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Export PDF files in print format

So far we have seen how to export dashboards as PNG. Let's take a scenario, wherein the requirement is to export the chart in A4 format for a better print output. To do this, you have to go through a lot of changes like adjusting the pixel, create a template, improve the quality, etc. FusionExport allows you to export your PDF files in print-friendly format using the templateFormat attribute.

Before you start with the code implementations, check out the following video which contains the step by step process to set the print friendly format for your exported PDF file.

Now, let’s check out the basic steps to export PDF files in print format.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure that you have:

  1. Downloaded and installed FusionExport Server, and the server is running

  2. Downloaded and installed the FusionExport SDK client

  3. Export a Dashboard

Export in print format

Using templateFormat you can export your PDF files in Print-friendly format. templateFormat is a parameter which accepts the PDF format when you export charts.

Setting the templateFormat for a particular PDF page sets the priority over templateWidth and templateHeight of the exported file.

The list of template formats and their default height and width is given below:

Format Width (inches) Height (inches)
Letter 8.5 11
Legal 8.5 14
Tabloid 11 17
Ledger 17 11
A0 33.1 46.8
A1 23.4 33.1
A2 16.5 23.4
A3 11.7 16.5
A4 8.27 11.7
A5 5.83 8.27

The sample code to export PDF files in print format is given below:


using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using FusionCharts.FusionExport.Client; // Import sdk

namespace FusionExportTest
{
    public static class ExportSingleChart
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string chartConfigFile = System.Environment.CurrentDirectory + "\resources\dashboard_charts.json";
            string templateFilePath = System.Environment.CurrentDirectory + "\resources\template.html";

            // Instantiate the ExportManager class
            using (ExportManager exportManager = new ExportManager())
            {
                exportConfig.Set("chartConfig", chartConfigFile);
                exportConfig.Set("templateFilePath", templateFilePath);
                exportConfig.Set("templateFormat", "letter");
                exportConfig.Set("type", "pdf");
                // Call the Export() method with the export config
                results.AddRange(exportManager.Export(exportConfig, @"D:\temp\exported-charts", true));
            }

            foreach (string path in results)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(path);
            }
        }
    }
}



import com.fusioncharts.fusionexport.client.*; // import sdk

public class ExportChart {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {


        String configPath = "fullpath/resources/static2/resources/multiple.json";
        String templatePath ="fullpath/resources/static2/resources/template.html";

        // Instantiate the ExportManager class
        ExportManager em = new ExportManager();

        // Instantiate the ExportConfig class and add the required configurations
        ExportConfig config = new ExportConfig();
        config.set("chartConfig", configPath);
        config.set("templateFilePath", templatePath);
        config.set("type", "pdf");
        config.set("templateFormat", "letter");

        String[] files = em.export(config,".",true);

        for(String f : files) {
            System.out.println(f);
        }
    }
}



<?php

// Exporting a dashboard

require DIR . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
// Use the sdk
use FusionExport\ExportManager;
use FusionExport\ExportConfig;

// Instantiate the ExportConfig class and add the required configurations
$exportConfig = new ExportConfig();
$exportConfig->set('chartConfig', realpath(DIR . '/resources/multiple.json'));
$exportConfig->set('templateFilePath', realpath(DIR . '/resources/template.html'));
$exportConfig->set('type', 'pdf');
$exportConfig->set('templateFormat', 'letter');


// Instantiate the ExportManager class
$exportManager = new ExportManager();
// Call the export() method with the export config
$files = $exportManager->export($exportConfig, '.', true);

foreach ($files as $file) {
    echo $file . "\n";
}
?>



// Exporting a dashboard
const path = require('path');
// Require FusionExport
const { ExportManager, ExportConfig } = require('fusionexport-node-client');
// Instantiate ExportManager
const exportManager = new ExportManager();
// Instantiate ExportConfig and add the required configurations
const exportConfig = new ExportConfig();
exportConfig.set('chartConfig', path.join(dirname, 'resources', 'multiple.json'));
exportConfig.set('templateFilePath', path.join(dirname, 'resources', 'template.html'));
exportConfig.set('templateFormat', 'letter');
exportConfig.set('type', 'pdf');
// provide the export config
exportManager.export(exportConfig, '.', true).then((exportedFiles) => {
  exportedFiles.forEach(file => console.log(file));
}).catch((err) => {
  console.log(err);
});



#!/usr/bin/env python

from fusionexport import ExportManager, ExportConfig  # Import sdk

# Instantiate the ExportConfig class and add the required configurations
export_config = ExportConfig()

export_config["chartConfig"] = "dashboard_charts.json"

export_config["templateFilePath"] = "template.html"
export_config["type"] = "pdf"
export_config["templateWidth"] = 1200
export_config["templateHeight"] = 1800


# Provide port and host of FusionExport Service
export_server_host = "127.0.0.1"
export_server_port = 1337

# Instantiate the ExportManager class
em = ExportManager(export_server_host, export_server_port)
# Call the export() method with the export config and the output location
exported_files = em.export(export_config, "./exports", True)
#print(exported_files)

In the above code:

  • Create a new instance of the ExportConfig() object, which will be used to extract the chart configuration by using the chart configuration file path you pass to its set() method. You can also pass on an object containing the serialized JSON string representation of the configuration to the set() method.
  • Set the type to pdf.
  • Create a new instance of the ExportManager() object. To export the chart, pass the instance of ExportConfig() to export(), which is a method of the instance of ExportManager(). This will export the chart, and save the output file to the path you provide (by default, it is the directory from which the code is being executed).
  • Optionally, you can print the names of the exported files on the console, and the error messages if anything goes wrong.

