Convert HTML pages to PDF format using the SharePoint User Interface

Posted at: 10:56 on 13 September 2010 by Muhimbi

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As part of our on-going series about new features in the PDF Converter for SharePoint On-Premises 4.0, we would like to showcase our exciting new HTML to PDF conversion functionality.

 

Similar to the other file formats supported by the PDF Converter for SharePoint On-Premises, HTML conversion is available via the User Interface, Workflows as well as the Web Service. This post describes how to convert SharePoint pages such as calendars, lists or even entire publishing pages to PDF Format using the Personal Actions menu.

There is not much to it really, just navigate to the SharePoint page to convert and select Convert page to PDF from the Personal Actions menu as per the screenshot below.
 

 
This new functionality lives in a SharePoint Feature named Muhimbi.PDFConverter.ConvertWebPage.Site, which needs to be enabled at the Site Collection level.

The following image shows the original SharePoint page on the left hand side and the converted PDF file on the right. As you can see this works very well.
 

Calendar Example of the original web page (left) and the converted PDF file (right)

 
Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below if you have any questions or contact us if you want to discuss anything related to our products.

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17 Comments:

  • This really looks interesting, and I can't wait to try it out. When will the RTM ship?

    By Blogger MS365Thinking, At 15 September, 2010 20:08  

  • The current beta is very stable, but there are some final steps, such as documentation, that need to be sorted out. We are aiming for mid October.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 15 September, 2010 20:58  

  • I installed a trial version of PDF Converter for SharePoint 4.0 on W2K3 WSS 3.0 platform. I don't see the above feature enabled on my calendar page. Could you tell me how to enable it? Thanks!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 22 March, 2011 20:17  

  • You need to enable the Feature at the site collection level. For more detail see section 2.2.3 in the Administration Guide.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 23 March, 2011 08:29  

  • Can I use this product with Windows SharePoint Service 2.0 and Office 2003?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 23 March, 2011 14:43  

  • Our SharePoint UI does not integrate with WSS 2, however you can use our PDF Conversion Services product to convert WSS 2 pages to PDF. You will just need to do a little bit of programming against our public API to provide the glue. Please use the 'Contact Us' link at the top of this page for more details.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 23 March, 2011 14:56  

  • Hi,
    I installed Muhimbi PDFConverter 5.1.0.51 on sharepoint server. I tried to convert few pages to pdf but everytime pdf is blank. After installation i've got these features on site level:
    - Muhimbi PDF Converter (acvtiavated)
    - Muhimbi PDF Converter - Automatic Watermarking User Interface
    - Muhimbi PDF Converter - Convert Document and Download (acvtiavated)
    - Muhimbi PDF Converter - Convert Web Page (acvtiavated)
    In central administration i've selected only html &bitmap formats and TIFF files. Test and validation setting are ok. Any idea?
    Thanks

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 04 January, 2012 10:31  

  • Hi,

    I am fairly sure your HTML Conversion problem is authentication related. Please carry out the following tests.

    1. Launch the diagnostics tool from the start menu.
    2. Switch to the HTML Conversion tab.
    3. Click the first Convert button and let me know if you see the results
    4. Click the second Convert button and let me know the outcome.
    5. If steps 3 and 4 provide proper output then please enter a URL of your SharePoint site in the ‘URL To Convert’ and click the ‘Convert’ Button again.

    Please contact support@muhimbi.com if this doesn't help.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 10:35  

  • Hi,
    Thanks for quick answer. I tried steps above and here are results:
    1. Your site works perfect.
    2. My sharepoint site works only for the first time. Now every time i click convert pdf contains only ribbon)
    3. If diagnostic tool works fine what should i do make it work on sharepoint?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 04 January, 2012 11:11  

  • It sounds like you have an SP2010 specific isue. Please contact support@muhimbi.com and request the 5.2 Interim release.

    Due to the heavy use of DHTML in combination with JavaScript in the SP2010 interface you will need to make some changes to the Service’s config file. This will need to be done after installing 5.2.

    The Service’s config file can be found by following the shortcut in the start menu to the Service’s installation directory. Open this file, search for the following line and change "False" to "True"



    Please restart the Muhimbi Service once this change has been made.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 11:15  

  • It looks like our comments strip out XML elements. The instructions are as follows, just replace '[' and ']' with angle brackets.

    ------

    Due to the heavy use of DHTML in combination with JavaScript in the SP2010 interface you will need to make some changes to the Service’s config file. This will need to be done after installing 5.2.

    The Service’s config file can be found by following the shortcut in the start menu to the Service’s installation directory. Open this file, search for the following line and change "False" to "True"

    [add key="HTMLConverterFullFidelity.ClearBrowserCache" value="False"/]

    Please restart the Muhimbi Service once this change has been made.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 11:16  

  • As you said i wrote to your support. You were right about that cache. After I delete browser cache it works, but only for the first time :)
    I'm looking forward to get this new release from you.
    As far i see my content is cut to fit the page (on sharepoint site are scrollbars). Is is possible to get whole page content (even it's not visible due scrollbars)?
    Thanks.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 04 January, 2012 11:43  

  • Support will pick it up from here.

    Some problems are difficult to get around with complex HTML as HTML is not intended for use on A4 or Letter based PDF files. There is a "HTMLConverterFullFidelity.ScaleMode" option in the service's config file as well as some other HTML Conversion specific settings. Please have a look in the Admin Guide section 2.3.2 subsection "HTML Specific switches".

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 11:52  

  • Support has now responded. Please let me know if you did not receive the reply.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 12:10  

  • I've got it and it works in diagnostic tool. Now I try to make it work in sharepoint. According to Admin Guide 2.3.2 Authentication I try diffirent scenarious - so far it didn't work.
    I need setting for:
    1. Sharepoint user can convert page to PDF (intranet)
    2. Anonnymous user can convert page to PDF (internet).
    Is it possible?
    Thanks.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 04 January, 2012 13:38  

  • I've got Access denied error (according to diagnostic tool)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 04 January, 2012 13:42  

  • Please revert your authentication changes in the config file. They have nothing to do with HTML authentication.

    Please deal with support@muhimbi.com for your remaining questions, the comments to this post are really not the right place for this.

    SharePoint and Anonymous users can convert HTML pages to PDF just fine, please talk to our support team.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 04 January, 2012 13:47  

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