Easy PDF

Professional Messaging for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Getting Started with Easy PDF

User Guide

About this Document

This guide is a primer to acquaint the reader with the product for first use.
It provides the reader sufficient background to use the basic features of the product.

For additional description of product features please see:

Administrator Guide Registration, Setup and User Management

Getting Started Product Guides

Available on the website at: [Link]

For questions, assistance, product demonstration, or anything else...

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at:

By email: support@[Link]
On the web: [Link]
By phone: +1 (407) 260-0834 (8-5pm EST)
 Easy PDF
Professional Messaging for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

About the Product

Easy PDF is a productivity tool.
It strives to add compelling enhancements to Business Central Messaging.
Easy PDF has the following main features:
1. Integrated Messaging - Customizable HTML email tightly integrated with the Business Central
User Interface to enhance the messaging workflow.
2. Batch - A popular feature that enables automated queuing of documents for review, print and
delivery (e.g.., Posted Sales Invoice, Customer Statement, etc.).
3. History – An audit trail of all messages initiated from Easy PDF.
4. Mail Account Management – With Easy PDF an unlimited number of mail accounts can be
defined. This feature can be used to brand email (e.g., From: Sales Dept, Contoso, From:
Purchasing Dept, Contoso, etc.)
5. Address Book – Easy PDF supports email distribution lists on a per Customer/Vendor/Contact,
or per Document basis.
6. Printing – Easy PDF adds support for printing directly to your local printers. This feature saves
you mouse clicks and helps you focus on the task at hand.
7. Email Signatures – automatically add your signature to outbound email. A signature can be any
TEXT or HTML snippet so you can personalize it as you see fit.
8. Additional Attachments or Reports – you can configure Easy PDF to automatically add static
documents (additional attachments such as a Terms and Conditions sheet) or run related
Business Central reports and attach them. This can be defined on a per Customer/Vendor or per
Document type basis.
9. PDF Postprocessor – Easy PDF has an integrated PDF postprocessor that allows you to overlay,
merge, or set properties on the printed PDF attachment.
Easy PDF has many other features that mostly fall into the integration category.
Please see - [Link]
Easy PDF has a rich history, it was initially released as a Dynamics NAV Add-on in 2007 (NAV 3.7).

Before You Start

Before you begin using the product a small bit of setup is required.
If your Administrator gave you access to the product then it is likely already setup for use.
Otherwise, please use the Assisted Setup Wizard to configure the product for first use.

A General Note:
We have put a bit of time into enhancing the online help to provide context sensitive information at
your fingertips. We strongly suggest that, when in doubt, check out the online help first.

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Step 1. – Quick Send any Report as an attachment

One nagging constraint of Business Central is, in many cases, the need to manually print a report then
attach it to an email to send it to someone.

Easy PDF can help you with this, let’s give it a look…

In BC, click Search, enter “Sales History”, select the Sales History report
(if you don’t have access to that report try any another report – but pick one that will actually print
something – else you will get a “no content” error below)

The report Request Page will display.

Fill in the Request Page with filters and parameters to generate the desired content.
In the Printer selection, select the “Easy PDF Send by Email Printer” option.
Press the Print button.

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The report will print, then the Easy PDF Email dialog will display with the printed report attached.

You can click on the attachment name to see the content – a new browser tab will open, close that tab
when you are done reviewing the content.

If you add a recipient email address in the To field, then press the Send button, the email will be sent.
Note: Since we are using the “NULL” mail account – in this case the email is not actually delivered. More
on that later.

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Step 2. -- Send an Email

The primary purpose of Easy PDF is to enrich Business Central Messaging.
So let’s send an email and see if it helps.

Quick note: When first installed Easy PDF creates the “NULL” mail account. This account behaves like a
real mail account; however, you can be 100% assured that any email set using the NULL mail account
WILL NOT leave the system. The NULL mail account is provided for demo and testing purposes.

