At Apsona, we’re always looking for ways to make your workflows smoother and your outputs more professional. Recently, we rolled out an enhanced PDF server that has transformed how rich text fields behave in merged documents.
Why does this matter?
Because rich text isn’t just text—it’s how you structure, format, and present important information to your stakeholders. From tables and bold headings to hyperlinks and line breaks, formatting matters.
In the past, many of you faced frustrations when your carefully crafted templates didn’t translate into the merged output. With this release, those pain points are gone. Let’s walk through the before vs. after to show you the improvements.
1. Table Formatting: Borders that Stay Put
Problem: When merging records with tables inside rich text fields, the formatting didn’t survive the journey. Borders disappeared, tables collapsed into each other, and layouts became messy.
Before:
- Tables lost their borders and alignment.
- Multiple tables sometimes merged incorrectly.
After:
- Tables now appear exactly as designed—bordered or borderless.
- Layout integrity is preserved, making your documents look polished.
Outcome: Your tables now look professional and reliable, just as you intended.
2. Extra Paragraph Spacing in PDFs
Problem: A single line break in your template showed up as a double space in PDF outputs. Word and HTML looked fine, but PDFs doubled the gaps.
Before:
- A single paragraph break = two line spaces in the PDF.
- Documents looked stretched and inconsistent.
After:
- PDF output now respects the original template.
- Paragraphs and spacing look clean and consistent.
Outcome: No more awkward white spaces—your PDFs now match your template exactly.
3. Bold Text that Stays Bold
Problem: Text marked bold in your template lost its weight in the PDF. Headings and emphasis became plain text, weakening readability.
Before:
- Bold text in rich text fields appeared as regular text in PDFs.
After:
- Bold formatting is preserved.
- Merged PDFs now reflect the original template styling.
Outcome: Important details and emphasis now shine through, just as you wrote them.
4. Clickable Hyperlinks in DOCX Outputs
Problem: Hyperlinks in rich text fields—whether a titled link like YouTube or a raw URL like google.com—appeared as plain text in DOCX merges. They weren’t clickable, making your documents less interactive.
Before:
- Links appeared as plain text.
- No clickable functionality in DOCX outputs.
After:
- Hyperlinks are preserved and functional in DOCX.
- Both titled links and raw URLs now work correctly.
Outcome: Your documents are more useful—links can be clicked directly, saving readers time.
5. Respecting Line Breaks (<br> Tags)
Problem: When a rich text or formula field included an HTML <br> line break, the merged output ignored it. Instead of splitting into two lines, the text appeared in one long line.
Before:
- Example: Brace Sargent <br>Falcon Transportation appeared as “Brace Sargent Falcon Transportation.”
- Line break was ignored.
After:
- Line breaks are preserved as expected.
- Output displays:
Brace Sargent
Falcon Transportation
Outcome: Your merged documents now honor the structure of your data fields.
Why This Matters for You
With these enhancements, your merged documents are:
- More reliable → What you see in the template is what you get in the output.
- More professional → No formatting errors undermining your communication.
- More usable → With clickable links and clean formatting, your documents now work harder for you.
This release reflects our ongoing commitment to making Apsona not just powerful, but also delightful to use.
Stay tuned—we’re just getting started.
