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17.2 PDF and Email

Save a workbook as a PDF file, or send it by e-mail as a PDF attachment – both from the File menu, in normal view.

Saving as PDF

  1. File → Save as PDF. The print preview opens with PDF selected.
  2. Adjust orientation, paper size, sheets, scaling and Global filter as for printing – see 17.1 Printing and Page Setup.
  3. Click Save as PDF and choose where to save. The file name is the workbook's name.

The PDF looks exactly like the printout: same pages, headers and footers.

Sending by Email

  1. File → Send by email. The preview opens with Email selected.
  2. Adjust the settings and click Send by email.
  3. Your e-mail program (e.g. Outlook) opens a new message with the workbook attached as PDF. Add recipients, subject and text, and send it.

Datashop only prepares the message – you send it from your e-mail program.

To send workbooks automatically, on a schedule and personalized per recipient, use a distribution – see Chapter 18 Distributions.

Fonts in PDFs

New in build 20190.

Some fonts are variable fonts, which hold several weights in one font file – e.g. Bahnschrift Light and the Segoe UI Variable family. PDF files can't hold them, so Datashop handles them when it makes a PDF:

Where the font is used In the PDF
Texts, AI commentary boxes and charts Converted to shapes: the text looks right, but can't be selected or searched in the PDF (build 20197 and later; before, the letter spacing was wrong)
Table cells Not converted: the letter spacing looks wrong

After Save as PDF or Send by email, Datashop names the variable fonts it found, e.g. Text using the font "Bahnschrift Light" was converted to shapes in the PDF because it is a variable font. It cannot be selected or searched there. Distributions report the same as warnings in the status report – see Warnings in 18.8 Status Reports and Troubleshooting.

For texts that go into PDFs – especially tables, and text readers should be able to select or search – use a normal (static) font such as Segoe UI, Arial or Calibri.

Common Issues – PDF and Email

Problem: There is no email client installed on this computer. - Solution: Datashop needs a desktop e-mail program such as Outlook. Save as PDF instead and attach the file in your web mail.

Problem: In the PDF, the letters in a table are spaced oddly, or a text can't be selected. - Solution: The text uses a variable font – see Fonts in PDFs. Choose a font such as Segoe UI, Arial or Calibri.

Problem: The PDF includes sheets I didn't want. - Solution: Choose Sheets → Current Sheet, or turn off Allow printing for those sheets in Page setup....