Can Tableau Export to PDF?
Need to share your Tableau masterpiece with someone who doesn't have Tableau? Exporting your dashboard to a PDF is a clean and simple way to do it. This article will show you exactly how to export views, specific worksheets, or even your entire workbook to a professional-looking PDF file. We'll cover the step-by-step process for both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server/Cloud, along with some practical tips for getting the perfect output.
Why Export a Tableau Dashboard to PDF?
While the magic of Tableau lies in its interactivity, sometimes you need a static snapshot of your data. Creating a PDF copy is incredibly useful for several common business scenarios:
- Sharing with key stakeholders: Not everyone on the leadership team or in a client meeting will have access to Tableau Server. A PDF is a universal format that lets you email a crisp, clean report that anyone can open.
- Archiving and record-keeping: Creating PDF versions of monthly or quarterly reports is a great way to maintain a historical record of your key business metrics. You can store these files for compliance or for easy reference down the line.
- Creating meeting handouts: A printable PDF version of your key dashboards can serve as an excellent handout for presentations, ensuring everyone is looking at the same information.
- Consistent formatting: A PDF ensures your carefully designed dashboard looks exactly how you intended, regardless of the viewer's device, screen resolution, or operating system.
How to Export to PDF from Tableau Desktop
Exporting from Tableau Desktop is the most common method, especially when you're in the process of building your visualizations. The "Print to PDF" function is built right in and offers a good amount of control.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Follow these steps to generate a PDF from your open workbook:
- Navigate to the dashboard, view, or story you want to export.
- Go to the top menu and click File > Print to PDF....
- This will open the "Print to PDF" dialog box, where you can configure your export.
Let's break down the options you'll see in this dialog box:
Print Range
- Entire Workbook: This option will export every single worksheet, dashboard, and story in your workbook into one continuous PDF file. This is great for an appendix or a comprehensive backup.
- Active Sheet: This is usually what you want. It exports only the single dashboard or worksheet you are currently viewing. Use this for specific reports. For example, if you need to send the "Q3 Social Media Performance" dashboard, make sure it's the active sheet and select this option.
- Selected Sheets: This gives you fine-tuned control. It allows you to select specific sheets from the workbook to include in your PDF. You can hold Ctrl (or Command on Mac) to select multiple sheets, effectively creating a custom report on the fly.
Paper Size and Orientation
- Paper Size: You can choose from standard sizes like Letter, Tabloid, Legal, A4, etc. It's best to match this to what your audience will use, especially if they plan to print it.
- Orientation: Choose between Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal). Most dashboards are designed for wide screens, so Landscape often produces the best result, preventing visualizations from getting smushed or cut off.
File Layout
- Page Order: When exporting an entire workbook or selected sheets, you can choose to arrange them across the page first (left to right) and then down, or down first and then across.
- View: The "Show selections" option is subtle but useful. If checked, it will visually highlight any filters or selections you've made on the dashboard in the final PDF, which can help add context for the reader. "Break pages on pane boundaries" helps when you have very large tables, to keep rows from being split across page breaks.
Once you’ve configured these options, click OK, choose a file name and save location, and Tableau will generate your PDF.
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How to Export to PDF from Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud
If you're viewing a published dashboard on Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud (formerly Tableau Online), the process is just as simple, though the menu looks a bit different. One important note: you'll need to have the appropriate permissions - specifically "Download Image/PDF" - assigned to your user role to see an export option.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Open the workbook or view you want to download.
- In the toolbar at the top of the view, click the Download button.
- From the dropdown menu that appears, select PDF.
This will open the "Download PDF" dialog with a slightly different set of options:
- Content to Download: You can choose This View (the active dashboard), Specific sheets from workbook, or Specific sheets from dashboard. It even shows a thumbnail preview of each item. This makes bundling a quick report incredibly easy.
- Scaling: This option controls how your dashboard fits on the page.
- Paper Size and Orientation: These function exactly like they do in Tableau Desktop. Choose the size and layout that best fits your dashboard design and intended use.
After making your selections, click the blue Download button, and your browser will download the generated PDF file.
Tips and Tricks for a Perfect PDF Export
Simply hitting export works, but a few extra steps can elevate your static PDF report from "just okay" to "perfectly formatted and professional."
Create a "Print Optimized" Dashboard Layout
Dashboards are typically designed for interaction on a widescreen monitor, not a static, portrait A4 page. Objects that look great on screen can appear cluttered or truncated on a PDF.
The Fix: Create a dashboard variation specifically for printing.
- Duplicate your main dashboard (right-click its tab and choose Duplicate).
- Rename the new dashboard to something like "Sales Dashboard - Printable."
- In the Dashboard pane on the left, change the Size dropdown from a fixed size or automatic to a specific print layout, like A4 Portrait or US Letter Portrait.
- Rearrange your charts, filters, and text objects to fit neatly within this new canvas. You may need to simplify certain views or stack charts vertically instead of horizontally.
Now, when you need to export a PDF, you can print from this optimized version for a clean, professional result every time.
Handle Long Tables or Lists with Scrollbars
One of the most common pitfalls is exporting a dashboard that contains a worksheet with a scrollbar (like a long table of values). By default, Tableau will only export the visible portion, cutting off the rest of the data.
The Fix: Before exporting, adjust the worksheet placement on the dashboard to show all the data.
- Go to your dashboard and select the container that holds the long table.
- Drag the bottom of the container down until the entire view is visible and the scrollbar disappears. Your dashboard canvas will get longer to accommodate it.
Tableau's exporter is smart enough to then print this entire long view, and will span it over multiple pages if needed, ensuring no data gets left behind.
Automate Your Exports with Tabcmd
If you find yourself exporting the same PDF report every week, you can automate this process using Tableau's Command Line Utility (Tabcmd). This lets you script the export of a specific view, and you can then use a scheduler (like Windows Task Scheduler or cron) to run it automatically.
You’ll need to have Tabcmd installed and have authenticated to your Tableau Server. Here’s a sample command that exports a view called "QuarterlySales" from a workbook named "Finance" that is in the "Reports" project:
tabcmd get "/views/Finance/QuarterlySales.pdf" -f "C:\Reports\Quarterly-Sales-Report.pdf"
For more specific exports of filtered views, the tabcmd export command gives you even more control:
tabcmd export "Finance/QuarterlySales" --pdf -f "C:\Reports\Asia-Sales-Report.pdf" --pagelayout landscape ?Region=Asia
This command exports an A4-Landscape version of the Sales dashboard, but applies a filter for "Region" before generating the PDF. This level of automation can save hours for recurring reporting needs.
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Final Thoughts
As you can see, Tableau makes it incredibly simple to export dashboards to PDF, whether you're working in the Desktop app or on the web via Server or Cloud. By paying attention to details like orientation, sizing, and creating print-specific layouts, you can produce shareable, professional-grade reports that look exceptional both online and on paper.
While exporting your dashboard to PDF is incredibly useful for static, offline copies, this process shows just how much manual effort can go into reporting. We built Graphed to remove these manual steps from your workflow. Rather than manually wrangling with visualizations, Graphed allows you to directly connect with all your data sources – like Shopify, Google Analytics, or Salesforce – and then create real-time, shareable dashboards instantly by asking questions in plain English. Imagine getting answers without the steep learning curve, saving you hours of building and formatting reports.
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