Get Started

We're happy that you've decided to get started with Scroll PDF Exporter. This article will guide you through the steps required to set up your first export, using the built-in default templates.

Prefer to watch the video?

Have a look at the Scroll PDF Get Started video

Exporting to PDF is simple – just open the page you want to export, then click ••• > Export to PDF. Make sure to select the option with the PDF icon, otherwise you'll be using Confluence's inbuilt PDF Exporter.

Choosing a template

Now you can pick which default template you want to use – Article, Confluence Page Layout, or Documentation. The templates have different designs and are intended for different purposes:

Name	Description
Confluence Page Layout	Exports content in the same look and feel as in Confluence
Article	Same as the Documentation Layout, but only includes the page content (not the page title etc.) This setting is recommended for single-page exports
Documentation Layout	Creates exports in a style suited to documentation

Define export settings

After selecting your desired template, you can click More Details to display several customization options:

Tab	Name	Description
Labels	Include/exclude	Define page labels to include/exclude child pages
Labels	Index terms	If checked, page labels will be used as index terms
Content	Enable numbered headings	If checked, headings will use the numbering defined in the export template
Content	Keep multi-column page layouts	If checked, the export uses the Confluence page layout
Content	Enable links to external websites	If checked, web links in the PDF will be clickable
Content	Enable links to Confluence	If checked, links to your Confluence site will be clickable
Content	Repeat table header if table breaks to a new page	If checked, table headers will be repeated if the table breaks onto a new page
Content	Insert a page break after every Confluence page	If checked, a page break will be inserted after every Confluence page in the PDF export
Content	Attachments	If the option Embed referenced attachments is checked, the generated PDF export will contain the attachments included on the exported pages
Macros	Show 'Table Of Content' macro output	If checked, the Confluence Table of Contents macro (if added to the page) will be included in the export
Macros	Show 'Child pages' macro output	If checked, the Confluence Child pages macro – formerly known as “Children Display” – (if added to the page) will be included in the export
Macros	Convert image gallery tables to lists	If checked, images in gallery macros are displayed in a list rather than a grid
Captions	Figure captions	If an image is assigned a caption using the Scroll Title macro, you can select whether to display that caption before or after the image
Captions	Table captions	If a table is assigned a caption using the Scroll Title macro, you can select whether to display that caption before or after the table
File Options	Optimize links for printing	If checked, a footer section displaying the full URLs of all links on the page is added. Further customisation options remain available for link suffixes, see Define template settings for additional information.
File Options	Make document PDF/A-3 compliant	If checked, a PDF/A (ISO-standardized) version of the PDF is created upon export. This file type is intended for archiving purposes and long-term preservation of electronic documents.
File Options	Image compression	Define whether images are compressed in the export. Reducing the image quality (e.g. Low quality), increases the compression for exported images and will reduce the size of the exported file. As a result, images may appear distorted.
PDF Metadata	Title/Author/Subject/Keywords	Define metadata within the available fields to include in the generated PDF export
Bookmarks	PDF Bookmarks	Define the number of heading levels used to create bookmarks in the generated PDF Export. After choosing a specific heading level, PDF bookmarks will be created for the selected and all previous heading levels. e.g. Choosing Heading 3 will create bookmarks for heading levels 1, 2 and 3.
Bookmarks	Expanded levels	Define how many bookmark heading levels are displayed in the export. Bookmarks will be expanded up until the selected heading level
Bookmarks	Bookmarks Panel	If checked, the bookmark panel will automatically be displayed when the export is opened in the PDF reader (eg. Adobe)

After you have selected the customization options you want, click Export. Once the export is created and can be downloaded, a success message is displayed.

Hide default templates from users

It is posible to hide/display the default templates on a global or space level. To change the setting on the space level, Confluence administrator or Space administrator permissions are required, and to change the setting on a global level, Confluence administrator permissions are required.

To hide/display the templates on the global level, navigate to General configuration > Scroll Runtime > Advanced plugin settings, and select Scroll PDF Exporter in the dropdown in the top-right of the screen. Now, edit the templates.bundled.visibility.global key and select Hidden or Visible.

By default, all spaces use the global setting unless the space setting is defined explicitly. If a space setting is defined explicitly, it will always overwrite the global setting. To change the setting for a specific space, you can use the following URL replacing base_url and a space_key with values from your instance:

http://<base_url>/plugins/servlet/scroll-settings/?key=<space_key>

Following this, select Scroll PDF Exporter in the dropdown in the top-right of the screen. Now, edit the templates.bundled.visibility.space key and select Hidden or Visible.

Scroll Translations/Versions users

Alternatively, Scroll Versions/ Scroll Translations users can also change the setting for a specific space by opening the space and navigating to: Space tools > Scroll Add-ons and then press the ALT key to make a menu entry for Advanced Plugin Settings appear at the bottom of the administration section.

Next steps

If you want to create your own custom template that fits your precise needs, you can use the inbuilt custom template designer.

From reports to invoices, browse through the collection of templates on our PDF Template Library to see what’s possible when exporting your Confluence documentation with Scroll PDF Exporter. 📚 Explore the Template Library →