How to Generate PDFs from Elementor Form Submissions (Step-by-Step)

October 29, 2026

Elementor Pro forms collect great data, but by default the result is a plain-text email. PDF for Elementor Forms + Drag And Drop Template Builder (free on WordPress.org, by add-ons.org) turns every submission into a designed PDF document: a quote request, a booking confirmation, a certificate, an application, a report. You design the PDF once with a drag-and-drop builder, insert the form fields as merge tags, and the plugin creates the file on every submission, attaches it to the Elementor email and stores the link with the submission. This guide builds a quote request summary from a “Request a Quote” form, from a blank template to the PDF in the inbox.

1. Requirements

WordPress with Elementor and Elementor Pro (the Form widget is part of Elementor Pro).
PDF for Elementor Forms + Drag And Drop Template Builder, installed and activated (Plugins → Add New → search “PDF for Elementor Forms”).
An Elementor form on a published page. In this guide: a “Request a Quote” form with the fields Full Name, Email, Phone, Company, Service, Budget, Preferred start date and Project details.
At least one test submission, so you can preview the PDF with real data.

The plugin adds a PDF Templates menu to the WordPress admin and new actions to the Elementor form: PDF, PDF 2, PDF 3 and so on (one per document) and Redirect Download PDF.

2. What the PDF Will Contain

Block	Content	Merge tags
Header	Your site name, “QUOTE REQUEST” and the date the request arrived	`Yee Add-ons`, `October 30, 2026`
Contact details	Name, company, email, phone	`[field id='name']`, `[field id='company']`, `[field id='email']`, `[field id='phone']`
Project	Service, budget, preferred start date, project details	`[field id='service']`, `[field id='budget']`, `[field id='start']`, `[field id='details']`
Footer	What happens next, site URL and contact email	`[field id='email']`, `https://add-ons.org`, `[email protected]`

Each Elementor field becomes a merge tag [field id='…'], where the ID is the field’s ID in the form editor (Form Fields → field → Advanced → ID). [all-fields] prints every submitted field as a table if you want a quick “copy of the submission” PDF.

3. Create the PDF Template

Step 1: Name the template and choose the form

Go to PDF Templates → Add New. A Setup PDF Template window opens: enter a Template Name (“Quote Request Summary”) and pick the Target Form. The list shows every Elementor form on your site as form name – widget ID (page). Choosing the form tells the builder which merge tags to offer.

The Setup PDF Template window with the template name Quote Request Summary, the target form Quote Request on the Request a Quote page and the starter templates — Template name, target form and a starter template.

Step 2: Start from Blank (or a starter template)

Hover Blank and click Import. The starter templates (Quotation Request, Agreement, Inspection Services, CV, invoices…) are a good shortcut; we start from Blank to show every step.

The empty PDF builder with the Elements panel on the left and an empty A4 page — The builder: elements on the left, the page in the middle, Preview and Save at the top.

Step 3: Add the header

Drag a Text/HTML element onto the page. Click it, open Code in the editor and paste a two-column table: the site name on the left, the title and date on the right. Inline styles keep the builder canvas and the PDF identical.

<table width="100%"><tr>
<td><span style="font-size: 22px;"><strong>Yee Add-ons</strong></span></td>
<td align="right"><span style="font-size: 20px; color: #f15a29;"><strong>QUOTE REQUEST</strong></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280;">Received on October 30, 2026</span></td>
</tr></table>

The header block with the site name on the left and QUOTE REQUEST with the received date on the right — The header block.

Step 4: Add the contact and project details

Drag two more Text/HTML elements below the header, one for Contact details and one for Project. Each one is an orange band and a two-column table of label / merge tag. New elements are added below the last one, so build the page from top to bottom.

The contact details block: an orange band and rows for name, company, email and phone filled from the sample submission — Contact details. The canvas already shows values from the sample submission.

The project block with service, budget, preferred start date and project details — Project details.

Step 5: Insert merge tags from the Shortcodes menu

You don’t have to type the tags. In the text editor, open Shortcodes → Elementor Form: it lists All Submitted Fields and every field of the target form. Click one to insert it at the cursor. The General, User and PDF menus add site, date, user and page-number tags.

The Shortcodes menu open in the text editor with the Elementor Form submenu listing All Submitted Fields, Full Name, Email, Phone, Company, Service, Budget, Preferred start date and Project details — Shortcodes → Elementor Form lists the fields of the target form.

Step 6: Add the footer, choose a sample and save

Add a last Text/HTML element with a “What happens next?” line and your contact details. In the top bar, the second drop-down (Sample to show) lists the latest submissions of the target form: pick one, and the canvas and the preview show real data. Click Save, then Preview to open the PDF.

