What is a PDF Template?

PDF is a file format that is widely used for consistent formatting and the ability to view a form. A PDF Template is a form that can be pre-populated using data that was entered previously or can be a fillable form where the user inputs the data. These are especially important for government required forms that need to be stored. You must provide or download a fillable PDF in order to add and use it in your system. if you have a PDF that you want to make fillable, there are programs that you can find online. There are also downloadable fillable PDFs online. You can include these fillable PDFs in your onboarding process using Process Revisions.

Adding a PDF Template is similar to adding an image, in that they must be uploaded into your system in order to use them anywhere in the onboarding process.

There are two ways how a PDF Template can be used in onboarding.  They can be directly included in the process through Process Revision or added as a part of Smart Form and then applied to the business process through Process Revision.

How do you add a PDF Template?

Create a Content Revision or modify a Content Revision that is In Progress.

Click the Menu icon and then select Create Revision link under Revisions.

Click on Add a New Value.

Select Content as the Type, and enter the Revision Date, Description and Business Process ID.

Click Reserve.

Click Configure.

Click on Add for the content type PDF Templates.

The PDF Template Form is displayed as below.

Enter form fields and then click Upload.

Click on Choose File.

Choose a fillable PDF file.

Click Upload.

You can click on View if you would like to see how the PDF would look in another tab.

The form also previews below.

Double click on the field to open the field properties.  You can edit field label on clicking fillable label. By default, the pre-fill data is selected as 'No'.

When you change pre-fill data to Yes, you will see the Global Variable lookup icon. Assign global variable to the field if you want to prepopulate data in it.

If you leave the pre-fill data as 'No', the user will be able to enter the fields into the PDF form at runtime.

Click on the lookup icon. The Lookup binds popup is presented.

Navigate through the list of binds, then click on one of the binds that has the data that you want to show in this field.  Click First Name Last Name.

Click OK.

Similarly insert binds into all the form fields and Save.

If you want to use PDF Template as BPM activity like a Smart Form, select 'Used for Data Entry' checkbox. This will open up few more entry fields to configure.

Define Form Fields

Enter the PDF Template Form information. Refer to the chart below for information on the fields.

Field	Behavior
PDF Name	Name that describes the PDF Form
Description	To find the PDF Form easily, name it accordingly
Output File Name	Save the PDF Form to a file
Participant Pool	The Role Type that will see the PDF Form
Required/Optional	Required: the user needs to complete the form before continuing Optional: the user has the option to complete the form. The system will allow the user to proceed with the process and complete Submit to HR even without completing the optional activity.
Allow Bypass	By selecting this the user will have the bypass enabled for the form The user must submit the bypass activity and acknowledge the form to continue with the process
Override Save Button Label	The label on the button that the user must click in order to save or continue The default label is 'e-sign,' so if you leave this field blank, it will say 'e-sign' Examples of replacement labels: Acknowledge Agree
Enable I Agree	By selecting this the user acknowledges the information provided on the form
Acknowledge text	This field is displayed when the user selects the check box of 'Enable I Agree' label
Enable Print	Yes: the page will contain an icon that will allow the user to print the form No: the user will not be able to print the form
Print Source	This field only shows up if you click on 'Yes' for Enable Print Current Form: it will print in the form that the file is originally in PDF Template: selecting this will spawn another field below it Clicking on the lookup will pull up all of the PDF Templates that are in your system
File Name	The PDF file name uploaded

Scroll down to the bottom and click Save.

On the Content Revision page, you can see the summary of what you modified. For content type PDF Templates under Content Metrics, there will also be the number of individual templates that were changed.

Click on Return to Manage Revision.

Click on Apply.

The new PDF Template is available to be used in the onboarding process.

How do you modify a PDF Template?

You should modify a PDF Template when the PDF needs to be updated, changed, or renamed. Modifying allow you to change the Description, the entire PDF, and pre-populated field binds.

Create a Content Revision or modify a Content Revision that is In Progress.

Click on Review/Update for the content type PDF Templates.

Click on the Content Name that correlates to the PDF Template you want to modify.

Change any information/details that requires changes. After the changes have been made, click Save.

Click on Return.

Click on Return to Manage Revision.

Click on Apply,

How do you add a PDF Template to the onboarding process?

There are two ways how you can add a PDF Template to the onboarding process.

• Add PDF Template in the process through Process Revision.
• Add PDF Template to the Smart Form and then include the Smart Form in the process through Process Revision.

(I) Add PDF Template in the process through Process Revision

Create a new Process Revision or use an in progress Process Revision. Click on Configure Business Process Rules.

Click on Add under the onboarding step that you want the PDF Template/Form to appear.

Check the Select box for the one(s) that you added. Then click OK. 

The new activity shows under the onboarding step. Click on the activity that you just added.

There are two options for routing: Always Route and Route if criteria is met.

Route if criteria is met allows you to limit who can see the activity in their onboarding process.

Always Route means that it will show for all users in the Participant Pool.

In this example, check Always Route.

On the Business Process Rules page, scroll down and click Save.

Back on the Process Revision page, click Return to Manage Revision.

Click Apply.

At run time, the PDF Template is seen in the candidate process as shown below.

Example: PDF Tempalte as fillable form

While creating the PDF Template, lets take pre-fill data for Name and Gender as 'Yes' and other fields as 'No'. 

At run time, the Name and Gender fields will have the data prepopulated and the other fields are to be filled as shown below.

(II) Add PDF Template to the Smart Form and then include the Smart Form in the process through Process Revision.

Create a Content Revision or modify a Content Revision that is In Progress.

Click on Add for the content type Smart Forms.

Enter the required fields.

Select PDF Template for Print Source.

Click on the lookup icon for PDF Template.

Select a PDF Template.

You can view the PDF Template by clicking on the box with the arrow going out of it, next to the file name.

Enter text to be presented to the user. Click on Save.

Click on Return to Manage Revision.

Click on Apply.

Now, create a new Process Revision or use an in progress Process Revision. Click on Configure Business Process Rules.

Click on Add under the onboarding step that you want the PDF Template/Form to appear.

Check the Select box for the one(s) that you added. Then click OK. 

The new activity shows under the onboarding step. Click on the activity that you just added and select the routing criteria.

There are two options for routing: Always Route and Route if criteria is met.

Route if criteria is met allows you to limit who can see the activity in their onboarding process.

Always Route means that it will show for all users in the Participant Pool.

In this example, check Always Route.

On the Business Process Rules page, scroll down and click Save.

Back on the Process Revision page, click Return to Manage Revision.

Click on Apply.

At runtime, the form that we added shows in the candidate process as shown below.

Once the process is complete, you can see the PDF Template that we added in the Smart Form as the Print Source. Click on the Download Signed Forms.

The PDF template is printed as below.

How do you enable bypass option in a PDF Template/Form?

You can enable bypass option while defining a new PDF Tempalte or modifying an existing one. Check Allow Bypass option on the PDF Form.

When the option is set, the participant pool that will see the PDF Template, will have the ability to bypass this activity. So it is the users choice that they can either complete the activiy or opt for bypass.

When the PDF Form appears in the New Hire process, the New Hire will have the ability to bypass the activity. 

Click on the Bypass Activity gadget on the right corner of the page.

Enter you comments and click Submit.

The completed bypass activity is shown as below. After the activity is bypassed, the user can still complete the activity if they want to.