- Open the Sales Order list page, select an entry, then invoke the ez|Send by Email action.
Note: all Easy PDF actions are prefixed with the label ‘ez|’.

The Easy PDF Email Dialog will display (as below) with:

- A generic Sales Order Confirmation message body (note field merge)

- Sales Order confirmation report (1305) printed and attached
- Primary Mail Account selected (From field)
- Recipient email addresses filled in (To/Cc/Bcc) if the customer had email addresses defined

If you press the Send button the message will be sent.

If you press the Cancel button or press the Escape key the dialog will close without sending.

We won’t describe all the details of the email dialog yet – since we just want to give you a simple
overview – just know, Easy PDF provides A LOT of flexibility for customizing your email.

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Quick note: The Email Dialog is modeled after Desktop Outlook. It attempts to provide similar flexibility
for managing your mail accounts, recipients, and message content – all tightly integrated with the
Business Central client interface.

Assuming the message was sent, now open the Easy PDF History dialog (search for Easy PDF History)

- You should see an entry for the message just sent

- You can resend or review the message from the Manage menu or you can view the attachments
using the Show Attachments action.
- You can search or filter the list as needed to find History entries

- By default, History entries are retained for 30 days. The retention period can be modified in
settings.

OK, that (superficially) covers the most basic feature of Easy PDF, sending email.

We suggest you exercise the features of the Email Dialog to get a taste for its flexibility.
We’ll cover those features in the other guides.

Step 3, let’s create and run a Batch

(Note: you can skip this step if you are not concerned about batch sending documents)

The front office people tend to like this feature because it helps them consolidate their messaging
workload into one screen and provides flexibility for managing message delivery.

In this example we will create a batch of Customer Statements then review them. Optionally, we will
send the batch.

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First, open the Customer list page.

Then invoke the ez|Batch Customer Statement action

- the Customer Statement report (1316) request page will open (this is the default Customer
Statement report – it can be changed in setup)
- fill it in and press OK – it will cycle thru the customers and create a batch based on the input
- the Batch page will open (if there were any statements within the filters & parameters)
it will contain an entry for each customer statement

Using the Batch dialog, you can:

- Preview each Customer Statement before sending (action Report  Show Report)
- Open the Customer Card (action Report  Show Recipient)
- Delete or filter lines (when the batch is sent it operates on the currently filtered view)
- Send a single entry in the batch (Lines  action Send Line)

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Note that all the entries are set to “Print” – because the “Preferred Delivery Method” on each
Customer Card has not yet been set (Print is the default). So, to update the delivery method, select
one or more lines in the batch then invoke the action Set Delivery Method  Email.

Quick Note: You can push that value back to the respective Customer/Vendor cards via the action Set
Delivery Method  Update Recipient Card.

A Quick Comment About Batches

Batches are intended to be a queue for messages that will be handled as a group. Most often,
batches are created from posting other documents (e.g., Sales Order) which result in outward
communications (e.g., Posted Sales Invoice or Posted Sales Shipment). It is likely that numerous
batches will be created throughout the day and then processed toward the end-of-day.

Some finer points about the Batch dialog

Additional Attachments
Extra attachments can be added to all entries in a batch or to individual entries (useful for terms
and conditions, sales flyers, or other related communications)
Consolidate Email
If there are multiple messages to the same recipient, you can consolidate them into a single
email with multiple attachments. (When using this option be advised that some mail servers
limit the number of attachments or total size of an email)
Merge Attachments
You can instruct Easy PDF to combine multiple PDF attachments on a single email into a single
PDF document.
Mail Account
The Mail Account shown in the header identifies the account that will be used to deliver the
batch. The account can be changed by clicking the Assist Edit button. Note however, batch lines
can optionally specify a Mail Account that will override the account in the header.
Use Mail Account for all Entries
Enable this option if you wish to force all entries in the batch to use the Mail Account defined in
the batch header.
Continue on Error
By default, Easy PDF batch processing will stop if an error occurs – that allows you to correct the
issue then continue. Setting the Continue on Error option will instruct Easy PDF to process the
entire batch regardless of errors.

