Resources · Make integration

CloudConvert Make integrationAutomate CloudConvert with Make.

Your files can convert themselves while you look at something else. The CloudConvert Make integration brings 18 modules and one instant trigger to the editor. No code, no server. This page walks you from the connection to a scenario that runs on its own.

Try the CloudConvert integration on MakeSee the 18 modules

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What you can automate

What does the CloudConvert Make integration actually do?

The CloudConvert Make integration links your CloudConvert account to a scenario, the automation you build in Make out of modules, one brick per step. Instead of opening a browser tab to convert, merge or compress a file by hand, you drop the right CloudConvert module into the chain and the work happens while the scenario runs. Eighteen modules cover that ground, and one of them reacts the second a job changes state.

Three shapes come back over and over. The first is cleanup: a file lands in the wrong format, Convert a File turns it into the one your tools accept, and the scenario carries on. The second is packaging: Merge Files glues a quote, its annexes and a signed page into a single PDF, while Create an Archive wraps a whole batch into one ZIP before it leaves. The third is weight: Optimize a File compresses what is too heavy to send, and Capture a Website freezes a page as a PDF or a png when you need proof of what it said.

What Make will not do for you here is the bookkeeping. A job, meaning a batch of tasks run by CloudConvert, is built by Create a Job (advanced) out of several tasks, and its result does not come back to the scenario that launched it. You pick the finished job up in a second scenario listening on New Job Event. Worth knowing before you design a long chain.

The same app exists on the other side of the fence, so if the choice is still open, the n8n vs Make comparison and the CloudConvert n8n integration page cover that half. And when a live scenario starts behaving oddly, Make troubleshooting is the place to look first.

Connect

How do you connect CloudConvert to Make?

  1. 01

    Open a CloudConvert account first

    This is the one prerequisite on the app side, and Make will not create the account for you. If your team already converts files there, use that same account: the jobs your scenario creates then sit next to the ones you run by hand.

  2. 02

    Add a module and create the connection

    In the editor, drop any CloudConvert module into a scenario and click Create a connection. Make asks which CloudConvert account it should use. That click is what links the two tools, and you only make it once.

  3. 03

    Pick the key or the authorization

    Two doors are open. CloudConvert API Key expects a key taken from your CloudConvert account. CloudConvert OAuth sends you to CloudConvert to authorize Make in a window. Both end the same way, with one connection reused by every CloudConvert module you add later.

First scenario

Build your first scenario

GoalWhen a conversion finishes in CloudConvert, Make collects the file and hands it to the next app.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, start a new scenario and click the plus to add the first module. Search CloudConvert by name and pick New Job Event, the module that wakes the whole thing up.

  2. 02

    Link your account

    The first time you add a CloudConvert module, Make asks for a connection. Click Create a connection, choose the key or the authorization route, and the module is ready to listen.

  3. 03

    Tell it which event matters

    New Job Event covers a job created, a job finished and a job failed. For a first build, keep the finished one: that is the moment a converted file actually exists and there is something worth collecting.

  4. 04

    Add the download

    Click the plus on the right of the trigger and add Download a File. Point it at the task coming from the event so it knows which result to fetch. The file then travels on as a bundle, one item passing from module to module.

  5. 05

    Test, then switch it on

    Launch a small conversion in CloudConvert, click Run once to run the scenario a single time, and read what each module received. When the file comes through, switch the scenario on: being instant, it now waits for CloudConvert to call.

Triggers

What starts a CloudConvert scenario

1 module starts a scenario when something happens in CloudConvert. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by CloudConvert as soon as it happens.

CloudConvert1New Job Event

New Job Event

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new event (job.created, job.finished or job.failed) occurs.”

This is the module that wakes a scenario up. CloudConvert sends an event when a job is created, when it finishes and when it fails, and the scenario starts from that signal.

How it fires
instant, the app calls Make through a webhook, a call the app sends out as soon as it happens, so nothing is checked on an interval.
When to use it
a job launched somewhere else whose finished file you want to collect the moment it is ready.
Watch out
it also fires for the individual tasks inside a job, when a task is created, finishes or fails, so one job can produce several events.
Modules

What CloudConvert can do inside a scenario

CloudConvert gives you 17 modules in 4 groups. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Common Tasks

5 modules
CloudConvert1

Convert a File

Action

In Make“Converts a file into a selected output format.”

