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Best answer

How do I pull the Airtable text into Google Docs without losing its formatting?

I
Userlevel 1

Hi there.

I have a zap working like this:

  1. Receive responses to Typeform survey
  2. Create record in Airtable
  3. (Airtable looks up formatted text associated with response - eg. Answer A = Text 1)
  4. Create doc from text in Google Docs

The problem is, when Zapier pulls the Airtable text into the Google Doc it looses its formatting (headings, bold, bullets, etc).

Is there a solution that brings the formatting with? Or can I do something to reformat the text after it’s inserted into the Google Doc?

I looked at the Formatter but its capabilities are too limited for this task.

Thank you

icon

Best answer by Troy Tessalone 26 May 2022, 16:47

View original
This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.

7 replies

Satya09
Userlevel 4
Badge +6

Hello @itsame 

Interesting usecase. Did you try customizing the Google Doc Template with the fonts/Bold,etc with the merge tags you add ?

I
Userlevel 1

Thanks for the reply @Satya09 

It’s not using merge tags. Rather it’s pulling the formatted text from within an Airtable cell and inserting that into the Google Doc.

For reference, the text looks a bit like…

 

Heading

Paragraph of text

  • Bullet point 1

 

I’m not sure if I could achieve the same result with merge tags, but I’ll look into this.

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @itsame 

The Zap action GDoc Create Doc from Template does not support HTML, but the Zap action GDoc Create Doc from Text does support HTML.

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
I
Userlevel 1

Hi @Troy Tessalone 

It’s currently using the Create Doc From Text action.

If I format the Airtable cell text in HTML (assuming I can do that), will it show the HTML code in the Google Doc when inserted, or will it format it automatically? I’m unfamiliar with this (and an HTML novice).

Thank you

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@itsame 

The HTML would have to be configured in the Airtable Long Text field and/or in the Zap step.

Resource about HTML: https://www.w3schools.com/html/

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
I
Userlevel 1

Okay, will give it a go. Thanks @Troy Tessalone 

I
Userlevel 1

I formatted the Airtable text using HTML and it successfully appeared in the Google Doc as formatted text.

Thanks @Troy Tessalone!

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