Reference > Script steps reference > Records script steps > Save Records As PDF
 
Save Records As PDF
Purpose 
Saves records to a specified PDF file.
See also 
Format 
Save Records as PDF [Restore; Append; With dialog: On/Off; "<output filename>"; Automatically open; Create email; Records being browsed/Current record/Blank record, as formatted/with boxes/with underlines/with placeholder text]
Note  To save records as a PDF file, your privilege set must include Allow printing, or you must set the script to run with full access privileges.
Options 
Append to existing PDF appends the records being browsed, the current record, or a blank record after the last page of the specified PDF file. When you append records, the PDF Options dialog box settings in the Document and Initial View tabs are ignored, but the settings in the Security tab are maintained.
With dialog specifies whether to display dialog boxes when the script step is performed, if a file has already been specified.
Specify output file allows you to specify the file path. Choose the folder you want to save to, or type the file path directly into the list. Specify one path per line. FileMaker Pro will use the first path it locates. See Creating file paths. You can choose to Automatically open file or you can choose to Create email with file as attachment after saving.
If FileMaker Pro executes a script that does not specify an absolute path, and the database file containing the script is hosted, the path is assumed to be the current user’s Documents folder.
Specify options displays the "Save Records as PDF" Options dialog box. If you select Blank record from the Save list, the Appearance list is enabled. The Appearance list allows you to specify formatting options for fields.
Select Options to display the PDF Options dialog box.
In the Document tab, you can specify descriptive information for the PDF file. For each of the options in the document tab, you can enter text directly, or click Specify to enter a field name or values from a calculation.
In the Security tab, you can assign passwords to the PDF file, as well as print and edit privileges. If print and edit privileges are allowed, you can specify if copying and screen reading software are permitted.
In the Initial View tab, you can define the initial view for the layout and magnification for the PDF file.
Compatibility 
 
Where the script step runs 
Supported 
FileMaker Pro 
Yes 
FileMaker Server 
Partial 
FileMaker Go 
Partial 
Custom Web Publishing 
No 
FileMaker WebDirect 
Partial 
Runtime solution 
No 
Originated in 
FileMaker Pro 8.0
Description 
This script step operates in all modes except Find mode.
macOS: Save Records As PDF is not supported in runtime solutions. However, users can print the current record to PDF by choosing File menu > Print > PDF.
Notes 
In FileMaker Go:
The following options are not supported: appending records to an existing PDF, and options in the Security tab and Initial View tab of the PDF Options dialog box.
If you don’t specify the output file path, FileMaker Go uses the name of the window to save the PDF file.
In FileMaker Server:
The With dialog: On option is not supported.
Scripts performed by FileMaker Server follow FileMaker Server file path behaviors. See Paths in server-side scripts.
In FileMaker WebDirect:
This script step is not supported on mobile devices.
Saved files download to the web browser’s default download location.
In FileMaker Server and FileMaker WebDirect:
The Automatically open file and Create email with file as attachment options are not supported.
The Print Setup script step sets options for this script step.
If fonts don’t display correctly in the PDF, make sure that all required fonts are installed and available to the Web Publishing Engine in your FileMaker Server deployment. See FileMaker Server Help.
The Append to existing PDF option is supported only when appending to PDF files that were previously created within the same script.
If this script step performs multiple times in the same script and doesn't use Append to existing PDF, make sure each instance of this script step uses a unique filename. Otherwise, the most recently created PDF will overwrite older PDFs with the same name.
If a file path is not specified for the PDF, the default filename is "Untitled.pdf".
Web viewers don’t display content in PDFs.
Example 1 
Goes to the Products layout, shows all records, sorts the records, and saves the records as a PDF without prompting the user.
Go to Layout ["Products"]
Show All Records
Sort Records [Restore; With dialog: Off]
Save Records as PDF [With dialog: Off; "Product Catalog.pdf"; Records being browsed]
Example 2 
Finds all invoices with the current record's Customer ID, sorts, saves the invoices to a PDF, and appends the products purchased by the customer to the PDF.
Go to Layout ["Invoices"]
Find Matching Records [Replace; Invoices::Customer ID]
Sort Records [Restore; With dialog: Off]
Save Records as PDF [With dialog: Off; "Customer Backup.pdf"; Records being browsed]
Go to Related Record [Show only related records; Match found set; From table: "Products"; Using layout: "Products"]
Save Records as PDF [Append; With dialog: Off; "Customer Backup.pdf"; Records being browsed]
Go to Layout [original layout]
Related topics 
Export Records script step
Import Records script step
Script steps reference (alphabetical list)
Script steps reference (category list)