage, variables, or connector outputs — and the output is a PDF file that downstream steps can save, send as an attachment, or pass to other PDF operations such as Merge PDF Files. This is the primary way to generate a new PDF document entirely within an automation. It creates a PDF from text content only — converting HTML to a PDF is a separate capability, handled by the Convert HTML to PDF action in the Utility by UnifyApps node.

Files by UnifyApps Create PDF configuration

Input

Parameter	Required	Description
content	Yes	The text content to convert into a PDF. Build this string in earlier steps of the automation using data pills, variables, or string concatenation.
fileName	No	Name of the PDF file to create (for example, myFile.pdf). If left blank, a default name is generated automatically.

Files by UnifyApps Create PDF Input tab with content field configured

Output

Returns a fileDetails object for the generated PDF:

Field	Description
fileDetails.name	Name of the generated file.
fileDetails.source	Reference to the generated file's content.
fileDetails.sourceType	Type of the source reference.
fileDetails.fileType	File type of the generated file.
fileDetails.size	Size of the generated file.

The resulting file can be:

Written to Storage for later retrieval.
Passed to the Merge PDF Files action (PDF by UnifyApps) to combine it with other documents.
Sent as an email attachment or uploaded via a connector.
Passed to the Read Text from PDF action (PDF by UnifyApps) to extract its text layer immediately after creation.

Files by UnifyApps Create PDF Output tab showing generated fileDetails

Notes

Keep the following in mind when using Create PDF.

Create PDF (Files by UnifyApps) generates a PDF from text content; it does not accept HTML. To convert HTML to a PDF, use the Convert HTML to PDF action in the Utility by UnifyApps node instead.
Build the content string in earlier automation steps — combining variables, Storage values, and connector outputs — before passing the assembled string to this action.
The PDF's visual formatting depends on how the action renders the text content. Test your content with representative data in a non-production automation before relying on the output layout in production.
The fileName field is optional — if left blank, a default name is generated automatically.
The resulting file can be passed directly to Merge PDF Files (PDF by UnifyApps) — for example, to prepend a generated report to a cover page.

For complex layouts (multi-column, precise positioning, embedded images from dynamic URLs), use the Convert HTML to PDF action in the Utility by UnifyApps node, which renders HTML/CSS directly to a PDF.