The JSON data of the above chart is shown below:

[
  {
    "type": "mscolumn2d",
    "renderAt": "chart-container-1",
    "width": "100%",
    "height": "100%",
    "dataFormat": "json",
    "dataSource": {
      "chart": {
        "caption": "App Publishing Trend",
        "subcaption": "2012-2016",
        "xaxisname": "Years",
        "yaxisname": "Total number of apps in store",
        "formatnumberscale": "1",
        "plottooltext": "<b>$dataValue</b> apps were available on <b>$seriesName</b> in $label",
        "theme": "fusion",
        "drawcrossline": "1"
      },
      "categories": [
        {
          "category": [
            {
              "label": "2012"
            },
            {
              "label": "2013"
            },
            {
              "label": "2014"
            },
            {
              "label": "2015"
            },
            {
              "label": "2016"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dataset": [
        {
          "seriesname": "iOS App Store",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "125000"
            },
            {
              "value": "300000"
            },
            {
              "value": "480000"
            },
            {
              "value": "800000"
            },
            {
              "value": "1100000"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Google Play Store",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "70000"
            },
            {
              "value": "150000"
            },
            {
              "value": "350000"
            },
            {
              "value": "600000"
            },
            {
              "value": "1400000"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Amazon AppStore",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "10000"
            },
            {
              "value": "100000"
            },
            {
              "value": "300000"
            },
            {
              "value": "600000"
            },
            {
              "value": "900000"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "msline",
    "renderAt": "chart-container-2",
    "width": "100%",
    "height": "100%",
    "dataFormat": "json",
    "dataSource": {
      "chart": {
        "caption": "Reach of Social Media Platforms amoung youth",
        "yaxisname": "% of youth on this platform",
        "subcaption": "2012-2016",
        "showhovereffect": "1",
        "numbersuffix": "%",
        "drawcrossline": "1",
        "plottooltext": "<b>$dataValue</b> of youth were on $seriesName",
        "theme": "fusion"
      },
      "categories": [
        {
          "category": [
            {
              "label": "2012"
            },
            {
              "label": "2013"
            },
            {
              "label": "2014"
            },
            {
              "label": "2015"
            },
            {
              "label": "2016"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dataset": [
        {
          "seriesname": "Facebook",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "62"
            },
            {
              "value": "64"
            },
            {
              "value": "64"
            },
            {
              "value": "66"
            },
            {
              "value": "78"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Instagram",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "16"
            },
            {
              "value": "28"
            },
            {
              "value": "34"
            },
            {
              "value": "42"
            },
            {
              "value": "54"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "LinkedIn",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "20"
            },
            {
              "value": "22"
            },
            {
              "value": "27"
            },
            {
              "value": "22"
            },
            {
              "value": "29"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Twitter",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "18"
            },
            {
              "value": "19"
            },
            {
              "value": "21"
            },
            {
              "value": "21"
            },
            {
              "value": "24"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "stackedcolumn2d",
    "renderAt": "chart-container-3",
    "width": "100%",
    "height": "100%",
    "dataFormat": "json",
    "dataSource": {
      "chart": {
        "caption": "Yearly Energy Production Rate",
        "subcaption": " Top 5 Developed Countries",
        "numbersuffix": " TWh",
        "showsum": "1",
        "plottooltext": "$label produces <b>$dataValue</b> of energy from $seriesName",
        "theme": "fusion",
        "drawcrossline": "1"
      },
      "categories": [
        {
          "category": [
            {
              "label": "Canada"
            },
            {
              "label": "China"
            },
            {
              "label": "Russia"
            },
            {
              "label": "Australia"
            },
            {
              "label": "United States"
            },
            {
              "label": "France"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dataset": [
        {
          "seriesname": "Coal",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "400"
            },
            {
              "value": "830"
            },
            {
              "value": "500"
            },
            {
              "value": "420"
            },
            {
              "value": "790"
            },
            {
              "value": "380"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Hydro",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "350"
            },
            {
              "value": "620"
            },
            {
              "value": "410"
            },
            {
              "value": "370"
            },
            {
              "value": "720"
            },
            {
              "value": "310"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Nuclear",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "210"
            },
            {
              "value": "400"
            },
            {
              "value": "450"
            },
            {
              "value": "180"
            },
            {
              "value": "570"
            },
            {
              "value": "270"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Gas",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "180"
            },
            {
              "value": "330"
            },
            {
              "value": "230"
            },
            {
              "value": "160"
            },
            {
              "value": "440"
            },
            {
              "value": "350"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Oil",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "60"
            },
            {
              "value": "200"
            },
            {
              "value": "200"
            },
            {
              "value": "50"
            },
            {
              "value": "230"
            },
            {
              "value": "150"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "stackedcolumn2dline",
    "renderAt": "chart-container-4",
    "width": "100%",
    "height": "100%",
    "dataFormat": "json",
    "dataSource": {
      "chart": {
        "showvalues": "0",
        "caption": "Apple's Revenue & Profit",
        "subcaption": "(2013-2016)",
        "numberprefix": "$",
        "numbersuffix": "B",
        "plottooltext": "Sales of $seriesName in $label was <b>$dataValue</b>",
        "showhovereffect": "1",
        "yaxisname": "$ (In billions)",
        "showsum": "1",
        "theme": "fusion"
      },
      "categories": [
        {
          "category": [
            {
              "label": "2013"
            },
            {
              "label": "2014"
            },
            {
              "label": "2015"
            },
            {
              "label": "2016"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dataset": [
        {
          "seriesname": "iPhone",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "21"
            },
            {
              "value": "24"
            },
            {
              "value": "27"
            },
            {
              "value": "30"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "iPad",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "8"
            },
            {
              "value": "10"
            },
            {
              "value": "11"
            },
            {
              "value": "12"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Macbooks",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "2"
            },
            {
              "value": "4"
            },
            {
              "value": "5"
            },
            {
              "value": "5.5"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Others",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "2"
            },
            {
              "value": "4"
            },
            {
              "value": "9"
            },
            {
              "value": "11"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "seriesname": "Profit",
          "plottooltext": "Total profit in $label was <b>$dataValue</b>",
          "renderas": "Line",
          "data": [
            {
              "value": "17"
            },
            {
              "value": "19"
            },
            {
              "value": "13"
            },
            {
              "value": "18"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "doughnut3d",
    "renderAt": "chart-container-5",
    "width": "100%",
    "height": "100%",
    "dataFormat": "json",
    "dataSource": {
      "chart": {
        "caption": "Top 5 countries with Global Oil Reserves",
        "subcaption": "MMbbl= One Million barrels",
        "enablesmartlabels": "1",
        "showlabels": "1",
        "numbersuffix": " MMbbl",
        "usedataplotcolorforlabels": "1",
        "plottooltext": "$label, <b>$value</b> MMbbl",
        "theme": "fusion"
      },
      "data": [
        {
          "label": "Venezuela",
          "value": "290"
        },
        {
          "label": "Saudi",
          "value": "260"
        },
        {
          "label": "Canada",
          "value": "180"
        },
        {
          "label": "Iran",
          "value": "140"
        },
        {
          "label": "Russia",
          "value": "115"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

