Output PDF letters from Excel files (All letters stacked in one PDF document)

Question

I have an Excel file full of customer data. I need to generate PDF letters from these data. Below is a sample:

First NameLast NameGenderProfessionEmail AddressEmilyLynchMsAnthropologistemlynch@gmail.comAntonyBransonMrResearcheratrason@gmail.comLouisPhelpsMsStudentlkphelps@gmail.com

(All data provided are fictional)

For each row, I will need to output a PDF letter. These letters shall be COMBINED in one PDF not separated. That is, there should be only ONE multi-page PDF document that contains all the letters stacked together from the data file. (Page 1 is letter for Emily, page 2 is letter for Antony, etc.)

Questions:

1) Is there a way I can use Alteryx together with Microsoft Word templates to output PDFs for better formatting?

2) If using the Reporting tools is the only way, how do I do this? Is a batch macro needed?

MatthewO · Answer

@45179902 the Visual Layout tool cannot apply a grouping. An explanation of the capabilities and limitations are outlined in this article:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer-Knowledge-Base/Laboratory-Tools-Visual-Layout-Alteryx-11-7/ta-p/67647/jump-to/first-unread-message

You will need to use the tools on the Reporting tool tab (Layout, Overlay, Header, Footer, etc...) in order to layout your report with groupings. There are some short interactive videos in the Reporting Learning Path that may be helpful for you.

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Interactive-Lessons/tkb-p/interactive-lessons/label-name/Reporting%20in%20Designer

lizhaozhi · Answer

@MatthewO Hi Matt, thank you for your response. Below is my current workflow. Where do I add this Layout tool? I'm using a Visual Layout tool to manage the formatting and I have selected values to fill in different parts of the report.

MatthewO · Answer

Hi @45179902 - you can accomplish this using a Layout tool. An example of how this could be configured is shown below.

Configuration of the Layout tool:

layout.yxmd