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Generate Your First PDF

Let's walk through creating a simple PDF from start to finish.

Step 1: Create a PDF template​

  1. Go to Manage Templates and click New Template
  2. Name your template and choose an editor:
    • Create PDF with HTML — write HTML/CSS with Jinja2 templating. Best for complex layouts and full control over styling. Supports custom JavaScript.
    • Create PDF with Visual Editor — a WYSIWYG editor similar to Microsoft Word. No coding required.
  3. Select a starter template or start from scratch, then click Create

Create a new PDF template — choose between the HTML Editor and Visual Editor, then pick a starter template

This guide uses the HTML Editor. Once your template is created, you'll see four tabs in the editor along with a live preview panel:

HTML Editor with code on the left and live PDF preview on the right

The four tabs are:

  • Template — your HTML with Jinja2 variables
  • CSS — styles for your document
  • Sample JSON — test data for previewing
  • Settings — page size, margins, headers, footers
  1. Enter some HTML in the Template tab:
<h1>Hello, {{name}}!</h1>
<p>This is your first PDF generated with APITemplate.io.</p>
<p>Today's date: {{date}}</p>
  1. In the Sample JSON tab, add:
{
  "name": "World",
  "date": "2026-03-28"
}
  1. Click Quick Preview to see the result, or Generate PDF to produce the actual PDF file

Step 2: Note your template ID​

Your template ID is shown on the Manage Templates page. You'll need it for API calls.

Step 3: Call the API​

curl -X POST "https://rest.apitemplate.io/v2/create-pdf?template_id=YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "World",
    "date": "2026-03-28"
  }'

Replace YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID with the template ID from your dashboard and YOUR_API_KEY with your API key.

For the full list of parameters, output options, and error codes, see the REST API Reference (v2).

No-code alternatives​

If you prefer not to write code, you can generate PDFs through no-code integrations:

  • Zapier — Set up a Zap that triggers PDF generation from events in Google Sheets, HubSpot, Airtable, or hundreds of other apps
  • Make.com — Build a scenario that generates PDFs as part of a multi-step automation workflow
  • n8n — Use an open-source, self-hostable workflow platform to automate PDF generation with 300+ integrations
  • Bubble.io — Generate PDFs directly from your Bubble app using the official APITemplate.io plugin
  • Airtable — Connect Airtable records to templates and generate PDFs in bulk
  • REST API — Integrate PDF generation into any application with full control over the API

Step 4: Download your PDF​

The response includes a download_url. Open it in your browser or use it in your application to access the generated PDF.

That's it! You've just generated your first PDF with APITemplate.io.

Learn more​