The HTML template for the above code is given below:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="ie=edge" />
    <title>Wealth Management</title>
    <link
      href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600"
      rel="stylesheet"
      type="text/css"
    />
    <style>
      body {
        font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif;
        margin: 0;
        background-color: #f8f9fd;
      }
      .dashboard-container {
        box-sizing: border-box;
        padding-left: 8px;
        padding-right: 8px;
        background-color: #f8f9fd;
        padding: 30px;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row {
        margin-left: -8px;
        margin-right: -8px;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row:after {
        content: "";
        display: table;
        clear: both;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .intro-block,
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .chart {
        box-sizing: border-box;
        padding: 8px 8px;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .intro-block h1 {
        margin-bottom: 10px;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .chart {
        width: 50%;
        float: left;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .chart:first-child {
        box-sizing: border-box;
        float: initial;
        width: 100%;
      }
      .dashboard-container .dashboard-row .chart .chart-block {
        background-color: #fff;
        border: 1px solid #f0f1f7;
        border-radius: 4px;
        padding: 10px;
        box-shadow: 0 2px 10px 0 rgba(33, 35, 68, 0.05) !important;
      }
      .pri-chart {
        width: auto;
        height: 600px;
      }
      .sec-chart {
        width: auto;
        height: 400px;
      }
      .dashboard-container .mt-0 {
        margin-top: 0;
      }
      .dashboard-container hr {
        border: none;
        border-top: 1px dotted rgba(49, 49, 49, 0.09);
        margin: 25px 0 15px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="dashboard-container">
      <div class="dashboard-row">
        <div class="intro-block">
          <h1>Your dashboard header</h1>
          <p class="mt-0">
            Your amazing subtitle
          </p>
          <hr />
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="dashboard-row">
        <div class="chart">
          <div class="chart-block">
            <div class="pri-chart" id="chart-container-map"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="chart">
          <div class="chart-block">
            <div class="sec-chart" id="chart-container-top-adv"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="chart">
          <div class="chart-block">
            <div class="sec-chart" id="chart-container-reg"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="chart">
          <div class="chart-block">
            <div class="sec-chart" id="chart-container-reg-monthly"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="chart">
          <div class="chart-block">
            <div class="sec-chart" id="chart-container-product"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>
Download Exported PDF Download Source Code

After you have exported the chart in PDF, we recommend learning how to: