Show All

Hide All

PDF, or portable document format, opens in the Adobe Reader. The PDF export filter has a number of useful properties that allow you to control your output. You can set the properties either in code using the PDFExport object after adding reference to the following assembly in your project, or by selecting the object in the toolbox and adding it to the component tray below the Form which automatically adds this assembly to the project:

GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Pdf.dll

With the PDF export filter, you can use the feature Font Linking.

Note: These features are only available in the Professional Edition of ActiveReports.

Property	Valid Values	Description
ConvertMetaToPng	True or False (default)	Set to True to change any Windows metafile images to PNG format to keep the file size down. If the report has no metafiles, this setting is ignored.
ExportBookmarks	True (default) or False	Set to True to generate bookmarks from the bookmarks in the report. If the report has no bookmarks, this setting is ignored. To control how the exported bookmarks are displayed, use Options.DisplayMode detailed below.
FontFallback	String of font families	Set a comma-delimited string of font families to be used to lookup glyphs missing in the original font.
ImageQuality	Lowest, Medium (default), or Highest	Set to Highest in combination with a high value in the ImageResolution property to yield the best printing results when converting Windows metafiles (.wmf and .emf). Set to Lowest to keep the file size down. If the report has no metafiles, this setting is ignored.
ImageResolution	75 - 2400 dpi	Set to 75 dpi to save space, 150 dpi for normal screen viewing, and 300 dpi or higher for print quality. Use this property in combination with ImageQuality (highest) to yield the best results when the report contains metafiles or the Page.DrawPicture API is used. Neither property has any effect on other image types.
NeverEmbedFonts	A semicolon-delimited string of font names	List all of the fonts that you do not want to embed in the PDF file to keep the file size down. This can make a big difference if you use a lot of fonts in your reports.
Options	See below	Expand this property to see a group of sub properties. These settings control how the Adobe Reader displays the output PDF file when it is first opened. See the table below for details.
Security	See below	Expand this property to see a group of sub properties. These settings control encryption and permissions on the output PDF file. See the table below for details.
Signature	A valid PdfSignature object	This must be set up in code. For more information, see Digital Signature .
Version	Pdf11, Pdf12, Pdf13, Pdf14, Pdf15, Pdf16, Pdf17, PdfA1a, PdfA1b, PdfA2a, PdfA2b, or PdfA2u	Sets the version of the PDF format the exported document is saved in.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

Usage:

Create printable reports whose formats do not change from machine to machine.
Open in Adobe Reader.

Does not support:

Dash and dot border patterns appear to look longer in the PDF output than in the ActiveReports Window Forms Viewer.
Multiple lines of vertical text is not supported in Page and RDL reports.
Transparent background-color in charts are not supported.

PDF/A Support Limitations

The NeverEmbedFonts property is ignored, so all fonts of a report are embedded into the PDF document.
The Security.Encrypt property is ignored and the PDF export behaves as if this property is always set to False.
The OnlyForPrint property is ignored and the PDF export behaves as if this property is always set to False.
Transparent images lose their transparency when exported to PDF/A-1.
External hyperlinks are exported as plain text.

Options and Security

When you expand the Options or Security properties in the Properties window, the following sub properties are revealed.

Property	Valid Values	Description
Application	String	Set to the string value that you want to display in the Adobe Document Properties dialog, Description tab, Application field.
Author	String	Set to the string value that you want to display in the Adobe Document Properties dialog, Description tab, Author field.
CenterWindow	True or False (default)	Set to True to position the Adobe Reader window in the center of the screen when the document is first opened.
DisplayMode	None (default), Outlines, Thumbs, or FullScreen	Select how to display bookmarks when the document is first opened. None (default) bookmarks are not displayed until opened by the user. Outlines shows bookmarks in outline format. Thumbs shows bookmarks as thumbnails. FullScreen shows the document in full screen, and bookmarks are not displayed.
DisplayTitle	True or False (default)	Set to True to use the Title string entered in the Title property below. Otherwise, the file name is used.
FitWindow	True or False (default)	Set to True to expand the window to fit the size of the first displayed page.
HideMenubar	True or False (default)	Set to True to hide the menu in the Adobe Reader when the document is first opened.
HideToolbar	True or False (default)	Set to True to hide the toolbars in the Adobe Reader when the document is first opened.
HideWindowUI	True or False (default)	Set to True to hide the scrollbars and navigation controls in the Adobe Reader when the document is first opened, displaying only the document.
Keywords	String	Enter keywords to display in the Adobe Document Properties dialog, Description tab, Keywords field.
OnlyForPrint	True or False (default)	Set to indicate whether the PDF is only for print.
Subject	String	Enter a subject to display in the Adobe Document Properties dialog, Description tab, Subject field.
Title	String	Enter a title to display in the Adobe Document Properties dialog, Description tab, Title field. Set DisplayTitle to True to display this text in the title bar of the Adobe Reader when the document is opened.

Property	Valid Values	Description
Encrypt	True or False (default)	Sets or returns a value indicating whether the document is encrypted.
OwnerPassword	String	Enter the string to use as a password that unlocks the document regardless of specified permissions.
Permissions	None, AllowPrint, AllowModifyContents, AllowCopy, AllowModifyAnnotations, AllowFillIn, AllowAccessibleReaders, or AllowAssembly	Combine multiple values by dropping down the selector and selecting the check boxes of any permissions you want to grant. By default, all of the permissions are granted.
Use128Bit	True (default) or False	Set to False to use 40 bit encryption with limited permissions. (Disables AllowFillIn, AllowAccessibleReaders, and AllowAssembly permissions.)
UserPassword	String	Enter the string to use as a password that unlocks the document using the specified permissions. Leave this value blank to allow anyone to open the document using the specified permissions.

PDF Print Presets Properties

ActiveReports allows you to preset the printing properties for PDF report exports using the PrintPresets class. This prepopulates the print settings in the Print dialog box. Please see Use PDF Printing Presets for more information.

Note: The print preset properties are only available with the Professional Edition license. An evaluation message is displayed when used with the Standard Edition license.

Property	Description
PageScaling	Specify scaling for the printable area.You can select Default to shrink to the printable area, or you can select None for the actual size.
DuplexMode	Specify the duplex mode of the printer. For the best results with the duplex option, the selected printer should support duplex printing. You can choose from the following values, Simplex: Prints on one side of the paper. This is the default value. Duplex (Flip on long edge): Prints on both sides of the paper with paper flip on the long edge. Duplex (Flip on short edge): Prints on both sides of the paper with paper flip on the short edge.
PaperSourceByPageSize	Determines the output tray based on PDF page size, rather than page setting options. This option is useful when printing PDFs with multiple page sizes, where different sized output trays are available. By default, this option is set to False.
PrintPageRange	Specify the range of page numbers as 1-3 or 1, 2, 3.
NumberOfCopies	Specify the number of copies to print. You can select any number of copies from 2 to 5, or select Default to specify a single copy.

Note: These properties are available in PDF version 1.7 or higher. The PageScaling property is supported in PDF version 1.6.