One file goes in, the same file comes out in the format you asked for. Most CloudConvert scenarios are built around this module: you choose the output format, and the rest of the chain picks the result up.

When to use it
a client sends a document your archive only accepts as a PDF.
Watch out
one file is one bundle and therefore one operation, the unit Make counts on your plan, so converting a batch costs as many operations as it has files.
CloudConvert2

Capture a Website

Action

In Make“Creates a task to convert a website to PDF or to capture a screenshot of a website (png, jpg).”

Point it at a web address and CloudConvert turns the page into a PDF, or takes a screenshot in png or jpg. The file arrives in your scenario like any other, ready for the module that stores or sends it.

When to use it
a pricing page you want to keep as proof on the day a contract is signed.
CloudConvert3

Optimize a File

Action

In Make“Creates a task to optimize and compress a file.”

Compression without the manual detour: the module squeezes a file down and hands the lighter version back to the scenario, ready for whatever comes next.

When to use it
photos from a site visit that are too heavy to email to the client.
Watch out
the Free plan caps files at 5 MB, so a bigger original needs a paid plan before this module can touch it.
CloudConvert4

Create an Archive

Action

In Make“Creates a ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ or TAR.BZ2 archive.”

Wraps a set of files into a single archive, in whichever format the person on the other end expects: ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ or TAR.BZ2. What goes in stays as it is, it simply travels together now.

When to use it
the pile of receipts your accountant would rather download in one go.
CloudConvert5

Merge Files

Action

In Make“Merges two or more files to one PDF. If input files are not PDFs yet, they are automatically converted to PDF.”

Two documents or twenty, the result is a single PDF. Anything that is not a PDF yet gets converted on the way in, so a mix of text files and images still comes out as one clean document.

When to use it
a quote, its annexes and the signed terms sent as one file instead of four attachments.

Jobs

4 modules

The job created by the Create a Job (advanced) module consists of several tasks.

The New Job Event trigger is also triggered when an individual task is created, has finished, or has failed.

For further processing of the finished job created with the Create a Job module, please use the New Job Event (job.finished) module in another scenario.

CloudConvert6

Create a Job (advanced)

Action

In Make“Creates a job with one or more tasks.”

The advanced route. Rather than one module per operation, you describe a job holding several tasks at once, and CloudConvert runs them together.

When to use it
a chain of convert, then optimize, then package, that you would rather define in one place.
Watch out
the result does not come back to the scenario that launched the job. Catch the finished job with New Job Event in a second scenario.
CloudConvert7

List Jobs

Search

In Make“Lists all jobs.”

A search module, so it answers with what it finds: nothing, one job, or a long list of the jobs on the account. Handy when a scenario needs to look at history before acting.

When to use it
a check on what already went through, before you relaunch a series of conversions.
Watch out
every job that comes back is one bundle, and every bundle passed to the next module counts as an operation.
CloudConvert8

Get a Job

Action

In Make“Returns details about a job.”

Give it a job and it brings back what CloudConvert knows about that job. Nothing more, nothing less. It is the quiet module you add when a scenario has to check the state of something before it acts on it.

When to use it
right after New Job Event, to read the state of the job the event just announced.
CloudConvert9

Delete a Job

Action

In Make“Deletes a job, including all data.”

Removes a job and everything stored with it. There is no half measure here, the data goes with it.

When to use it
documents you are not allowed to keep once the file has reached its destination.
Watch out
a delete module has no undo. Place it after the module that stores the result, never before, and test the scenario on something you can afford to lose.

Tasks

6 modules
CloudConvert10

Get a Task

Action

In Make“Returns details about a specified task.”

A task is one step inside a job, and this module reads one of them: its state and what it produced. Where Get a Job answers at batch level, this one zooms in on a single step.

When to use it
a job that finished but left you wondering which of its tasks actually did the work.
CloudConvert11

Download a File

Action

In Make“Downloads a single file from a specified task.”

Without this module, the converted file stays on CloudConvert. Download a File pulls it out of a task so the next module can send it on: a storage app, a message, a reply to a form.

When to use it
the step right after a conversion, when the file has to leave CloudConvert.
Watch out
it handles one task at a time, so you have to aim at the right one when a job contains several.
CloudConvert12

List Tasks

Search

In Make“Lists all tasks with their status, payload and result.”

