diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/pom.xml b/qqq-backend-core/pom.xml
index 686049ca..87a88d69 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/pom.xml
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/pom.xml
@@ -97,6 +97,23 @@
          <artifactId>java-dotenv</artifactId>
          <version>5.2.2</version>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.apache.velocity</groupId>
+         <artifactId>velocity-engine-core</artifactId>
+         <version>2.3</version>
+      </dependency>
+
+      <!-- the next 2 deps are for html to pdf - per https://www.baeldung.com/java-html-to-pdf -->
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.jsoup</groupId>
+         <artifactId>jsoup</artifactId>
+         <version>1.15.3</version>
+      </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.xhtmlrenderer</groupId>
+         <artifactId>flying-saucer-pdf-openpdf</artifactId>
+         <version>9.1.22</version>
+      </dependency>
 
       <!-- the next 3 deps are being added for google drive support -->
       <dependency>
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfAction.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfAction.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..38780bd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfAction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.templates;
+
+
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Map;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.AbstractQActionFunction;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.ConvertHtmlToPdfInput;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.utils.CollectionUtils;
+import org.jsoup.Jsoup;
+import org.jsoup.nodes.Document;
+import org.xhtmlrenderer.layout.SharedContext;
+import org.xhtmlrenderer.pdf.ITextRenderer;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ ** Action to convert a string of HTML to a PDF!
+ **
+ ** Much credit to https://www.baeldung.com/java-html-to-pdf
+ *******************************************************************************/
+public class ConvertHtmlToPdfAction extends AbstractQActionFunction<ConvertHtmlToPdfInput, ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput>
+{
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Override
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput execute(ConvertHtmlToPdfInput input) throws QException
+   {
+      try
+      {
+         ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput output = new ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput();
+
+         //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         // convert the input HTML to XHTML, as needed for ITextRenderer //
+         //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         Document document = Jsoup.parse(input.getHtml());
+         document.outputSettings().syntax(Document.OutputSettings.Syntax.xml);
+
+         //////////////////////////////
+         // convert the XHTML to PDF //
+         //////////////////////////////
+         ITextRenderer renderer      = new ITextRenderer();
+         SharedContext sharedContext = renderer.getSharedContext();
+         sharedContext.setPrint(true);
+         sharedContext.setInteractive(false);
+
+         if(input.getBasePath() != null)
+         {
+            String baseUrl = input.getBasePath().toUri().toURL().toString();
+            renderer.setDocumentFromString(document.html(), baseUrl);
+         }
+         else
+         {
+            renderer.setDocumentFromString(document.html());
+         }
+
+         //////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         // register any custom fonts the input supplied //
+         //////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         for(Map.Entry<String, Path> entry : CollectionUtils.nonNullMap(input.getCustomFonts()).entrySet())
+         {
+            renderer.getFontResolver().addFont(entry.getValue().toAbsolutePath().toString(), entry.getKey(), "UTF-8", true, null);
+         }
+
+         renderer.layout();
+         renderer.createPDF(input.getOutputStream());
+
+         return (output);
+      }
+      catch(Exception e)
+      {
+         throw (new QException("Error converting html to pdf", e));
+      }
+   }
+
+}
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfInput.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfInput.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1390b1e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfInput.java
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates;
+
+
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.AbstractActionInput;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.QInstance;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ **
+ *******************************************************************************/
+public class ConvertHtmlToPdfInput extends AbstractActionInput
+{
+   private String       html;
+   private OutputStream outputStream;
+
+   private Path              basePath;
+   private Map<String, Path> customFonts = new HashMap<>();
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput(QInstance instance)
+   {
+      super(instance);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for html
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public String getHtml()
+   {
+      return html;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for html
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setHtml(String html)
+   {
+      this.html = html;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for html
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput withHtml(String html)
+   {
+      this.html = html;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for outputStream
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public OutputStream getOutputStream()
+   {
+      return outputStream;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for outputStream
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setOutputStream(OutputStream outputStream)
+   {
+      this.outputStream = outputStream;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for outputStream
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput withOutputStream(OutputStream outputStream)
+   {
+      this.outputStream = outputStream;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for basePath
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public Path getBasePath()
+   {
+      return basePath;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for basePath
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setBasePath(Path basePath)
+   {
+      this.basePath = basePath;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for basePath
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput withBasePath(Path basePath)
+   {
+      this.basePath = basePath;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for customFonts
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public Map<String, Path> getCustomFonts()
+   {
+      return customFonts;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for customFonts
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setCustomFonts(Map<String, Path> customFonts)
+   {
+      this.customFonts = customFonts;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for customFonts
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput withCustomFonts(Map<String, Path> customFonts)
+   {
+      this.customFonts = customFonts;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for customFonts
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfInput withCustomFont(String name, Path path)
+   {
+      if(this.customFonts == null)
+      {
+         this.customFonts = new HashMap<>();
+      }
+      this.customFonts.put(name, path);
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+}
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..95f71773
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates;
+
+
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.AbstractActionOutput;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ **
+ *******************************************************************************/
+public class ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput extends AbstractActionOutput
+{
+   private String result;
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for result
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public String getResult()
+   {
+      return result;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for result
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setResult(String result)
+   {
+      this.result = result;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for result
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public ConvertHtmlToPdfOutput withResult(String result)
+   {
+      this.result = result;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
+}
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/utils/CollectionUtils.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/utils/CollectionUtils.java
index 3a51e661..c75fa727 100755
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/utils/CollectionUtils.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/utils/CollectionUtils.java