Change the Recipient Address

Since this is an exercise, and we don’t want to send the statements to the customers, let’s change
the Recipient Address on all the batch lines to your email address – then we can send the batch but
only you will receive the messages. (This assumes you are not using the NULL mail account – if you
are using the NULL mail account you can still send the batch, but no email will be delivered)

For each line, enter your email address into the Recipient Address field. (Note: You can use the
F8 key to copy the data from the cell above to the current cell)

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The batch entries should now look something like the image below.

Now you are ready to send the Batch

Invoke the action Process  Send Batch
The messages in the batch will be sent.

A running tally of the progress will display.

A summary of the activity will be displayed when completed.

After entries are processed, a log of the messaging activity is available in History.

Delete the Batch

If you don’t want this batch in the system, then go ahead and delete it (action Process  Delete
Batch). There is an option in General Setup (Remove Batch after all entries are processed) to
automatically remove batches when they are fully delivered.

Great, you have just created, reviewed, and sent a batch of customer statements!

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Step 4, Let’s peek at Mail Accounts

To get to the Mail Accounts we need to open the Easy PDF Settings dialog.
In Search enter “Easy PDF Settings” then select the entry – the Easy PDF Settings dialog will open.

This dialog is your personal interface to manage your Easy PDF settings (Note: Settings for any user can
also be managed from the Easy PDF Administration dialog).
The actions (circled above) lead you to other dialogs that let you view or edit settings.
If your Administrator has given you edit access you will be able to change settings.

Click on the Mail Setup action.

The Mail Account dialog will display.

In this screenshot these Mail Accounts are

defined.

1. SMTP, send thru a SMTP server

2. Gmail, send via the Gmail API
3. O365, send via the Office 365 API
(Graph)
4. Outlook, send using the Desktop
Outlook application
5. NULL, send to nowhere – a very useful
testing feature.
6. Business Central, send using an
existing Business Central mail account.

You may define as many accounts as you wish.

You might set the Display Name or the Alt. Sender info to “brand” the account as desired.

Note: There are limitations to the use of the Display Name or Alt. Sender Name/Address that depend
upon the type of account and the mail provider – please see the online help for more detail.

In the screenshot I have not yet “Authorized” the Office 365 or Gmail accounts yet – so they are not
‘Active’. (Authorization is the process of verifying your identity with the mail provider – see below).

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Other Mail Account Settings

Default Account (non-batch)
Prioritizes the account for use with interactive mail (i.e., mail that is previewed before sending).
The ‘Default Account’ will prepopulate into the From field on the Email Dialog.

Use for Batch

Indicates that the account is enabled for sending from batch.
We recommend using SMTP accounts when sending mail from batch. Some providers impose
limitations on mail sent via their API. SMTP service providers are generally more lenient.

Default Batch Account

Identifies the account as the default account to use when sending mail from batch.
This account will prepopulate into the Mail Account field on the header of the Batch dialog.

Mail Account Authorization (for Office 365 or Gmail accounts)

To send email through your Office 365 or Gmail account (but not via SMTP) we use the provider
“API”. The API requires that you authorize Easy PDF to send email on your behalf using the mail
account. (In technical speak, this is called the “OAuth2 Authorization Code Flow”)
To initiate authorization, you must first enter your account settings then click the Account
Authorization link.
This will open a web page to the provider’s authorization screen – here is the Microsoft Office 365
screen

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You must complete the authorization code flow.

When complete you will see the Easy PDF authorization confirmation web page – as below.

You may close this confirmation web page.

Next, in the Mail Account dialog, click the “Authorize this account” toggle – the authorization will be
retrieved and saved.

Next, you need to Activate the account.

