Resources · Make integration

Stencil Make integrationAutomate Stencil with Make.

Your data goes in, a finished image or PDF comes out. The Stencil Make integration gives you 13 modules, including 3 instant triggers, so marketing teams can generate visuals without opening Stencil. This page walks you from the connection to your first working scenario.

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What you can automate

What does the Stencil Make integration let you automate?

The Stencil Make integration links your Stencil account to Make, a tool where you build a scenario: an automation made of modules that run on a schedule or when an app calls Make. Each module is one brick of that chain. With Stencil, those bricks create images and PDFs, fetch them back, and react the moment Stencil produces something new.

Visuals that follow your data. A new product lands in your catalog app, and Create an Image asks Stencil to render its banner. The data comes from the other app; the design stays in Stencil. Nobody copies a product name by hand anymore.

Documents on demand. Create a PDF does the same for paperwork: a quote, a certificate, a one-page summary. When the file is ready, Watch PDFs fires, and the next module can send it wherever it needs to go.

A whole set in one move. Create a Collection generates every image of a template collection at once, which suits campaigns that need several formats of the same message. Watch Collections then tells Make that the set exists.

Stencil's creation modules work asynchronously: they start the job instead of waiting for the final file, so plan a step that picks up the result. Make also counts every module run as an operation, a detail worth reading on Make pricing. Stencil may have a node in n8n too; n8n vs Make lays out the criteria. If you would rather hand the build over, the Make agency team can take it.

Connect

How do you connect Stencil to Make?

  1. 01

    Copy your Stencil API key

    You need an active Stencil account. In Stencil, open the project settings page, scroll to the API Key section and copy the key shown there. That key is what lets Make act on your behalf.

  2. 02

    Add a Stencil module in Make

    Log in to Make, open your scenario and add any Stencil module. Click Create a connection. A connection is your Stencil account linked to Make once, then reused by every Stencil module you add later.

  3. 03

    Name the connection and paste the key

    The Connection name field is optional, but a clear name helps if you manage several Stencil projects. Paste the API key you copied, confirm, and Make saves the connection for the rest of the scenario.

First scenario

Build your first scenario with Stencil

GoalWhen a new record arrives in another app, Make asks Stencil to create an image from it.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the + to add the first module. Pick the app that holds your data, for example a spreadsheet or a form.

  2. 02

    Add Create an Image

    Click the + on the right of that first module, search for Stencil and choose Create an Image. Click Create a connection and paste your API key if this is your first Stencil module.

  3. 03

    Map your data

    Fill the module fields. Once the connection exists, Make lists what it can read in your Stencil account, and you drag values from the first module into the fields where the text of the image belongs.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once. Make executes the scenario one time and shows the bundles each module received. A bundle is one item passing from module to module, here one record from your data app.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch it on

    Open the clock on the first module: a new scenario runs every 15 minutes by default, and you can change that. Then switch the scenario on so it keeps working without you.

Triggers

Stencil triggers

3 modules start a scenario when something happens in Stencil. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by Stencil as soon as it happens.

Stencil1Watch Collections

Watch Collections

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when images are generated from a template collection.”

Watch Collections starts your scenario once Stencil has generated the images of a template collection, so you can act on the full set rather than image by image. It is the natural follow-up to Create a Collection.

How it fires
instant. Stencil calls Make through a webhook as soon as it happens, which is why the module shows a lightning badge.
When to use it
a campaign needs the same message in several formats, and the whole batch should land in a shared drive in one go.
Watch out
Make asks you to click Create a webhook first; the connection comes right after.
Stencil2Watch Images

Watch Images

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new image is created.”

Here the payoff is a single fresh image: Watch Images runs your scenario the moment Stencil creates a new one, and passes it along as a bundle to the modules that follow.

How it fires
instant. Stencil calls Make through a webhook as soon as the image exists, with no polling interval involved.
When to use it
Create an Image works asynchronously, so a second scenario that starts on Watch Images is a tidy place to post or store the finished visual.
Watch out
every new image fires the scenario, including the ones you make while testing templates.
Stencil3Watch PDFs

Watch PDFs

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new PDF is created.”

Every time Stencil finishes a new PDF, Watch PDFs hands it to your scenario, ready to be emailed, archived or attached to a record in another app.

How it fires
instant. Stencil notifies Make through a webhook the moment the PDF is created, shown by the lightning badge on the module.
When to use it
quotes or certificates are generated with Create a PDF, and the finished document must reach the customer file without anyone downloading it.
Watch out
each run costs operations, so keep the modules after it lean.
Modules

Stencil modules

Stencil gives you 10 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Stencil1

Create a Collection

Action

In Make“Creates images from collection asynchronously.”

One call, a full series: Create a Collection asks Stencil to render every image of a template collection from the data you map. The job runs asynchronously, so the module launches it rather than returning the finished set.

When to use it
a new offer needs its square, story and banner versions at once.
Watch out
pair it with Watch Collections to catch the result.
Stencil2

Create an Image

Action

In Make“Creates an image asynchronously.”

You get one image built from your data, with the design kept in Stencil. The module starts the generation asynchronously, then the scenario moves on.

