Edit a PDF created in document builder

LGraf

If a document builder generated PDF needs editing, is it possible to do that directly in Smartsheet? It seems that the PDF needs to be downloaded, edited on desktop, and re-uploaded to Smartsheet, which cancels out any convenience that the automation otherwise provides.

Separate but related, is it correct that document builder is compatible only with fillable PDFs and that the underlying data must be pulled only from the sheet that the automation is nested in?

Andrée Starå

Hi @LGraf

I hope you're well and safe!

Yes, unfortunately, you are correct, and the PDF can't be edited in Smartsheet, and yes, it's only compatible with fillable PDFs if you want to include data from the sheet, but there are workarounds so you could collect data from multiple rows or multiple sheets if needed.

Please submit this as a Product Feedback or Idea (If it hasn't been added already) when you have a moment.

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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LGraf

@Andrée Starå what is the workaround to include data from multiple rows or sheets?

Probably this is unworkable for me given the PDF issue, which would be disappointing. I did submit the feedback to Smartsheet.

Thanks very much for your help.

Andrée Starå

@LGraf

Excellent!

Happy to help!

There are multiple workarounds.

• Have one row (top row) collect multiple rows of data with formulas.
• Using cross-sheet formulas to connect to another sheet where you'd input an id to collect data rows from the others

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LGraf

Definitely workarounds but they are serviceable. Thanks for sharing.

Any other bright ideas on a document automation process? Up until this point, we've been manually running Google Doc merges using data in Smartsheet, editing in Google Doc, converting to PDF, and uploading to Smartsheet. The process is time consuming and should be automatable.

Andrée Starå

@LGraf

You're more than welcome!

If it works, I would still use Document Builder and edit it in Adobe Acrobat or similar. Other third-party options can be used to create editable documents too.

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LGraf

Are there other third party options that can automate document generation through Smartsheet though?

Andrée Starå

@LGraf

Yes.

Here are some examples of connecting with the 3rd-party integration, Zapier.

https://zapier.com/apps/categories/documents