PDFShift + FlowMattic
Generate PDFs from HTML or webpages directly inside your FlowMattic workflows with PDFShift. Connect it in minutes with the API Module, or build a reusable Custom App.
Option 1: Use the API Module
This is the quickest way to get started. FlowMattic’s API module can send POST requests to any external REST API, including PDFShift.
1. Get your PDFShift API key
Create a PDFShift account and copy your API key from the dashboard. PDFShift authenticates requests using the HTTP header:
Register for Free2. Add an API action to FlowMattic
Open your FlowMattic workflow, add a new action, and select:
Set the endpoint to:
3. Configure the headers
Add:
Your PDFShift API key should be treated as a secret and never exposed to visitors on your WordPress site.
4. Configure the request body
PDFShift requires a source, which can contain either HTML or a URL. For example:
{
"source": "<html><body><h1>Hello from FlowMattic!</h1></body></html>",
"filename": "flowmattic-document"
} Using filename tells PDFShift to temporarily store the generated document and return a JSON response containing its URL instead of the raw PDF binary, which makes the response particularly easy to use in FlowMattic.
5. Use dynamic FlowMattic data
The HTML doesn’t need to be static. Map values from previous workflow steps into your HTML. For example, a WooCommerce workflow could generate:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
padding: 40px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Order #1234</h1>
<p>Customer: Jane Doe</p>
<p>Total: $149.00</p>
</body>
</html>The order number, customer name, total, products, address, and other information can all come from previous FlowMattic steps. Your workflow might look like:
6. Get the generated PDF URL
When filename is supplied, PDFShift returns JSON containing information about the conversion, including a URL for the generated document. Map the returned url field into subsequent FlowMattic actions:
PDFShift keeps files generated using filename for two days before automatically deleting them. If the document must remain available permanently, copy it to your own storage.
Generate a PDF from a webpage
PDFShift can also convert an existing webpage. Instead of passing HTML, simply pass its URL:
PDFShift will load the page and convert it to PDF. This is useful for workflows involving WordPress posts, WooCommerce pages, reports, dashboards, or other dynamically generated webpages.
Customize the PDF
You can add PDFShift options directly to the JSON payload. For example:
{
"source": "<html>...</html>",
"filename": "customer-report",
"landscape": true,
"use_print": true,
"delay": 1000
}PDFShift also supports options such as page formats, margins, headers and footers, custom CSS, JavaScript, watermarks, cookies, HTTP headers, authentication, delayed rendering, webhooks, and sandbox conversions. These values can also be populated dynamically from previous FlowMattic workflow steps.
Option 2: Create a Custom App
If you use PDFShift frequently, a FlowMattic Custom App gives you a cleaner integration. Instead of configuring an API request each time, PDFShift appears as its own app inside the workflow builder. Custom Apps support REST APIs and API-key authentication.
Create an app named PDFShift and configure authentication as:
Then create a Generate PDF action using:
The action can expose fields such as:
- Source
- Filename
- Landscape
- Use print CSS
- Delay
- Page format
- Margin
- Header
- Footer
- Sandbox
The workflow editor can then display:
rather than requiring users to manually configure an HTTP request.
Import PDFShift’s OpenAPI specification
FlowMattic can also generate Custom Apps from OpenAPI specifications. PDFShift provides one, so you can import it instead of defining every endpoint manually:
This can give you actions such as:
After importing the specification, review the generated actions and keep only the endpoints and parameters you want to expose. For most users, starting with just Generate PDF is sufficient.
Example Workflows
Generate a WooCommerce invoice
A simple FlowMattic workflow could be:
WooCommerce: Order Created
↓
Build invoice HTML
↓
PDFShift: Generate PDF
↓
Email: Send invoice to customerThe invoice HTML can include dynamic WooCommerce values such as:
- Order number
- Customer
- Billing address
- Products
- Quantity
- Price
- Taxes
- Total
Every WooCommerce order can therefore generate its own PDF automatically.
Turn form submissions into PDFs
You can also use PDFShift with Gravity Forms, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, Contact Form 7, or other form integrations. For example:
Gravity Forms
Form Submitted
↓
Create HTML report
↓
PDFShift Generate PDF
↓
Google Drive
Save document
↓
Email: Send PDF linkEach form submission produces its own personalized PDF.
PDF URLs are temporary
When using the filename parameter, PDFShift temporarily stores the generated document and returns a URL that is automatically deleted after two days. For permanent storage, save the document to WordPress, Google Drive, Amazon S3, or another service as part of your FlowMattic workflow. If you don’t want PDFShift to store the document at all, omit filename and PDFShift returns the PDF directly.