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Email Notifications

PDF attachments with Email Notifications

Email notifications can attach a generated PDF — useful for invoices, application summaries, signed agreements, or printable copies of what the user submitted. Formie renders a Twig PDF template at send time and attaches the result. This walkthrough creates the template, links it to a notification, and covers layout options.

Prerequisites

Overview

Three pieces work together:

  1. PDF template — Twig that produces the PDF HTML (Formie → Settings → PDF Templates)
  2. Email notification — who receives the email and what the message body says
  3. Attach setting — notification enables Attach PDF Template and picks the template

Global PDF defaults (pdfPaperSize, pdfPaperOrientation) live in Configuration.

Step 1 — Create the Twig template

Create a template file, for example templates/_pdf/application-summary.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <style>
        body { font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #222; }
        h1 { font-size: 18pt; margin-bottom: 0.5em; }
        .meta { color: #666; margin-bottom: 1.5em; }
        hr { border: none; border-top: 1px solid #ccc; margin: 1.5em 0; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>{{ form.title }}</h1>

    <p class="meta">
        Submitted on {{ submission.dateCreated|date('j M Y, g:ia') }}
        {% if notification.subject %}
            · {{ notification.subject }}
        {% endif %}
    </p>

    <hr>

    {% for field in submission.getFields() %}
        {% set value = submission.getFieldValueAsString(field.handle) %}
        {% if value %}
            <p><strong>{{ field.name }}:</strong> {{ value }}</p>
        {% endif %}
    {% endfor %}
</body>
</html>

Available variables:

VariableDescription
notificationCurrent notification model
submissionSubmission element
formForm element
contentHtmlHTML from the notification's email content field

Step 2 — Register the PDF template in Formie

  1. Go to Formie → Settings → PDF Templates
  2. Create a new template (for example Application Summary)
  3. Set HTML Template to your Twig path (_pdf/application-summary or folder)
  4. Save

Configure paper size and orientation in the template settings or rely on global pdfPaperSize / pdfPaperOrientation in config/formie.php (letter / portrait by default).

Step 3 — Enable attachment on the notification

  1. Open the form in the form builder
  2. Edit the email notification (admin copy or user confirmation)
  3. In template settings, enable Attach PDF Template
  4. Select Application Summary
  5. Save the form

When the notification sends, Formie renders the PDF template and attaches the file.

Step 4 — Use contentHtml for shared body copy

If the PDF should mirror the email body, wrap contentHtml:

<h1>{{ form.title }} — Submission copy</h1>

<p>Submitted {{ submission.dateCreated|date('j M Y') }}</p>

<hr>

{{ contentHtml|raw }}

The email content field stays the single source for message copy; the PDF wraps it with print-friendly layout.

Step 5 — Set notification defaults (optional)

Pre-enable PDF attachment for new notifications project-wide:

config/formie.php
return [
    '*' => [
        'notificationDefaults' => [
            'attachPdf' => true,
            'pdfTemplateId' => null, // authors pick template in CP
        ],
    ],
];

Form groups can override notification defaults per team.

Step 6 — Test send

  1. Open the notification Preview tab for a quick render check
  2. Use Send test email to verify attachment size, fonts, and mail client behaviour
  3. Submit a real test entry on the front end

Large file upload fields increase PDF generation time — keep useQueueForNotifications enabled in production.

File uploads in PDFs

File Upload field values in PDFs are typically filenames or links depending on field summary settings. For images embedded in PDFs, custom Twig referencing asset URLs may be needed — test with your PDF renderer and mail provider attachment limits.

For arbitrary extra files (not generated PDFs), see Attaching extra assets to Email Notifications.

Branded PDF layout

For headers, footers, and brand colours shared across PDFs, use a base Twig layout and extend it in each PDF template — same pattern as Building an Email Notification template from scratch for HTML email.

Troubleshooting

PDF not attached

  • Confirm Attach PDF Template is enabled on the notification
  • Verify the PDF template HTML path exists (validateCustomTemplates may block invalid paths)
  • Check queue jobs if notifications are queued — failed jobs log in Craft queue

Empty PDF

  • Ensure submission has field values at send time (notifications fire after save)
  • Check field visibility and includeInEmailFieldSummaries if iterating selectively

Wrong site language in PDF

Last updated: June 27, 2026, 2:14:08 PM
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