Turn every Gravity Forms entry into a PDF

Gravity Forms to PDF with your own design. Turn each entry into a branded certificate, quote or summary PDF with Zapier, Make, n8n or a webhook.

Quick answer. When someone submits your Gravity Form, Zapier, Make or n8n picks up the entry. The answers go into a template, html-pdf.com turns it into a PDF, and the PDF is emailed or saved to cloud storage.

What you'll build

Each entry becomes a finished document. A course sign up becomes a certificate. A quote request becomes a priced proposal. A job application becomes a one page summary your team can read in seconds.

You decide what appears on the page and how it looks. Nobody has to log in to WordPress and export entries by hand.

A PDF plugin or this?

Plugins like Gravity PDF create PDFs inside WordPress, and they are a fine choice if you want everything on your site. The approach here suits you when you want the same PDF setup across several sites or tools, mix form answers with data from other apps, or keep PDF work off your WordPress server.

What you need

Gravity Forms on your WordPress site, with a published form.
Zapier, Make or n8n. Gravity Forms has official Zapier and Webhooks add-ons, depending on your license.
A design. Start from the certificate, proposal or report template. A template is a ready made page design, so you only swap in your own words.
An API key from html-pdf.com. You get 100 free pages once, with no card.

Step by step with Zapier

Trigger. Create a Zap with Gravity Forms and the event New Form Submission. Pick your form and load a test entry.
Make the PDF. Add Webhooks by Zapier → Custom Request. Method POST, URL https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf.
Headers. Authorization with Bearer hp_live_... and Content-Type with application/json.
Data. Paste the JSON below and map the form fields into it.
Deliver. Add Gmail → Send Email and put the url from step 2 in Attachments, or use Google Drive → Upload File.

{
  "html": "<h1>Certificate of Completion</h1><h2>Maria Lopez</h2><p>First Aid Basics, 10 Oct 2026</p>",
  "landscape": true,
  "filename": "certificate.pdf",
  "response": "url"
}

The url is a download link that works for 24 hours, which is the easiest way to pass the file between steps. Every option is in the Zapier guide.

Step by step with Make or n8n

Gravity Forms can send each entry to a webhook URL with its Webhooks Add-On.

In Make, add Webhooks → Custom webhook and copy its address. In n8n, add a Webhook node.
In Gravity Forms, open Form Settings → Webhooks, add a feed with that address and send all fields.
Add HTTP → Make a request in Make or an HTTP Request node in n8n. Post to https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf with your Authorization header.
Add an email or storage step to deliver the PDF.

The Make guide and n8n guide show each setting with screenshots.

Code path for developers

If you prefer code, hook into gform_after_submission in your theme or a small plugin.

add_action('gform_after_submission_3', function ($entry, $form) {
  $name = rgar($entry, '1.3') . ' ' . rgar($entry, '1.6'); // Name field, first and last
  $html = '<h1>Certificate</h1><h2>' . esc_html($name) . '</h2>';

  $res = wp_remote_post('https://html-pdf.com/v1/pdf', [
    'headers' => [
      'Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . HTML_PDF_KEY,
      'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
    'body'    => wp_json_encode(['html' => $html, 'landscape' => true, 'response' => 'url']),
    'timeout' => 30,
  ]);
  $url = json_decode(wp_remote_retrieve_body($res), true)['url'] ?? null;
  // Email $url or save it to the entry as a note.
}, 10, 2);

Replace 3 with your form ID and the field numbers with yours. You can see them in the form editor.

Ask your AI agent

Connect the html-pdf.com MCP server to your AI assistant and design the PDF in a chat before you automate it.

Use html-pdf to create a landscape certificate for Maria Lopez, who completed First Aid Basics on 10 Oct 2026. Add a thin gold border, a signature line and our company name at the bottom.

When you like the result, ask for the HTML and paste it into your Zapier, Make or n8n step.

FAQ

Can I send the PDF in the Gravity Forms notification email?

Not directly with this setup, because the PDF is made after the entry is saved. Send it with a separate email step in Zapier, Make or n8n instead, or from your own code.

Can I add uploaded files or signatures to the PDF?

Yes. Gravity Forms stores a link for each upload or signature. Put that link in an image tag in your template and it shows in the PDF, as long as the link is publicly reachable.

How much does it cost?

You get 100 free pages once. After that, packs start at $10 for 1,000 pages and purchased credits never expire. Failed renders cost nothing.

Is the entry data stored by html-pdf.com?

No. Your HTML is not stored, and download links expire after 24 hours.