Merge Existing PDFs - DocsAutomator

This feature enables you to incorporate pre-existing PDF files into your generated documents.

Availability: Requires the Business plan or above. Only available for Airtable, Google Sheets, ClickUp, SmartSuite, Notion, and API.

Implementation Methods

Airtable / Google Sheets / ClickUp / SmartSuite / Notion
API

Designate one or more fields or columns within DocsAutomator’s interface that contain the PDFs intended for merging with the generated documents.

In your automation settings, find the “Merge Existing PDFs” option
Select the field(s)/column(s) containing your PDF files
Configure the insert position (before or after)

When you select multiple fields, their PDFs are merged in the order you select the fields. Fields that happen to be empty on a given record are simply skipped, so optional attachments (say, a W-9 that only some vendors provide) don’t block document generation.

Airtable lookup fields: You can also select a lookup field that references an attachment field in a linked table. This is useful when PDFs are stored in a related table rather than directly on the record.

Pass the top-level key existingPdfs containing an array of one or more publicly accessible PDF URLs.

{
  "docId": "your-automation-id",
  "data": {
    "customer_name": "Acme Corp"
  },
  "existingPdfs": [
    "https://example.com/terms-and-conditions.pdf",
    "https://example.com/appendix-a.pdf"
  ]
}

Configuration Options

Insert Position

Option	Behavior
Insert After (Default)	Appends additional PDFs following the generated document
Insert Before	Positions existing documents ahead of newly generated content

Order of Multiple PDFs

When a selected field or column holds several PDFs, they’re merged in the order they appear there. This applies to every supported source. DocsAutomator does not reorder them, so changing their order at the source changes the merge order accordingly. For example, rearranging the attachments in an Airtable field, reordering the comma-separated URLs in a Google Sheets cell, or changing the order of URLs in the API existingPdfs array all shift the merge order to match.

Multiple Fields

You can select more than one field or column. The merge then works field by field: all PDFs from the first selected field, then all PDFs from the second, and so on. Within each field, the order from the source applies as described above. To change the order across fields, remove the selections and re-add them in the order you want. Empty fields are skipped. If a record has PDFs in only two of three selected fields, the document is generated with those two merged and the empty field is ignored.

Use Cases

Terms & Conditions

Append standard legal documents to contracts

Cover Pages

Insert branded cover pages before generated content

Appendices

Add reference documents after reports

Certificates

Include supporting certifications with proposals

Requirements

PDFs must be publicly accessible via URL (for API)
PDF fields must contain valid PDF files (for data source integrations)
Maximum file size limits may apply

​Implementation Methods

​Configuration Options

​Insert Position

​Order of Multiple PDFs

​Multiple Fields

​Use Cases

Terms & Conditions

Cover Pages

Appendices

Certificates

​Requirements

Implementation Methods

Configuration Options

Insert Position

Order of Multiple PDFs

Multiple Fields

Use Cases

Requirements