@@ -436,13 +436,29 @@ public class CollectionUtils
     **
     ** Meant to help avoid null checks on foreach loops.
     *******************************************************************************/
-   public static <T> Collection<T> nonNullCollection(Collection<T> list)
+   public static <T> Collection<T> nonNullCollection(Collection<T> c)
    {
-      if(list == null)
+      if(c == null)
       {
          return (new ArrayList<>());
       }
-      return (list);
+      return (c);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Returns the input map, unless it was null - in which case a new HashMap is returned.
+    **
+    ** Meant to help avoid null checks on foreach loops.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public static <K, V> Map<K, V> nonNullMap(Map<K, V> map)
+   {
+      if(map == null)
+      {
+         return (new HashMap<>());
+      }
+      return (map);
    }
 
 
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfActionTest.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfActionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a55a56c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/ConvertHtmlToPdfActionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.templates;
+
+
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.QInstance;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSession;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.ConvertHtmlToPdfInput;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.utils.TestUtils;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ ** Unit test for ConvertHtmlToPdfAction
+ *******************************************************************************/
+class ConvertHtmlToPdfActionTest
+{
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Test
+   void test() throws QException, IOException
+   {
+      QInstance             instance = TestUtils.defineInstance();
+      ConvertHtmlToPdfInput input    = new ConvertHtmlToPdfInput(instance);
+      input.setSession(new QSession());
+
+      input.setHtml("""
+         <html>
+             <head>
+                 <style>
+                     .center_div {
+                         border: 1px solid gray;
+                         margin-left: auto;
+                         margin-right: auto;
+                         width: 90%;
+                         background-color: #d0f0f6;
+                         text-align: left;
+                         padding: 8px;
+                         font-family: Helvetica;
+                     }
+                 </style>
+                 <link href="styles/styles.css" rel="stylesheet">
+             </head>
+             <body>
+                 <div class="center_div">
+                     <h1>
+                        <img src="images/qqq-logo-2.png" width=50>
+                        Hello QQQ!
+                     </h1>
+                     <div class="myclass">
+                         <p>This is a test of converting HTML to PDF!!</p>
+                         <p style="font-family: SF-Pro; font-size: 24px;">(btw, is this in SF-Pro???)</p>
+                     </div>
+                 </div>
+             </body>
+         </html>
+         """);
+
+      OutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("/tmp/file.pdf");
+      input.setOutputStream(outputStream);
+
+      String resourceDir = "src/test/resources/actions/templates";
+      input.withCustomFont("SF-Pro", Path.of(resourceDir + "/fonts/SF-Pro-Rounded-Regular.otf"));
+      input.withCustomFont("Helvetica", Path.of(resourceDir + "/fonts/Helvetica.ttc"));
+      input.withBasePath(Path.of(resourceDir));
+
+      new ConvertHtmlToPdfAction().execute(input);
+      System.out.println("Wrote /tmp/file.pdf");
+
+      outputStream.close();
+
+      /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+      // for local dev on a mac, turn this on to auto-open the generated PDF //
+      /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+      // Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "/usr/bin/open", "/tmp/file.pdf" });
+   }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/Helvetica.ttc b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/Helvetica.ttc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c2c74cbe
Binary files /dev/null and b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/Helvetica.ttc differ
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/SF-Pro-Rounded-Regular.otf b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/SF-Pro-Rounded-Regular.otf
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..35272149
Binary files /dev/null and b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/fonts/SF-Pro-Rounded-Regular.otf differ
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/images/qqq-logo-2.png b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/images/qqq-logo-2.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da00c917
Binary files /dev/null and b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/images/qqq-logo-2.png differ
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/styles/styles.css b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/styles/styles.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5c60ce7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/resources/actions/templates/styles/styles.css
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+h1
+{
+   text-align: center;
+   border-bottom: 1px solid red;
+}
\ No newline at end of file