To do that you must verify that email can be sent using the mail account.
Press the “Send Test Email” action

Then select or enter your email address – you will need to receive the email to verify the account.
Send the test message and, when received, open it then copy the verification code.

Enter the code into the Verification Code field, then press the Tab key.

You may now use the account to send email.

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Step 5, the Easy PDF Address Book

The last part of our Getting Started primer covers the use of the Easy PDF Address Book.

The Address Book gives you the ability to define distribution lists for a variety of messaging situations.

For example, you might define a distribution list that is specific to a particular customer when you are
sending their Customer Statement (maybe to their accounts payable dept.). That list may differ from
the one you would use when sending a Sales Order Confirmation (probably to their purchasing
department), or a general correspondence to the customer (probably to their Customer Service
department).

To define addresses for those scenarios first open the Customer card. Then select the action Customer
 ez|Address Book, the (empty) Easy PDF Address Book screen will display

Using this dialog, we are going to create a list of addresses for the three scenarios mentioned above.

First let’s handle the Customer Statement.

- Open the dropdown list in the Document Code field and then select “CUSTOMER STATEMENT”.
- In the Address field enter the email address for the finance department finance@[Link]
- On the next line select “CUSTOMER STATEMENT” and enter accountspayable@[Link]

You’re done with the first list.

Now let’s handle the Sales Order Confirmation.

- On the next line select “SALES ORDER” and enter purchasing@[Link]

Also, your sales rep wanted to be copied on all orders, so let’s add that person too
- On the next line select “SALES ORDER” and enter salesrep@[Link]

You’re done with the second list.

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Now let’s handle the General Correspondence.

- On the next line select “CUSTOMER EMAIL” and enter customerservice@[Link]

You’re done with the third list.

Your Address Book list should now look like the image below

You can now close the Address Book dialog.

Let’s give it try, see how it works.

Back on the Customer Card screen select the action Easy PDF Send Email to Customer.
The Email Dialog will display.

Note that the distribution list that you defined for the CUSTOMER EMAIL has populated into the address
fields. In this dialog I have taken the liberty of adding a generic message.

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Note also, that various fields such as the date, and customer name have auto-populated. This is an Easy
PDF feature called “Field Merge” which is a powerful tool to save you time and make your emails
particularly relevant. We discuss field merge in the user guides (and in the online help).

Let’s switch Mail Accounts

In the dialog, click on the From field Assist Edit button (the three ellipses).
The Mail Accounts list will display (it will only show Active accounts).

If I select the Office 365 account, it will populate into the Email Dialog From field.

Let’s add more recipients

In the dialog, click on the To field, Assist Edit button.
The Address Book will display but this time it will show all known email addresses associated with the
customer, including those from related Contact cards.

You can select one or more lines then click the OK button – the addresses will be added to the field.

Let’s add an attachment

This correspondence isn’t associated with a Business Central report so it doesn’t have an attachment by
default. But let’s add a product sheet as an attachment.

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In the dialog, click on the Attachments field Assist edit button.

The Attachments area will appear.

Click the Actions dropdown, then select Add Attachment.

The File Upload dialog will appear – press the Choose option.
Navigate to a document, select it, and press OK. (I selected a document named “[Link]”)

The attachment will now display in the dialog.

If you wish, you can click on the attachment to see its contents.

You can now click the Attachments field Assist Edit button again to hide the Attachments area.
The attachment filename is now visible.

Oh yeah, by the way, you can drag-and-drop attachments onto the message body to achieve the same
result.

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That wraps it up for now

We have covered a fair bit and most of the basics in this document, but we have only scratched the
surface of Easy PDF.

For in-depth detail we suggest reading the user guides and refer to the online help whenever possible –
or reach out to us, we are happy to help you use the product.

Also, if you need to ask questions, arrange for a demonstration, or for any other issues please feel free
to contact us at support@[Link].

We hope Easy PDF makes your messaging life a little better.

Happy Messaging!

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