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DWS API

Automatically convert emails to PDF easily

In this guide you’ll learn to automatically save emails to PDF using our Document Converter for Power Automate. For this specific example we automatically save the body of incoming emails to PDF, and archive the results in DropBox.

It’s also important to note that you can easily customize this example for different email services as a trigger (outlook.com, Outlook for Office 365, etc). You can also save email to other destinations like SharePoint, Google Drive, OneDrive, or any platform supported by Power Automate.

From a high level, the flow works as follows:

Convert Email Body to PDF - Overview

The full Flow can be found below. It is automatically created by the Flow Template named Convert Email to PDF and archive in DropBox. After selecting the template, make sure the following fields are changed:

  • DropBox Output folder (for HTML emails): The DropBox folder to save the PDF files to.

  • DropBox Output folder (for Text emails): The DropBox folder to save the PDF files to.

The Flow itself is relatively straightforward. You will need to ensure the format of the email. Email may appear to be in a simple format, but content can be represented in HTML format, Plain Text or even RTF. Depending on the format, we need to send the body either to the HTML converter or the Text converter. In this Flow, we use a simple trick, which is to check if either ‘<html’, ‘<p’ or ‘<br’ can be found in the email body. If it is found, then we send it to the HTML converter, otherwise, we send it to the Text converter.

Convert Email Body to PDF - Detail - Part 1

Convert Email Body to PDF - Detail - Part 2

Convert Email Body to PDF - Detail - Part 3

This Flow will save emails to PDF.

For more details about using Muhimbi’s Flow actions, see the Core Concepts knowledge base article as well as all other Flow related posts.

Troubleshooting/caveats

HTML is not the best format for print or PDF Conversion purposes. Depending on your exact needs and source material, you may need to experiment with various available settings. If you have any questions or require assistance please feel free to contact us.

Consider the following when using Power Automate:

  1. Modern Views: In SharePoint Online it is possible to display Lists and Libraries in Modern or Classic mode. Modern View is undergoing constant change (by Microsoft), as a result, we currently only support the conversion of pages displayed in Classic View. Some Modern View pages will convert fine while others don’t.

  2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): An increasing number of SharePoint Online / Office 365 environments are secured using MFA. Although this is a positive development, it gets in the way of automated systems such as our HTML converter. If your environment uses MFA then please create an App password for HTML conversions, or disable MFA on your HTML Conversion account.

  3. HTML Conversion option not displayed: The option to convert the current page to PDF is only available on Classic SharePoint pages. Modern pages currently do not provide a facility for extending the personal actions menu. We will make sure it is added as soon as Microsoft makes this functionality available.

  4. PDF Layout does not match: By default, the page being converted is optimized for print / PDF output. If you prefer the PDF to look exactly like what is displayed on the screen, including user interface elements, then set the Media Type to Screen in the HTML Conversion configuration screen.

  5. User-modified content is not converted: The converter does not have knowledge about the information currently displayed in the user’s browser (e.g. size of the browser window, or custom data entered, but not yet submitted to the server). The converter always requests a fresh copy of the URL and converts that information to PDF.

  6. User-specific information is missing: HTML Conversion is carried out in the context of the configured user account, though the system is not aware of the user carrying out the HTML conversion. Don’t specify accounts that display more information than what the users need to have access to.

Additional resources

Power Automate templates

To accelerate your workflow, we’ve curated a selection of ready-to-use templates within Power Automate. Access these resources by logging in to your Power Automate account and searching for the templates listed below by their precise names:

  • Generate PDFs from Microsoft Forms and Send via Email

  • Convert Email to PDF and archive in DropBox

  • Send a PDF version by email when a SharePoint document is added

  • Automatically convert newly added OneDrive files to PDF

  • Export a Power Bi report to PDF and send it by email

  • Archive email attachments in PDF format to OneDrive

  • Convert Any SharePoint File to PDF and Add a Text Watermark

  • Convert InfoPath Forms to PDF

  • Send updates from the Power Automate blog as a PDF by email

  • Convert Files to Text Searchable PDF with OCR

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