Email a Branded PDF Report on a Schedule
Write the report as Markdown, add your logo and brand color, and let Zapier render it into a branded PDF and email it out on a schedule — with the native Rendex Create Branded Artifact action. No slide deck, no design tool, no code. It runs on the free tier.
Last updated 2026-07-21
The Problem
Recurring reports — a weekly metrics digest, a monthly client summary, a status one-pager — deserve to look finished, but producing them by hand is a chore no one wants. You either paste numbers into a slide template every week, wrestle a rigid merge-field tool, or stand up a script with a PDF library and a headless browser. A no-code stack has no clean way to turn content into a designed document, so most teams either send raw text or let the report slip.
The Solution
Zapier has a native Rendex Create Branded Artifact action — no custom webhook. Write the report once as Markdown, set a brand name, logo URL, and accent color, and the action composes a styled document and renders it to a hosted PDF (and PNG, and a share page) in a single response. Trigger it on a schedule — every Monday, the 1st — or off a Sheets/CRM record, map any dynamic values into template placeholders, and a Gmail step emails the share link or attaches the PDF. It's fully no-code, the layout is a real branded document, and it runs on the free 100 renders a month.
How the Workflow Runs
Schedule fires
Schedule by Zapier (or a Sheets/CRM trigger) starts the Zap — every Monday, the 1st of the month, or when a record is ready.
Rendex — Create Branded Artifact
The native action composes your Markdown into a branded document — your name, logo, and accent color — and returns a hosted PDF, PNG, and share link in one response. No waiting or polling.
Email it out
A Gmail or Outlook step links the share URL (or attaches the PDF) so stakeholders get a polished report the moment the workflow runs.
Input → Rendered Output
Rendered by Rendex
What You Need
- A Rendex API key — the free tier includes 100 renders/month with no card required (each rendered format is one render).
- A Zapier account with the Rendex app connected (search "Rendex" in the app directory, add your key once).
- A trigger: Schedule by Zapier for a recurring report, or a Google Sheets / CRM trigger to report per record.
- Your report as a Markdown template (with optional {{placeholders}}) and a delivery step — Gmail or Outlook to email, or Slack to post the share link.
What This Recipe Uses
Native Create Branded Artifact action
No custom webhook — the Rendex Create Branded Artifact action appears in the Zap editor once you connect your key, alongside Capture Screenshot and Generate PDF.
Markdown in, branded document out
Write plain Markdown — headings, lists, tables, links, code — and Rendex styles it into a designed document with your brand name, logo, accent color, and footer. No layout work.
PDF, PNG, and a share link at once
The action returns pdfUrl, pngUrl, and a hosted shareUrl in one response — attach the PDF, thumbnail the PNG, or drop the share link into the email or Slack. Set how long the links stay valid.
Render and send in the same Zap
Because the result comes back inline (no polling), the next step — Gmail, Outlook, or Slack — sends it right away. A schedule tick becomes a delivered, branded report.
Build It
# Zapier — action config (no code)
Trigger: Schedule by Zapier — Every Week (Monday 8am)
Action: Rendex — Create Branded Artifact
Content Format: Markdown
Content: <your report Markdown, with {{placeholders}}>
Brand Name: Acme Analytics
Logo URL: https://acme.com/logo.png
Accent Color: #EA580C
Output Formats: PDF
Template Values: week = {{ Formatter: This Week }}
signups = {{ Sheets: Signups }}
Next: Gmail — Send Email
Body includes = {{ Rendex: Share URL }}
Attachment = {{ Rendex: PDF URL }}# The Create Branded Artifact action posts this and gets the URLs back inline.
curl -X POST https://api.rendex.dev/v1/artifact \
-H "Authorization: Bearer rdx_YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"content": "# Weekly Report\n\nSignups this week: **{{signups}}**",
"inputFormat": "markdown",
"formats": ["pdf"],
"branding": {
"header": "Acme Analytics",
"logo": "https://acme.com/logo.png",
"accentColor": "#EA580C"
},
"data": { "signups": "1,204" },
"expiresIn": 604800
}'
# => { "data": { "pdfUrl": "https://...", "pngUrl": "https://...",
# "shareUrl": "https://...", "expiresAt": "..." } }100 free API calls/month — no credit card required. Get your API key and start building.
Reach for this whenever a report goes out on a rhythm and should look like it came from your brand, not a text box — a weekly KPI digest to the leadership channel, a monthly summary to a client, a recurring compliance one-pager. The win is that Markdown is easy to assemble from earlier Zap steps (a Sheets lookup, a formatter, an AI summary) while the output is a designed PDF: your logo in the header, your accent color on the headings, a clean table, a footer. Because Create Branded Artifact is native to Zapier, there's nothing to host — no PDF library, no browser — and the action returns the file inline, so there's no polling step to add. It hands back three things at once: a PDF URL to attach, a PNG for a preview thumbnail, and a hosted share URL you can drop straight into the email or a Slack post. Set the link expiry to match how long the report stays relevant. One template renders every period; only the content changes. It runs on the free tier, so a weekly report costs nothing to start.