How to print multiple Airtable records on one page and include them in one document

In this post, I'll show you how to print multiple Airtable records on one page using the Plumsail Documents extension for Airtable. You'll learn how to control the look of your document without dealing with the frustrating limitations of Page Designer. We'll start with an effective method and then briefly touch on the few workarounds that Airtable Page Designer offers for printing multiple records, despite there not being many options.

Airtable’s Page Designer is extremely limited. It can only print one record per page.

Further in the article:

• Step-by-step guide to include multiple Airtable records on one page
  1. Prepare Airtable table with multiple records to print
  2. Add Plumsail Documents extension to print multiple records
  3. Design document template to include multiple Airtable records on one page
  4. Finalize settings in Airtable and print multiple records on one page
  5. Enjoy the flexibility of document creation and formatting in Airtable
• Workarounds for Airtable Page Designer to include multiple records in one document
• Advanced: Automate printing multiple Airtable records on one page with Airtable Automations
• Frequently asked questions
• Get started with Plumsail Documents

Step-by-step guide to include multiple Airtable records on one page

Here is what we'll receive at the end:

 

We'll achieve this with the help of Plumsail Documents. To use its extension in Airtable, you'll need a Plumsail account.

Sign up for a one-month free trial and follow along with the steps in this guide. It’s easy and free to get started! Now, let's take a look at the Airtable base.

1. Prepare Airtable table with multiple records to print

I used the Product Catalog template from the Airtable library to create a base. To show how to print multiple records on one page and in one document, I'll use a Furniture table:

 

2. Add Plumsail Documents extension to print multiple records

The next step is adding the Plumsail Documents extension to our Furniture table.

 

Once added and connected, you'll be able to access tokens associated with this particular table. They represent all the data that this table includes, and we'll use them to configure the document template.

Click 'Show tokens' to access tokens associated with the table

 

The list of tokens available for use as dynamic placeholders for Airtable data

 

By copying and pasting these tokens, we'll create a document template that resembles our Airtable table with the furniture items.

Click to add a new document generation button, and you'll see a dropdown where you can select the document generation process to launch. We'll create a new one and configure the document template to fit our needs, allowing us to print multiple records on one page and include all the records in one document.

3. Design document template to include multiple Airtable records on one page

Inside your Plumsail account, choose to add a new process from blank and select DOCX for the template type (later, we'll set it to convert the resulting document to PDF):

 

Imprortant! To print multiple records on one page and include all the records in one document without breaking it into one record per page, we need to add something to introduce repeating rows, such as a bullet list or a table. Place all the tokens (placeholders for data) inside one row or list point. No token should be placed outside the bullet list or table, as this will result in printing one record per page.

I chose to add a table since we are essentially recreating a table.

And now I'm just copying and pasting all the tokens from Airtable that represent the table's columns, such as Name, Type.name, Images.url, and so on, into one row of my table in the document template like this:

Copying tokens that represent table columns

 

Pasting these tokens into a table row inside the document template

 

To handle images and checkboxes for the 'In Stock' column, I will use a minor trick and add special formatters to process and display the data correctly in the resulting document.

• For handling images, I add the picture formatter like this: {{Images.url}:picture(100)}. This lets the templating engine know that we're passing an image and want to set its width to 100 pixels. Learn more about How the picture formatter works.
• For the 'In Stock' token, I add the checkbox formatter like this: {{InStock}:checkbox}. Depending on the incoming data, the templating engine will either mark it or leave it unmarked. See How the checkbox formatter works.

Image and Checkbox formatters added to tokens

Save the template. In the Configure Template step, switch to Production mode to remove the Plumsail watermark. Then, choose PDF as the output format.

 

Additionally, you can choose to send the resulting document by email or store it in the cloud. Check the full list of available delivery options. Now, we move back to Airtable to finalize the settings, test it out, and print multiple Airtable records on one page and include them in one document.

 

4. Finalize settings in Airtable and print multiple records on one page

Back to Airtable, the only thing left to do is finalize the settings for the button that will print multiple records on one page and include them in one document. In the button settings:

• Select the process we've just created.
• Feel free to name the button however you like.
• Choose to generate one aggregated document when you select multiple records, and add the button.

 

Let's test it out! First, I've filtered the table by Type to show only Chairs, focusing specifically on these items for our test. The goal is to print all the Chair records in one document. Then, I selected all the records:

 

Click the button to print these multiple records in one document. And here is the result! Multiple Airtable records are printed on one page, and all the records fit into one document.

 

You can customize the document template layout to fit your needs and print multiple records on one page just the way you want. Just make sure to put all the tokens in one table row or bullet list point. This way, the templating engine will automatically duplicate each record's content and add table rows or list points.

