Template and PDF of a document: how it is generated and downloaded

WorkOS can give your documents the look of your brand and deliver them as PDFs, with the same result on any device.

Download the PDF

On the document page, click Export (on a phone, the icon with the downward arrow) and choose Download PDF. It opens in a new tab, so you don't lose sight of the document. It's the same PDF your client would download from the portal.

The PDF is generated on the server, so it's identical on a computer, phone or tablet: same pages and same page breaks.
It's split into A4 sheets with your template's header and footer repeated on each one. Long tables are split by rows.
If the document is already approved, the approval stamp appears at the end.
The first time it can take a few seconds. If you change the document, the PDF updates on its own.

Export to Word or Markdown

The same Export button offers two more options, meant for continuing to work with the content outside WorkOS:

Export to Word produces an editable .docx without a template: no cover, header or footer from your brand. It keeps the content's formatting: headings, bold, italic, strikethrough and underline, colours, links, bulleted and numbered lists (with their levels), checkbox tasks, quotes, callouts, tables, code blocks, dividers and embedded images.
Export to Markdown downloads a plain-text .md file with standard Markdown that any editor can open. Tables, lists, quotes and code use the usual syntax. Colours don't exist in Markdown and are lost.

Both come from the document's current content and download directly, with the document's title as the file name. A few details:

Mentions of other Notion pages become plain text.
Markdown does not include images (Notion's are temporary links that expire after about an hour); if you want to keep them, use Word, which embeds them.
A private document can only be exported by someone who can see it, and a signed document is exported with its current content (the official sealed PDF is still the one from "Download PDF").

The template

The template defines the cover, the header and footer, the fonts, the colors and the logos. The content is still what you edit; the template only wraps it.

If there is no template, a neutral design with your brand's logo is used. If your template includes a "Prepared for", it is filled in with the company linked to the document.

Whoever administers the account uploads it as a .zip file from the Documents settings, in the Document template step. They can also upload Templates by document type: documents of that type use their own, and the rest use the general one.

Control the pages

Inside the content, a Divider makes what follows start on a new page. It's how you decide where the PDF breaks. Some templates also make each section start on a new page on their own, with no dividers needed, and keep small tables whole so they don't split across two pages.

Where the signature seal goes

When the client approves a document from the portal, the electronic signature seal appears at the end. If you'd rather have it somewhere else (for example, inside the acceptance box of a letter), write a paragraph containing only {{sello}} in that spot. Until it is signed, a simulation of the seal marked pending signature and acceptance shows there. The {{sello}} text does not appear in Word or Markdown exports.

Tip: if the PDF doesn't open, check that your browser hasn't blocked the new window.