# Send Paige documents to Dropbox with an automation

Build the Zapier Zap, Make scenario, or Power Automate flow that watches Paige's SFTP export folder and uploads each finished document to a Dropbox folder, named from the document's own contents.

Product: paige · Audience: system-administrator · Time: 45 minutes · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/paige/integrations/send-paige-documents-to-dropbox-with-an-automation

**At the end of this guide, every document Paige finishes is uploaded to the Dropbox folder you choose within minutes, as a searchable PDF named from its own contents, with nothing running on a PC.**

The shape is the same on every platform: *watch the SFTP folder → keep only the data file → read the values → fetch the PDF → upload it with a good name.* Paige uploads the PDF before the data file, so the PDF is always there when the automation fires.

## Step 1 — Point Paige at your SFTP server

1. In Paige, open **Settings** (the gear at the bottom of the left menu — administrators only), pick the scan job, and choose **Export**.
2. Click the **FTP** card. Enter the **FTP Address**, **Port** `22`, **Username**, **Password**, and in **FTP Folder Path** a folder for this scan job, such as `/paige/invoices`.
3. Click **Test Connection**. **What you should see:** `FTP connection successful!` Connect — `Connected to FTP Server!` and a green **Connected** label.
4. Turn on **Enable Auto Export**. Under **Auto Export Settings**, switch on **Only documents having a document type**, set **Auto Field Entry Complete** to **Yes**, and set **Human Reviewed** to **Reviewed** if a person checks documents in Paige first. Click **Save**.

Open port 22 on your firewall to Paige's address ranges — [Outbound IP ranges for firewall allow-lists](/paige/document-processing/outbound-ip-ranges-for-firewall-allow-lists).

## Step 2 — Build the automation

### Zapier

1. **Trigger:** **SFTP by Zapier → New or Updated File** (connection: **Host**, **Username**, **Port Number** 22, **Password**), folder = the scan job's folder.
2. **Filter by Zapier:** *File Name* **(Text) Ends with** `.json`.
3. **Code by Zapier → Run Javascript**, with `file` mapped to the trigger's file:
   
   ```javascript
   const doc = await (await fetch(inputData.file)).json();
   const out = { pdf_file: doc.metadata.pdf_file, document_type: doc.metadata.document_type };
   for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(doc.fields)) out[k] = v;
   return out;
   ```

4. **SFTP by Zapier → Download File**, path = folder plus `pdf_file` from step 3.
5. **Dropbox → Upload File.** Choose the **Folder** (a team folder works), set **File** to the Download File output, and set the file name from step 3's fields — `{{Invoice Number}} - {{Vendor Name}}` — with extension `pdf`.
6. Turn the Zap on. Zapier polls on your plan's interval (1–15 minutes).

### Make

1. **SFTP → Watch files in a folder** (connection: **Host**, **Port** 22, **Auth Type** *Username and Password*), pointed at the scan job's folder.
2. Filter: *File name* **Ends with** `.json`.
3. **SFTP → Get a file**, then **JSON → Parse JSON** on its data. Run once with a real file so Make learns the fields.
4. **SFTP → Get a file** with path = folder plus parsed `metadata.pdf_file`.
5. **Dropbox → Upload a File.** Pick the folder, map the file data from module 4, and set the file name from the parsed fields, ending in `.pdf`.
6. Set the schedule and turn the scenario on.

### Power Automate

1. **SFTP - SSH: When a file is added or modified** (connection: **Host server address**, **User name**, **Password**, **Port number** 22), folder = the scan job's folder, **Include file content** on.
2. **Condition:** *File name* **ends with** `.json`; the rest goes in **If yes**.
3. **Parse JSON** on the trigger's *File content*, schema generated from a real `.json`.
4. **SFTP - SSH → Get file content using path**, path = folder plus the parsed `pdf_file`.
5. **Dropbox → Create file.** **Folder Path** = the destination, **File Name** from the parsed fields ending in `.pdf`, **File Content** from step 4.
6. Save.

> **IMPORTANT:** Power Automate's Dropbox connector writes only to personal and shared folders, not team folders, and caps files at 50 MB. For team folders or very long documents use Zapier or Make, or the [synced-folder path](/paige/integrations/export-paige-documents-to-a-synced-dropbox-folder).

## Step 3 — Test it

1. Process one document through the scan job (review it if you required review) and wait for the export.
2. Check the automation's run history: one run, triggered by the `.json` file.
3. Open the Dropbox folder. **What you should see:** the PDF with the name you built. Search Dropbox for a word from the document — it's found.

## When it doesn't work

| Symptom | Where to look |
| --- | --- |
| The automation never runs | Wrong folder, or a subfolder (none of the three triggers watch subfolders). |
| Runs four times per document | The `.json` filter is missing. |
| Upload fails on a team folder | Power Automate's connector limitation. Use Zapier or Make. |
| The name is blank or wrong | The parse step was built from a sample missing that field, or the field is empty on that document. Add a fallback to `pdf_file`. |
| Nothing arrives from Paige | Auto-export criteria aren't met, or the document was processed before you enabled auto export. Export it once from the **Documents** page with **Export** and tick **FTP**. |

If the Paige side is the problem, contact Ademero support with the scan job name and the message from **Test Connection**.

## What's next

- [Connect Paige to Dropbox](https://help.ademero.com/paige/integrations/connect-paige-to-dropbox)
- [Connect Paige to any app with Zapier, Make, or Power Automate](https://help.ademero.com/paige/integrations/connect-paige-to-any-app-with-zapier-make-or-power-automate)