5. Enjoy the flexibility of document creation and formatting in Airtable

Our template included an image and a checkbox, which seamlessly transferred into our final document. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The Plumsail Documents extension for Airtable offers a world of possibilities. Here are a few highlights:

• Versatile format support: Whether it's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF forms, or more, Plumsail has you covered. We used a Word template with automated PDF conversion, but if another format suits your needs better, go for it!
• Ultimate design flexibility: Enjoy working with familiar formats. Design your documents any way you like—change orientation, tweak margins, experiment with different fonts and colors—the possibilities are endless.
• Rich text field support: Keep the exact formatting from Airtable in your documents with the Markdown formatter. Your rich text fields will look just as good in the final document.
• QR codes and barcodes: Need to transform Airtable data into QR codes or barcodes? Special formatters make it easy: QR codes; barcodes.
• Extensive delivery options: No need to set up additional automated workflows. You can deliver resulting documents by email, store them in the cloud, or use e-signature options, all managed from one account.

Workarounds for Airtable Page Designer to include multiple records in one document

Since it's a common issue that Airtable Page Designer block users face, there are many community threads where people discuss and share possible workarounds for using Page Designer to print multiple records on one page and include them in one document. I've collected the most popular solutions for you. Check them out.

Trick Page Designer about layout

Another option is to build a "page" in Page Designer that’s just big enough for a single record. In a test, I made a custom record size that’s 927 x 20 pixels. I arranged the fields that I wanted in that space, then printed the page. In the page printing dialog, I set the page size to Letter. For the Record Layout option, I got acceptable results with both "In a grid" and "In a list," though the former put a little more padding between records.

This approach isn't perfect because it limits your control over the design and layout. Another issue is that Airtable Page Designer treats each record as a new page, even when printing multiple records on the same piece of paper. This means any header or footer elements will repeat with each record.

Check the full discussion on this workaround in the Airtable community topic Multiple Records with Page designer block?

Add a table of linked records onto one page

This workaround was suggested in the Airtable community topic View multiple records by an Airtable expert Scott Rose.

You can add a table of linked records onto your page, but all the linked records together cannot exceed one page. You could try making your one page extremely tall (vertically), but you would have to figure out how to deal with the page breaks.

This approach has a similar limitation to the previous one. Each page will include the same static elements, meaning you can't have a single master header or footer for the entire document.

These are two main workarounds. Feel free to try them, ask the Airtable community, they are extremely helpful. Otherwise, use the straightforward approach with the Plumsail Documents extension.

Advanced: Automate printing multiple Airtable records on one page with Airtable Automations

In this section, we'll briefly explore an advanced scenario where we automate the process of printing multiple Airtable records in one document using Airtable Automations. Here is what the Automation workflow will look like in the end:

 

Let's review each step.

1. Trigger: At a scheduled time. For the trigger, I've set the automation to run each day at 10 in the morning.

2. Action: Find records. Next, I need to access all the records in the Furniture table view. For this, I use the 'Find records' action and configure it to find all the records in the Furniture table based on the view as follows:

 

3. Action: Run script. The last step is to run the script that launches the same document generation process as the button we previously configured. Go back to the Airtable base, open the button settings, and under Advanced, you will see the option to generate the script.

 

Copy this script and paste it into the 'Run script' step in the automation.

 

 

The final step is to adjust and finalize the script to print all the records in one document and fit multiple records on one page:

• The const recordId line should refer to multiple record IDs like this:

  const recordId = config.recordIds;
  

• Replace the value for the const payload line with the following:

  const payload = await Promise.all(recordId.map((id) => {
  return getPayload(id, rootTable, tokens);
  }));
  

• Add an input variable called recordIds, and for its value, select the output of the 'Find records' action – a list of Airtable record ID.

 

Test it out and that is it! This automation will print multiple Airtable records on one page, fitting them all into a single document.

Frequently asked questions

Below are short answers to the most frequently asked questions. If you have any others, you're more than welcome to leave a reply under the post.

Is it possible to get multiple records on same page with Page Designer block?

Yes, it is possible with workarounds. While the Airtable Page Designer block doesn't natively support printing multiple records on the same page and only allows one record per page, you can trick the block by modifying the layout or creating an aggregating record. Alternatively, third-party solutions like Plumsail Documents support this functionality.

Can I get more than one record on a page in the Page Designer app?

The Page Designer block in Airtable doesn't allow for more than one record per page. There are some workarounds, such as modifying the layout to combine records or creating an aggregate record. For a more seamless solution, consider using third-party tools like Plumsail Documents that support this feature.

How to include multiple Airtable records on one page?

To print multiple records on one page, use the Plumsail Documents extension with your Airtable table. Set up a template where Airtable tokens are inside repeating elements like table rows or bullet points. This way, all records fit into one document. If you prefer, you can also adjust the layout in the Page Designer app to combine records.

Get started with Plumsail Documents

Curious to test out all the possibilities of Plumsail Documents? Sign up for a one-month free trial.

If you have any questions, you're welcome to book a call with our team.