Need to Convert WordPress Form Submissions to PDF?

There is a simple and fast way to convert your WordPress form submissions to PDF. So if you want to share your form submission entries in reliable PDF file format, read on. Your life is about to get easier!

Table of contents

1. Convert form submission to PDF format
2. Export submission entries from your WordPress forms
3. Customize generated PDF from form submission
4. Using powerful merge tags with PDF Form Submissions
5. Want to accept a digital signature on your PDF?

1. Convert form submission to PDF format

If you want to convert your WordPress form entries to PDF and send a copy of the submission to anyone who needs it, is really simple.

All you need is the PDF Form Submission add-on. This add-on gives you the option to attach submissions as PDFs within the email action, but it also gives you the ability to export your submissions as PDF from your Submissions page.

How to convert your form data to PDF in Ninja Forms

Once you install the PDF Form Submission, navigate to the Advanced tab. Check if you can see the PDF Submissions tab. If you don’t see the PDF Submissions, make sure you enable Developer Mode. This will allow your form to display advanced settings such as restrictions, or our free calculation feature.

Now head over to the Emails & Actions tab within your form builder. Add an email notification action, and open the Advanced dropdown > Toggle on the Attach PDF button.

This will enable the PDF of the submission to be attached to your Email Actions, and users will be able to save or print out that PDF directly from their email.

2. Export submission entries from your WordPress forms

If you rather than CVS prefer to export your submissions in PDF format, you can do so with PDF Form Submission in a matter of seconds!

Navigate to Ninja Forms > Submissions, and select the form you wish to export from. Hover over the individual submission you need an export of, and click Export to PDF.

PDF downloads of submissions will work for all past and present submissions. For more information please see our PDF Submission documentation, and Submission Management guide.

3. Customize generated PDF from form submission

We just showed you how you can generate PDF from your WordPress form. This setting will only generate a simple PDF document without any customization.

If it is just for you, it might be enough. However, in most cases, you want to share a document that represents your company. This means, the ability to include the company logo, header, footer and be able to customize the body of your PDF.

The PDF Form Submission add-on lets you do all of that! You can also customize the document body, including the merge tags wherever in the body you need them.

Here is how you can customize the document file name and automatically rename it with the use of our merge tags.

You can also customize the body of the document by enabling the option Custom Document Body. This opens the Document Body section where you make design changes. Additionally, you can use the HTML editor by clicking the < >. If you want to go back from the HTML editor, you simply click < > again.

If you need to make additional out-of-the-box editing for the PDF itself such as using a specific font or making any other adjustments, you can alternatively look into using the PDF Builder for Ninja Forms by RedNao. They do not have very many installs, but they are actively working on the plugin and have had numerous updates throughout the year.

Merge tags are very powerful if you know how to use them. They allow data to be pulled from different sources within your WordPress form and populate them in the location the merge tag is placed.

• Fields Table {fields_table} – This returns the labels and submission data for all of the fields that have had data entered into them.
• All Fields Table {all_fields_table}  – This returns the labels and submission data for all fields, including HTML fields, even if they do not have data submitted into them.
• :pdf_embed – Used in conjunction with the PDF Form Submissions add-on; append to the File Upload field merge tag in the PDF body customization options to embed an image file rather than a link to that file.

For the complete list of available merge tags in Ninja Forms, visit our documentation page.

Customize the body of the PDF with merge tags

What if you don’t want all form fields to be displayed on your generated PDF? We have you covered! Enabling Custom Document Body settings lets you display only the specific fields. Here, you can customize the PDF body to your liking with a combination of HTML and field merge tags.

Navigate to the Advanced tab within your form > PDF Submissions, and toggle on Custom Document Body. Once you do that, you will see the section Document Body.

Here you can type the desired label information and use the merge tag button in order to insert the fields you only wish to display.

5. Want to accept a digital signature on your PDF?

There are a lot of legal stipulations that have to be met to make an online signature legally binding. Because of this, we’ve not released an extension for this capability.

The good news is we have a direct integration with Zapier, who has several integrations with e-signature services such as DocuSign, SignNow, eSignatures.io, and many more. So, when it comes to collecting a legally-binding digital signature for WordPress form submissions, you know you are in the right hands no matter which service you choose.

In order to connect Ninja Forms with Zapier service, you need to have an account with them and install a Zapier add-on to make them work together. The number of zaps you’ll be able to integrate with Ninja Forms using the Zapier add-on is unlimited but the number of zaps you can make depends on your Zapier plan. 

If you would like to learn more about how to connect through Zapier to one of the electronic signature services, make sure to check out the guide on how to connect to DocuSign, or how to accept e-signature with SignNow in your WordPress forms.

You’ve just mastered our PDF Form Submission plugin!

Congratulations! You’ve just learned how to convert form data to PDF with the PDF Form Submission add-on. Our integration doesn’t just let you convert WordPress form entries to PDF. It also allows you to customize PDF to meet your own design standards and create business-quality PDF copies that can be exported and printed.

The great news is you can purchase PDF Form Submission individually. Additionally, we offer a 14-day money-back guarantee no question asked. So, what are you waiting for? Give it a go and explore what PDF Form Submission can do for your forms!