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Set Up Response PDFs

For each form, you can generate response PDFs for internal and external use. They are generated using a best practice template which we have created for response confirmation, reviewing and processing, and for archival purposes.

You can automatically generate them and attach them to automated emails, or download them as needed from the form Responses. Response PDFs that go to respondents to confirm submission will automatically omit workflow information and office-use-only fields.

Default PDF example

If the feature is available on your subscription, you can go a step beyond response PDFs and create custom documents. These templates allow you to pipe form responses into templates you design and create.

Additionally, we have recently improved our default response PDFs to address accessibility issues. Where data is compatible, we will generate accessible response PDFs, including these features:

  • Using a DOCTYPE declaration to ensure the HTML document is correctly rendered.
  • Included a lang attribute on the HTML element to match the form language in the Settings.
  • Adjusted text color to meet WCAG AA color contrast requirements.
  • Added alt attributes to images.
  • Added a role attribute to HTML table elements to improve assistive technology support.
  • Standardized metadata dates using ISO format.
  • Set the PDF title to input the form name.

We will continue to address PDF accessibility issues in future releases. Please note that if the PDF response includes special characters or unsupported layouts, then Forms & Workflow is unable to automatically convert it into an accessible format. The response PDF will still generate successfully, but may not include the accessibility features listed here.

Configure Response PDFs

For each form, you can configure what is included in the response PDF. To do this:

  1. Go to your form Settings > Form Documents.
  2. Select Configure default response PDF.
    configure default response pdf button
  3. Expand each settings menu to choose your configuration. You can include:
    • Form information: Select the form fields to include.
    • Response workflow: Select which workflow information to include for internal PDFs.
    • Style: Choose which styling elements to include, such as logos or pagination.
    • Header and footer: Add a header and footer.
      response pdf settings.png
  4. Select Save response pdf settings.
  5. Save and Publish your form.

Form Information Settings 

These settings allow you to show or hide form fields in the response PDF. You can choose to:

  • Include Content fields (Paragraph, Link, Bulleted and Numbered List): Check this box to include Content fields, such as those used for instructions, introductions, or terms and conditions. You may choose to exclude this for internal PDFs.
  • Include field descriptions: Check this box to include any field descriptions you wrote to help respondents fill out the form.
  • Include blank fields the respondent saw and didn’t answer: Check this box to include unanswered fields in the response PDF. This is enabled by default, but you may choose to uncheck it if your form includes lots of unrequired fields and you want to declutter the PDF.
  • Include fields hidden by SmartLogic: Check this box to include any fields you have hidden using Smart Logic. This is turned on by default, but you may want to exclude these fields for a PDF sent to respondents.
    Form-information.png

Response Workflow Settings 

If your form has a workflow and you attach the response PDF to workflow notifications, you can choose what workflow information to include. All Response workflow information is excluded if the response PDF is sent to the respondent.

  • Include workflow history timeline: Check this box to include the progress of the PDF through the form’s workflow until it is sent. This will vary, depending on the workflow; a PDF sent at the beginning of the workflow will have less information than one sent in the final step.
  • Include office use only fields: Check this box to include reviewer answers to office use only fields and unanswered office use only fields.
  • Include comments to respondent: Check this box to include any external comments made by reviewers to the respondent.
  • Include internal comments: Check this box to include internal comments made by reviewers when actioning a review.
    Response-workflow.png

Style Settings 

These settings allow you to include or exclude style elements in the response PDF. By default, these are all enabled, and your options are:

  • Include document page numbers: Check this box to add page numbers to your document.
  • Include form logo: Check this box to add the logo from the form’s theme. Admins can create themes in Admin > Themes, and form authors can select a theme from the form Settings > Display Settings.
  • Include form title: Check this box to include the form title in the PDF. If your title is very long and you want to save space, you may want to omit this and instead add it to the header or footer.
    style.png

Header and Footer Settings 

In this section you can add Header text and Footer text. You can add as much text as you require, including piped answers, but we recommend staying under 80 characters for each section. For example, you can:

  • Include your organization name in the header
  • Add your form title if you excluded it in the Style settings
  • Add brief contact information to the footer, such as a phone number or email address
  • Pipe in the respondent’s name or a receipt number to the header
    header.png

What Else? 

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