Saving a PDF from Text to Google Drive with Preserved Formatting
Google Drive API does not support direct creation of a formatted PDF file from plain text.
However, you can achieve the desired result through a simple workaround: first create a Google Docs file from the text, then export it as a PDF, preserving formatting such as line breaks, lists, and headings.
🔧 Step-by-step guide
Step 1 — Create a Google Docs file from text
To begin, use one of the following nodes to create a document in Google Docs format
- Google Drive → Create new file from text
- Google Docs → Create new document from text
✅ On successful creation, these nodes will return the fileId of the new document — this is what you’ll use in the next step to export it as a PDF.
Step 2 — Export the document as PDF and save it to Drive
Paste the code below into a JavaScript node to export the document and save it as a PDF. This step also deletes the original .gdoc file after export.
/** @CustomParams
{
"accessToken": {
"title": "Google Drive Access Token",
"key": "accessToken",
"type": "string"
},
"fileId": {
"title": "Google Docs File ID",
"key": "fileId",
"type": "string"
},
"pdfFileName": {
"title": "PDF File Name",
"key": "pdfFileName",
"type": "string"
}
}
*/
import { google } from 'googleapis';
import stream from 'stream';
export default async function run({ data }) {
const auth = new google.auth.OAuth2();
auth.setCredentials({ access_token: data.accessToken });
const drive = google.drive({ version: 'v3', auth });
try {
const exportResponse = await drive.files.export(
{
fileId: data.fileId,
mimeType: 'application/pdf'
},
{
responseType: 'stream'
}
);
const bufferStream = new stream.PassThrough();
exportResponse.data.pipe(bufferStream);
const uploadResponse = await drive.files.create({
resource: {
name: data.pdfFileName || 'exported.pdf',
mimeType: 'application/pdf'
},
media: {
mimeType: 'application/pdf',
body: bufferStream
},
fields: 'id, name, webViewLink'
});
const pdfFile = uploadResponse.data;
// ❗ Optional: Delete the original Google Docs file
await drive.files.delete({ fileId: data.fileId });
return {
message: '✅ PDF saved to Google Drive and source document deleted',
pdfFileId: pdfFile.id,
fileName: pdfFile.name,
viewLink: pdfFile.webViewLink
};
} catch (err) {
return {
error: '❌ Failed during export/upload/delete',
details: err.message
};
}
}
✅ Paste this into a JavaScript node, click “Generate Params”, and fill in:
🔁 Workflow summary
- Create a Google Docs file using a built-in Drive/Docs node
- Export it as PDF using a JavaScript node
- Upload the PDF to Drive
- Delete the temporary
.gdocfile after export
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