Using Zapier to generate documents is a breeze.
What you need:
- Zapier Account
- ActiveMerge Account
- Word or Powerpoint Template with {placeholder} tags for merging the data.
- Data source: form, sheet, etc. – this comes from a tool in Zapier
How it works:
Step 1
Create a free ActiveMerge account and add your template in the Template page and save it. You can edit one from our Template gallery.
Step 2
Go to Zapier and connect your apps. Here you can connect a Google Form, Google Sheet and so on. This will be the source of data that will replace the {placeholders} in your document.
If you have a form please submit some test data to it so we can use it in the next steps.
The data/fields must match all the placeholders (merge tags) in your template. If a data field is missing the document will not be generated.
Step 3
Connect ActiveMerge using your API key. The API key can be generated from the API section in your account.
Step 4
Validate the data and placeholders including the type of document format: PDF, DOCX or PPTX.
Step 5
Create a new connection for the document generated. Once a test is made ActiveMerge will generate a document and a link to the document. Documents are sent back to Zapier as links available for 24 hours. After 24 hours the link expires and the document is deleted.
With the generated document link we can use Google Drive/Dropbox to save the generated file and use it in a new step.
Step 6 (optional)
With the saved file from Drive/Dropbox we can create a new step and send it via email or to another app.