When to use it
a single visual per record, such as a social card for each new blog post or a badge for each new signup.
Watch out
the final file may not be ready inside the same run; Watch Images is there for that.
Stencil3

Create a PDF

Action

In Make“Create a PDF asynchronously”

This module turns mapped data into a PDF document generated by Stencil, launched asynchronously like the image modules. Invoices, certificates and one-page reports are the usual candidates.

When to use it
a deal is marked as won in your CRM and the customer needs a formatted summary.
Watch out
choose Create an Image instead when the output is meant for a screen rather than a file to send.
Stencil4

Get a Collection

Action

In Make“Gets a specific collection.”

Get a Collection brings back one specific collection from Stencil, so the next modules can work with what it contains. It reads, it does not generate anything new.

When to use it
a scenario already knows which collection it needs, for instance after Watch Collections fired, and must pass its details further down the chain.
Watch out
it targets one collection; use List Collections when you do not know which one yet.
Stencil5

Get an Image

Action

In Make“Gets a specific image.”

With Get an Image, a scenario retrieves one specific image that Stencil already produced, instead of generating it again. That saves a render and keeps the same file everywhere.

When to use it
a teammate asks for a visual created earlier, and the scenario needs to fetch it before attaching it to a message.
Watch out
the module needs to know which image to fetch, usually mapped from an earlier module.
Stencil6

Get a PDF

Action

In Make“Gets a specific PDF”

Get a PDF pulls back a document Stencil has already generated, so you can reuse it instead of generating it a second time. The file then flows to the next module like any other bundle.

When to use it
a customer asks for a copy of a certificate issued earlier and the scenario has its reference.
Watch out
a PDF just launched by Create a PDF may still be in progress, since generation is asynchronous; Watch PDFs catches it once it exists.
Stencil7

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

When none of the other Stencil modules does what you need, Make an API Call reaches any endpoint of the Stencil API with the connection you already set up. No second key, no separate setup.

When to use it
a Stencil feature exists in the API but has no dedicated module in Make.
Watch out
you write the request yourself, so keep the Stencil API documentation open while you build it.
Stencil8

List Collections

Search

In Make“List all template collections.”

List Collections returns all your template collections, one bundle per collection. A search module like this one can send back zero, one or many results, and the next modules run once per result.

When to use it
you want to generate every collection in turn or check which ones exist.
Watch out
more results means more operations; filter the output before an expensive step.
Stencil9

List Projects

Search

In Make“Lists all projects.”

Here you see every project of your Stencil account laid out as separate bundles, handy when your templates are split across several projects and a scenario must find the right one.

When to use it
an agency keeps one Stencil project per client and routes each request to the matching project.
Watch out
like any search, it can return nothing, so plan what the scenario does then.
Stencil10

List Templates

Search

In Make“Lists all templates.”

List Templates gives your scenario the full list of Stencil templates, one bundle each, so it can pick one by name or loop through them all.

When to use it
a request form lets people choose a design, and the scenario must match their choice with a real template before creating the image.
Watch out
every template returned passes through the following modules, which multiplies the operations counted on your plan.
Need help

Need help automating Stencil with Make?

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FAQ

Stencil and Make: common questions

01Is the Stencil Make integration free?
Yes, on the Make side. Stencil is a standard app, available from the Free plan onward. The Free plan allows 2 active scenarios, a minimum interval of 15 minutes between scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution per run, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans drop the interval to 1 minute and allow 40 minutes of execution. Your Stencil subscription is separate: the connection needs an active Stencil account with an API key, so check the Stencil pricing page for that part.
02What do you need to connect Stencil to Make?
An active Stencil account and its API key. Open the project settings page in Stencil, scroll to the API Key section and copy the key. In Make, add a Stencil module, click Create a connection, optionally give it a name, and paste the key. For the three triggers, which are instant, Make first shows Create a webhook: click it, then create the connection. After that, every Stencil module in the scenario reuses the same connection, so the key is entered once.
03Do Stencil triggers in Make fire in real time?
Yes. All 3 Stencil triggers are instant: Watch Collections, Watch Images and Watch PDFs. Stencil calls Make through a webhook as soon as a collection, an image or a PDF is created, so the scenario does not wait for a schedule. That is different from a scheduled trigger, which Make checks at an interval, every 15 minutes by default. Because the creation modules work asynchronously, these instant triggers are also the cleanest way to catch a finished file and pass it to the next step.
04What can you do if a Stencil module is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It reaches any endpoint of the Stencil API with the connection you already created, so a feature the other 12 modules do not cover can still run inside your scenario. You write the request yourself, which takes a look at the Stencil API documentation. The Make documentation for this app also warns that its content is AI generated from Stencil's own docs and may contain mistakes, so check important details with Stencil directly before relying on them.
05Should you use Make or n8n for Stencil?
It depends on the tool your team already runs. On Make, Stencil comes with 13 modules: 3 instant triggers, 7 actions including Make an API Call, and 3 searches, all usable from the Free plan. The same app often has an n8n node as well, so check what it offers for Stencil before deciding. The practical question is where your other automations live: keeping image and PDF generation next to them is simpler to maintain than splitting the work across two tools.
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