Every task with its status and its result, which is as close to a logbook as a scenario gets. Useful when you are not chasing a file but trying to understand a run.

When to use it
a conversion that never arrived, and you need to see where it stopped.
Watch out
a search returns as many bundles as it finds tasks, while an action module downstream expects a single one.
CloudConvert13

Retry a Task

Action

In Make“Creates a new task, based on the payload of another task.”

A failed task does not restart itself. This module takes what the previous task was asked to do and creates a fresh one from it, leaving the old attempt where it is.

When to use it
a conversion that tripped on a damaged file you have since replaced.
CloudConvert14

Cancel a Task

Action

In Make“Cancels a task that is in status waiting or processing.”

Stops a task that is still waiting or being processed. Once it has finished, there is nothing left to cancel and the module has no effect.

When to use it
a heavy batch launched by mistake that you would rather stop before it eats operations.
CloudConvert15

Delete a Task

Action

In Make“Deletes a task, including all data.”

The job stays, the task goes. This one clears a single task and the data attached to it, without touching the batch it belongs to.

When to use it
the test runs you left behind while you were building the scenario.
Watch out
a job holds several tasks, so removing one of them does not empty the job.

Other

2 modules
CloudConvert16

Get My Info

Action

In Make“Returns details about the current user.”

Reads the account sitting behind the connection and returns its details. Small module, one honest job, and a quick way to prove the plumbing works before you build anything on top of it.

When to use it
the first test after you create a connection, to confirm Make is talking to the right CloudConvert account.
CloudConvert17

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

The escape hatch. This module calls any endpoint of the CloudConvert API, the technical door into the app, using the connection you already made. Whatever the other modules leave out is reachable here.

When to use it
an option the listed modules do not expose, with the CloudConvert API documentation open beside you.
Watch out
nothing comes pre-filled, so the call is built by hand.
Need help

Need help automating CloudConvert with Make?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Questions that come up next

01Is the CloudConvert Make integration free?
Yes, it runs on the Free plan. CloudConvert is a standard app in Make, not one of the apps reserved for the Enterprise plan, so adding it costs nothing on the Make side. What sets the ceiling is the free tier itself: 2 active scenarios, at least 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of run time, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of transfer. Paid plans drop the interval to 1 minute, lift the cap on active scenarios and go up to 40 minutes of run time, with usage counted in operations. Your CloudConvert account keeps its own terms.
02What do you need to connect CloudConvert to Make?
A CloudConvert account, and that is the only prerequisite. In Make you then build a connection, which is that account linked once and reused by every CloudConvert module you add afterwards. Two routes exist. CloudConvert API Key expects a key taken from your CloudConvert account. CloudConvert OAuth opens a CloudConvert window where you authorize Make. Neither is better on paper, so pick the one your internal rules allow. And you do it once per account, not once per scenario, which is why the second CloudConvert module you add never asks again.
03Does the CloudConvert trigger react in real time?
Yes. New Job Event is an instant trigger, so CloudConvert calls Make through a webhook as soon as something happens, and the module carries a lightning badge instead of a clock. Nothing is checked on an interval and there is no wait for the next pass. Three moments are covered: a job created, a job finished, a job failed. The detail that surprises people is that it also fires for the individual tasks inside a job, when a task is created, finishes or fails. A job made of several tasks therefore sends several events, so decide early which one should move your scenario.
04What if the CloudConvert module you need is missing?
Make an API Call takes over. CloudConvert ships that module, and it calls any endpoint of the CloudConvert API from inside your scenario with the connection you already created. Whatever the listed modules leave out stays within reach, at the cost of reading the CloudConvert API documentation, since nothing comes pre-filled. If what blocks you is a plan limit rather than a missing module, file size or run time for instance, no module gets around it and the Make plan is what you should look at. A limit coming from CloudConvert itself stays a CloudConvert matter.
05Make or n8n for CloudConvert?
It depends on what your team already runs. The app exists on both platforms and the conversion work happens on CloudConvert either way, so the modules are not what decides. Make gives you a visual editor where each module is a circle wired to the next, a free plan to test on, and the instant trigger described above. n8n is the other route, and the comparison linked earlier walks through the criteria one by one. The honest shortcut: stay on the platform where your other automations already live, and you keep one connection to maintain instead of two.
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