Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about Document Stack, PDF generation, templates, and the API.
General
What is Document Stack?
Document Stack is a visual template editor and PDF generation API. You design templates in a drag-and-drop editor, then generate PDFs programmatically by sending data to our API.
What can I build with Document Stack?
Invoices, receipts, contracts, certificates, reports, shipping labels, event tickets, business cards, offer letters, statements, and any other PDF document your business needs.
Do I need to know how to code?
No coding is required to design templates — the Studio is a visual editor. However, you need basic programming knowledge to integrate the API and generate PDFs programmatically.
Templates
How do I create a template?
Create a project in the dashboard, then open the Studio to design your template with drag-and-drop elements. See the Quick Start guide.
Can I duplicate a template?
Yes. Use the duplicate feature in the project dashboard to create a copy of any template as a starting point for a new design.
What element types are available?
Text, image, field (data-bound text), table, icon, and line elements. See Elements for details.
Can I use custom fonts?
Yes. Upload TTF or OTF font files to use your own typefaces. See Custom Fonts.
What page sizes are supported?
A3, A4, A5, A6, Letter, Legal, and custom sizes. See the Page Sizes Reference.
API & Generation
How do I generate a PDF?
Send a POST request to the generation endpoint with your template ID and data. The API returns a PDF file or download URL. See Generate PDF.
What languages are SDKs available for?
Official SDKs are available for Node.js, Python, and Go. You can also use any HTTP client in any language.
How fast is PDF generation?
Most documents generate in 100–500ms. Complex documents with many images or pages may take 1–2 seconds. See Performance.
Is there a file size limit for API requests?
Yes, the request body is limited to 5MB. This includes the JSON data payload. Images should be referenced by URL, not embedded as base64.
Can I generate PDFs asynchronously?
Yes. Use webhooks to receive notifications when PDFs are ready, instead of waiting synchronously for the response.
Organization & Team
Can multiple people work on templates?
Yes. Invite team members to your organization and assign roles (Owner, Admin, Member). All members can access shared templates. See Team Roles.
How do organizations work?
Organizations are workspaces that contain projects, templates, and API keys. You can create multiple organizations and switch between them. See Organizations.
Billing & Pricing
Is there a free plan?
Yes. The free plan includes a generous number of monthly PDF generations. See Billing & Pricing for details.
How are generations counted?
Each API call that successfully generates a PDF counts as one generation, regardless of the number of pages in the document.
Security
Is my data secure?
Yes. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256). API request data is not permanently stored. See Security Overview.
Where is data stored?
By default, data is processed and stored in the United States. Enterprise plans support custom data residency. See Data Privacy.
Troubleshooting
My PDF looks different from the editor preview.
Minor differences can occur. Ensure you're using supported fonts and that images are accessible from our servers. See Troubleshooting.
Images aren't showing in generated PDFs.
Verify that image URLs are publicly accessible (HTTPS), don't require authentication, and respond quickly. See Image Optimization.