Convert to PDF with merge templates

The PDF converter settings allow you to set up templates that can convert documents to a PDF and, optionally, append workflow information such as the sign off sheet, approver names, approval date, workflow name, metadata, and so on, after a particular workflow activity has been completed. The following document types can be converted to PDF: docx, doc, dot, docm, dotx, dotm, html, rtf, txt, and pdf.

If appending workflow information to the end of the converted PDF document, merge templates are used to define the appended information. One or many templates can be configured, depending on the type of information that is required to be a part of the approved document. Note that for “not approved” or “approval postponed” documents, template information is not appended.

When the system converts a document to a PDF during the workflow process, a new version of the document is added to the library.

Information can be appended to electronic documents, electronic records, and offline documents. The offline document is converted to an electronic document format and the appended workflow information becomes the document content.

These templates are created in Microsoft Word and saved in the FileHold library. Once in the FileHold library, a saved search is configured that points to the list of templates. In the PDF converter settings, the saved search name, the opening and closing delimiters, and field delimiter is defined. When the template document is being added, it is checked for headers and or footers.

If a header or footer is not present in the template, the source document (docx only) will be checked for the corresponding header or footer.
If a header or footer is found in the source document (docx only), it will be used to replace the empty header or footer in the template.

When setting up workflow templates, the PDF converter template is applied along with other settings. See the following steps that are required to set up PDF converter templates:

Create the PDF merge templates in Microsoft Word. Save as Microsoft Word docx files. Sample templates can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
Create a schema for the PDF converter templates in FileHold.
Add PDF merge templates to the FileHold library.
Create a public saved search for the PDF converter templates.
Configure the PDF converter settings in Library configuration > Settings > Workflow.
Create workflow templates and configure options to convert to PDF.
Initiate workflows.

Appending workflow information to a document using a PDF converter template is entirely optional. If you want to convert the document to a PDF and append no information during a workflow process, then no PDF converter templates are required.

Only main workflow documents will be converted to PDF. Supporting documents remain in their native format.

If choosing to append workflow information to the end of main documents, a number of options are available for configuration. PDF encryption enables you to securely protect the content of your PDF file from unwanted viewers and against unwanted actions like printing, selecting text, etc. A PDF digital signature enables you to authenticate a document to establish that the sender of the document is who they say they are and the content of the document has not been tampered with.

The ability to link metadata and system values using merge tags to document properties in a Microsoft Word document is available. When the document is converted to PDF, the current metadata values are displayed in the resulting PDF. For more information about using merge tags with Microsoft Word documents, see Using merge tags with Microsoft Word document properties.

If a document is converted to a PDF during the workflow process, a global option, “Convert2PdfApproveBothDocumentVersions”, in the web.config file in C:\Program Files\FileHold Systems\Application Server\LibraryManager can be configured to allow the option of recording both the source document and the newly created PDF as approved. If this option is not enabled, the new created PDF document is the only document shown as approved. If it is enabled, the source document is also be marked as approved and both documents are linked to the signoff sheet and workflow history.

Configure the PDF converter settings

These settings are only required to be filled out if you are using PDF converter templates. If you don't want to append workflow information to the end of a document, then these settings can be ignored.

To set converter settings

In the Administration Panel, go to Library Configuration > Settings > Workflow.
In the PDF Converter settings area, set the following options:

Setting	Description
Choose the list of workflow merge templates	Select the public saved search template name for the PDF converter templates. See the End User Guide for more information on creating saved searches.
Set the workflow merge template opening tag delimiter	Enter the opening tag delimiter for the PDF converter template. By default, this is `[[` (left square brackets).
Set the workflow merge template closing tag delimiter	Enter the closing tag delimiter for the PDF converter template. By default, this is `]]` (right square brackets).
Set the workflow merge template tag field delimiter	Enter the field delimiter. By default, this is `\|` (pipe character);

Click Update.

Setting the PDF options in a workflow template

When creating a workflow template, the converter settings can be customized for each workflow template.

To set the PDF options

Create or modify a workflow template and select the Convert main documents to PDF check box.
Use the following table to fill out the following information:

Field	Default value	Description
Append page(s) from template	None	Select the workflow template name from the list. The list of converter templates come from the saved search defined in the workflow settings. See the System Administration Guide for more information on the workflow settings. If this value is set to none in workflow settings, the template designer will not be able to choose a merge template. Regardless of the contents of the saved search definition, only DOCX files will appear in the list.
Digital signature	False	A PDF digital signature enables you to authenticate a document to establish that the sender of the document is who they say they are and the content of the document has not been tampered with. If true, the document will be packaged in a digital signature envelope.
Digital signature certificate	First certificate in alphabetical order	The list of certificates as stored on the server in a predetermined certificate store. This field is only enabled if digital signature is true. The specific certificate store is defined in "C2PDFCertificateStore" in the web.config file in C:\Program Files\FileHold Systems\Application Server\LibraryManager. This field cannot be blank if digital signature is true. Creating a self-signed certificate is fairly straight forward. If you require a certficiate that can be publicly verified you will need to work with a public certificate authority. FileHold does not support using a HAL for accessing the certificate. If your certificate authority requires one, you will not be able to use this feature. In this case you should consider using an external signature provider.
Allow printing	True	Allows printing.
Allow high resolution printing	True	Allows high resolution printing.
Allow changing the document	False	Allows changing the document.
Allow content copying	True	Allows copying the content.
All content accessibility enabled	True	Allow accessibility software to use the document contents.
Allow document assembly	False	If this is disabled, inserting, deleting or rotating pages, or thumbnails is prohibited.
Permissions password	Automatically generated	Specifies the password for opening the encrypted PDF document without any access restrictions. This field will be automatically generated if one or more of the permissions is false. The user can enter their own password to replace the automatically generated one. Generated PDF documents will be encrypted if any of the following conditions are satisfied: Permissions is different than All. Permissions Password is not null or Empty. Open Password is not null or Empty. Both Permissions Password and Open Password are optional but with the following consequences: If Permissions is different than All and Permissions Password is not specified, component will generate random Permissions Password. Using Permissions Password, also known as owner password, without Open Password is not secure. It relies on PDF viewer software to respect specified restrictions, but it may choose not to do so. Using Open Password, also known as user password, is potentially very secure. It or Permissions Password is required for decrypting and viewing the document. When Open Password is specified, PDF viewer application will prompt for password to decrypt and present the document. If entered password is Open Password, document will be decrypted and presented with specified Permissions enforced. Otherwise, if entered password is Permissions Password, document will be decrypted and presented without any restrictions. Open Password and Permissions Password cannot be equal, otherwise exception is thrown.
Open password	None	Specifies the password required for opening the encrypted PDF document. See Permissions password rules for more information.

Click OK.

Creating PDF merge templates

PDF merge templates are created in Microsoft Word and saved in the FileHold library as docx files. Merge tags can be added to the template to strategically place system, workflow or metadata information into the converted document.

The merge tags will be delimited from static text in the template by unique character sequences that can be globally reconfigured as needed. By default, the opening delimiter will be “[[“. The closing delimiter will be “]]”. Tags include multiple delimited fields. By default, the field delimiter will be a pipe “|”. The defaults can be adjusted in workflow settings.

Several kinds of merge tags can be used to create PDF merge templates. See Merge Tags for more information.