Generate real PDFs from your Adalo app (full guide + video)

Resources & Tutorials
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“How do I generate a PDF in Adalo?”

I get this one a lot, on client calls, in DMs, and here on the
forum. So I finally sat down and made the full walkthrough.

Invoices, receipts, certificates, order confirmations, it’s the same
approach for all of them, and it takes about ten minutes with no
code.

It all runs on Custom Actions. You send your record data to an API
and save what comes back. Once that idea clicks, you’ll find
yourself using it for a lot more than PDFs.

  1. Design the document once as a template
  2. Add a Custom Action on your button, POST to the PDF API
  3. Map your Adalo fields with magic text
  4. Save the returned pdf_url to a text field on the record
  5. Add a Link action pointing at that field

Then your user taps the button and gets a real PDF.

Watch it:

Read it, with the JSON you can copy: How to Generate PDFs from Your Adalo App | Webnux Tools

A few things that usually trip people up:

  • Blank fields on the PDF, which is normally a magic text value
    that wasn’t set.
  • Nothing opening on tap, which means the pdf_url never made it
    onto the record.

The generator I used is free at tools.webnux.org, though the same
Custom Action method works with any PDF API you prefer.

If you get stuck anywhere, reply here and I’ll help you through it.

And if you’re building something bigger and want it done right the
first time, that’s the work I do. 180+ apps shipped for clients in
the US, UK and Australia.

My Adalo Expert profile: adalo.com/experts/ali-bazzi

Ali Bazzi
Adalo Expert & Community Leader

Webnux Tools is an independent product by Webnux Ltd, not affiliated
with or endorsed by Adalo, Inc.

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