Airtable

The official TemplateFox extension lets you generate PDFs directly from your Airtable records — no code required. Select records, click generate, and get download links or write PDFs back to your table.

Installation

1. Open your Airtable base
2. Click Extensions in the top bar
3. Click Add an extension
4. Search for TemplateFox and click Add

Setup

1. Get your API key from your Dashboard 
2. Open the extension and paste your API key
3. Click Connect — the extension validates the key and shows your remaining credits
4. Click the gear icon anytime to change or disconnect your API key

Choosing a template

After connecting, pick a template from the dropdown. The extension loads all templates from your TemplateFox account.

If you don’t have a template yet, create one  or browse example templates  to start from.

Mapping your fields

Once you select a template, the extension shows every template variable with a dropdown to pick which Airtable column fills it.

Auto-matching — The extension matches fields automatically by name. For example, a template variable invoice_number maps to an Airtable column called “Invoice Number” without any manual work.

Changing a mapping — Click any dropdown to pick a different column. The picker only shows columns that are compatible with the variable type, so you won’t accidentally map a number to a date field.

Static values — Toggle any field from Field to Static to type a fixed value instead of pulling from a column. This is useful for values that stay the same across all records, like your company name or payment terms.

Most Airtable column types are supported: text, numbers, dates, checkboxes, selects, attachments, linked records, barcodes, formulas, and more. If a column is greyed out in the picker, see Troubleshooting below.

Line items (repeating rows)

If your template has repeating rows — like invoice line items — you have two options:

Linked records (recommended)

Map the variable to a Linked records column. Each linked record becomes one row in your PDF. The extension then shows sub-field pickers so you can map columns from the linked table:

This is the most natural way to handle line items in Airtable — your invoice items live in a separate table, linked to each invoice record.

JSON in a text field

Alternatively, put a JSON array in a Long text or Single line text column:

[
  {"description": "Widget", "qty": 2, "price": 10.00},
  {"description": "Gadget", "qty": 1, "price": 25.00}
]

This works well when you build the data programmatically or import it from another system.

Generating PDFs

Pick your records

Choose which records to generate PDFs for:

• Selected records — select records in the grid view first, then click Generate
• All records in view — pick a view and generate for every record in it

Options

Results

After generation, each record shows a Download PDF link. If you configured a write-back field, the URL is also saved directly to your Airtable records — no manual copy-paste needed.

When generating for multiple records, they are processed one by one. If you run out of credits mid-batch, the extension stops and tells you which records were completed.

Common use cases

Invoices — Link an “Invoice Items” table to your “Invoices” table. When you add a new invoice record, select it and generate a PDF with line items, totals, and your branding.

Certificates — Keep a list of participants or students. Select a batch of records and generate personalized certificates for everyone at once.

Packing slips & shipping labels — Map order data and shipping addresses from your fulfillment table. Generate labels for all orders in a “Ready to Ship” view.

Contracts & proposals — Fill in client details, project scope, and pricing from your CRM table. Generate a PDF and store the link in an Attachment field.

Reports — Combine data from multiple fields into a formatted PDF report. Use a filtered view to generate reports for a specific date range or category.

Troubleshooting

A column is greyed out in the picker

The picker only shows columns that match the variable type. For example, a text variable won’t show Attachment or Collaborator columns. If you need to use a column that doesn’t appear, create a Formula column in Airtable that converts it to text (e.g. ARRAYJOIN(values, ", ")), then map to that formula column instead.

No templates appear in the dropdown

Make sure your API key is valid and that you have at least one template saved in your TemplateFox account. You can check at app.pdftemplateapi.com/dashboard .

PDF is missing some data

Double-check that every template variable is mapped to a column (or has a static value set). If a variable is left unmapped, it will be empty in the generated PDF.

Next steps

• Get Started in 5 Minutes — Create your first template
• Data Binding — Learn how to use dynamic variables in templates
• Expressions — Format numbers, dates, and conditional content
• Upload to S3 — Store PDFs in your own S3 bucket instead of using expiring URLs