What are 'PDF Templates' and how can I use them in my event?

Note: the PDF Templates feature must be enabled for your organization to access it in your events. Please contact support if you are interested in having access to this feature in your organization.

Please note that the following article shows functionality for the new version of our form editor (v2). If you are using our legacy form editor (v1), you can still follow the steps in the article below, but the location and/or naming of the options noted may be different. If you wish to switch to the new version of our editor, please contact us at getregistered® support.

'PDF Templates' is a feature that allows you to create dynamic PDF documents for attendees, using custom data from registrations, which is perfect for creating documents such as certificates, tickets, passes, or any other personalized content.

How do I create a PDF Template for my event?

To begin creating your first PDF Template, click on the 'PDF Templates' tile - you should now be on the main PDF Template page. Click on the 'New PDF Template' or 'Create PDF Template' button to proceed:

Upon landing you should see the following page:

You will find the following options available:

• Title - the name of your PDF Template, this is a mandatory field.
• Header Graphic - this allows you to add a header image to your PDF Template. This is an optional field, if omitted then no image will be present on the header of your PDF.
• Content - this editor is where you will create the content for your PDF. In here you can add text, images, links, tables and variables that will display personalized content for your attendees. We will cover this more in-depth shortly.
• Active - this checkbox determines whether the PDF Template can be actively used. This is set to Active by default.
• Allow attendees to download - this option is set to disabled by default, but when enabled, you can select the audience you'd like to be able to access your PDF based on registration status, invitation status, or an audience built from a custom report. You can also fine tune your audience by track type or admission type if preferred.

To be able to save your PDF Template, it must have a Title, and there must be content added to the 'Content' editor. Once both are populated, click on 'Save PDF Template' - you will then be returned to the main PDF Template page, and you should see your PDF listed on the table displayed on the main area of the page:

From the table, you can select to edit, preview, clone or delete your PDF Template. Selecting 'Preview' will render your PDF in a new tab.

How do I use the 'Content' editor to create personalized content for my attendees?

Interacting with the 'Content' editor should be fairly straightforward. Adding text, images, tables, and links just requires you to select the relevant icon and add the content you wish to display. Please note that we only accept PNG and JPG images, all other image file types are not supported! Text content can be highlighted, justified and a multitude of fonts and sizes are available for you to make your perfect PDF!

If you wish to create customized content in your PDF, you can begin by using our default variables - simply click on the 'Insert Variable' option and you'll see a dropdown displaying all the variables available.

To add a variable, simply click on one and it will be added to your PDF content. You can add as many variables as you wish, and all variables can be customised in terms of colours and positioning. When a variable is added, it will look like a piece of computer code - don't worry, this is what's required for us to generate the custom content for each attendee, you will be able to see the actual result when viewing the PDF, eg:

Content:

PDF Output:

So what if there's content you'd like to add that isn't available as a default variable? Well - we provide the ability to create your own custom variables using fields from your registration form, making it even simpler for you to create the content you want to display!

To begin creating a custom variable on your registration form, navigate to the registration form editor and select the field you'd like to have available in your PDF.

In the following example, we will use a Session Booking to show the attendees session slot in the PDF:

Scroll down and select the 'Data Tags' menu on the right hand side of the editor. Click on the 'Add Data Tag' option to proceed.:

Click on the 'Add Data Tag' option to proceed.

Next, you will need to do the following - in the 'Key' field, you must enter the text TEMPLATE_FIELD. This is needed for us to be able to pick up the field in the PDF Template Editor. In the 'Value' field, you must add a name for the 'Key' - this is the name that will be displayed on the PDF Template Editor variable dropdown to help you easily identify it.

Next - go to your PDF editor, select a PDF Template to edit/create and click on the 'Insert Variable' text. You'll see your new custom variable displayed at the bottom of the list:

Click on the variable to add it to your PDF content, and add any additional text you wish to display inline with the variable, eg:

Now when you view an attendee PDF, you will see the session slot information we added earlier is now displayed in the PDF:

Please note - when you select to 'Preview' a PDF Template from the PDF Templates page, some variables will still display the code that you see in the editor. This is because we are showing a preview with no attendee registration data (think of it as a 'mock up'), so therefore, if you add a custom session slot variable, it will not display a slot, just the variable code - you will need to view an actual attendee PDF to view all variables, which is what is shown in the example above.

As an admin, how do I view, download or email custom PDFs created for attendees?

Once you have at least one PDF Template created, and the PDF Template has been set to 'Active', you can actively interact with it on an attendee's registration show page. In the following example, we will be showing how to access a PDF that is set to 'Active' and 'Allow attendees to download' is disabled. We have done this in this example because:

1. Inactive PDF templates will not be shown in a registration show page.
2. Where 'Allow attendees to download' is enabled and an audience has been set to anything but 'All', if the attendee's status doesn't match the audience then no PDF will be available for them.

So to begin, go to your Registrations area and select to 'View' any attendee.

Next, scroll down the page, and at the bottom left, you'll see a 'Documents' area:

If you click on the name of the PDF template highlighted in blue, a preview of the PDF will be displayed in a new tab. This preview will display exactly how it would for an attendee, containing all the personalizations you've added to your PDF.

If you click on the 3 dots displayed next to the PDF name, you'll see options to 'Download' or 'Email':

To download directly to your device, select 'Download'. If you wish to send the PDF directly to the attendee, select the 'Email' option. A 'Document Attached' email will then be sent to the attendee's email address, with the PDF attached to it.

How do I setup PDFs so that they can be downloaded by attendees?

When creating or editing a PDF Template, you will see a checkbox at the bottom of the page labelled 'Allow attendees to download'. When this feature is enabled, attendees can download this PDF from their registration area.

By default, the PDF download audience is set to 'All'. If you select the 'Recipients' option, you will see a list of different attendee statuses that you can apply to your download audience, so that only attendees with the selected state can download.

This can be handy for various situations like for example, if you wish to provide an attendance certificate for only attendees that have attended your event, you can select the 'Attended' option.

You can also set by track type or admission type if preferred - simply click on the 'Recipients Track / Ticket' option and select 'Matches Track Type' or 'Matches Admission Type'. Selecting either will show all track/admission types available in your event, just check the boxes of the types you wish to include and save:

Can I create a custom list of attendees that can download PDFs?

When creating or editing a PDF template, you can create a custom list of attendees that can download a PDF by using the 'Report Based' option under the 'Recipients' menu:

When this is selected, you will see a new option displayed below ('Report Audience'). Click on this and select the report you wish to base your audience from. Once you save your changes, all attendees captured on the selected custom report will be able to download this PDF from their registration area.