The finished template with the footer block — The finished template.

The saved template showing the sample submission of Daniel Carter from Northwind Coffee — Saved, previewed with a real submission.

4. Connect the Template to the Elementor Form

Step 7: Add the PDF action

Edit the page with Elementor, click the form and open Actions After Submit. Add PDF to the actions. Keep Collect Submissions (so the PDF link is stored with each entry) and Email (so the PDF can be attached).

Actions After Submit with Collect Submissions, PDF and Email — Actions After Submit: Collect Submissions, PDF, Email.

Step 8: Fill in PDF Settings

A new PDF Settings section appears. Choose the template and a file name, then click Update (or Publish).

The PDF Settings section: Choose PDF Template Quote Request Summary, PDF Name quote-request-[field id=name], empty password, Attach PDF in email on, empty list of attached emails, Save PDF to Dropbox off — PDF Settings for the quote form.

Setting	Value in this guide	What it does
Choose PDF Template	Quote Request Summary	The template from section 3. Each template shows its ID, e.g. (1881).
PDF Name	`quote-request-[field id="name"]`	File name without .pdf; merge tags allowed. Daniel Carter gets quote-request-Daniel-Carter.pdf.
PDF Password	empty	Optional. See How to Password-Protect Elementor Form PDFs.
Attach PDF in email	Yes	Attaches the PDF to the form’s Email (and Email 2) actions.
List of attached emails	empty	Empty = every email gets the PDF. Enter addresses or merge tags to attach it only to those recipients.
Save PDF to Dropbox	No	Uploads a copy to Dropbox once you connect the Dropbox API in the plugin settings.
Conditional Logic	—	Create the PDF only when fields match rules; requires the free Conditional Logic for Elementor Forms add-on.

5. Test the Form

Open the page, fill in the form and submit it. The visitor sees your normal success message; behind the scenes the plugin renders the PDF and Elementor sends it with the email.

The Request a Quote form filled in by Daniel Carter from Northwind Coffee — The form on the front end.

The success message Thanks! Your request has been sent. — Submitted.

The email to [email protected] now carries quote-request-Daniel-Carter.pdf. (The screenshot shows a test inbox; on a live site it arrives in your mailbox.)

The notification email New quote request from Daniel Carter with the attachment quote-request-Daniel-Carter.pdf — The admin email with the PDF attached.

The generated quote request PDF with the header, contact details, project details and next steps — The generated PDF.

6. Where the PDF Files Are Stored

Generated files are saved in wp-content/uploads/pdfs/downloads/<random folder>/. The random folder name makes the URL hard to guess.
The link is added to the submission (Elementor → Submissions → entry → PDF) when Collect Submissions is on.
PDF Templates → Settings lets you change the storage folder, turn off the random folder, add custom paper sizes, upload .ttf fonts and choose Do not save PDFs on the server (the file is deleted right after it is attached to the email, so there is no download link afterwards).

7. Tips

Use field IDs you can read. Rename IDs like field_3a2b1c to company before building the template; changing them later breaks the merge tags.
Inline styles. The canvas ignores the template’s Custom CSS, inline styles look the same in the builder and in the PDF.
Tables for layout. mPDF, the PDF engine, handles tables best; avoid floats and flexbox.
Start from a starter template when you need an invoice, quotation or agreement layout quickly.
More than one PDF? Add the PDF 2, PDF 3… actions, each with its own template (see How to Create Multiple PDFs from One Elementor Form).

8. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does it work with the free version of Elementor?

The Form widget belongs to Elementor Pro, so you need Elementor Pro. The PDF plugin itself is free; some builder elements (QR code, barcode, signature, table, page break) are part of the Pro version of the PDF plugin.

Why does my PDF show [field id=…] instead of the value?

The ID in the tag does not match the field ID in the form, or the template was built for another form. Pick the right Target Form and insert the tags from Shortcodes → Elementor Form.

Can the visitor download the PDF right after submitting?

Yes: add the Redirect Download PDF action. See How to Let Users Download a PDF After Submitting an Elementor Form.

Can I send the PDF only to the customer?

Yes: enter the email field tag in List of attached emails. See How to Attach a PDF to Elementor Form Emails.

Which paper sizes are supported?

A0–A10 and B0–B10 in portrait or landscape, plus your own sizes in millimetres under PDF Templates → Settings → Custom PDF Paper (one size per line, e.g. 216,279 for US Letter).

More Elementor Forms PDF Guides

Plugin: PDF for Elementor Forms + Drag And Drop Template Builder on WordPress.org · Pro version