 | Autocrat allows you to merge spreadsheet data to generate documents/PDFs |
|---|---|
 | Intended for Employees and Students |
 | Categorized under Classroom Technology and Systems |
 | Maintained by Matthijs van Mierlo |
 | Up-to-date for the 2022-2023 school year. |
How can I use Autocrat with Google Sheets?
Autocrat is an extension for Google Sheets that helps generate Google Docs or PDFs from existing Google Sheet entries. For example: Mr. V created a Google Form to collect bake sale information, and wanted to create individual PDF files from the Google Form responses. This is a perfect use-case for Autocrat. Autocrat will take the Google Sheet data and use a template Google Doc with placeholders to autogenerate documents and save them to your Google Drive. Autocrat is also capable of sending emails based on form data. Explore the resources below if you would like to learn more about this!
The general workflow is below for using Autocrat with Google Form submissions, one of the most common applications and use cases:
- Create a Google Form
- Receive Google Form responses
- Create a template Google Doc with placeholders for information from the spreadsheet (linked to the Google Form)
- Create an Autocrat job and map the placeholders to existing columns in the spreadsheet
- Choose to generate either Google Docs or PDFs for each entry. You have the option for separate documents or collating responses into a single document!
- Run the Autocrat job once or set it to run on a trigger (like a new form submission)
- See the document(s) in your Google Drive folder, and you are done!
How can I learn to use Autocrat?
There are many online resources available to learn Autocrat. One that we recommend is the following website which walks you through Autocrat setup and more for simple Google Forms.
Autocrat is a wonderful tool that takes some time to learn, if you have questions about this feel free to reach out to a member of the Tech Team so that we can guide you through setting this up. You can either submit a ticket, come to the Tech Tables in the cafeteria during help desk, or dial x50 on a campus phone. We are here to help!
What are some tips for using Autocrat?
- In your template, specify placeholders using << SOME NAME >>. You will map this placeholder to existing column headers in your Google Sheet data source.
- When you edit an Autocrat job, you can choose to generate Google Docs or PDF files. The choice is yours!
- If you create an email template within the Autocrat job, you can use the placeholder tags (ex. <<SOME NAME>>) to send customized emails based on data in your spreadsheet.
- You can automatically run Autocrat on form triggers, which is an option in the Autocrat job settings (when you edit a job).