It's certainly disappointing to have the formatting for an Excel spreadsheet you have been working on for hours suddenly go sideways the moment you try to convert it to a PDF. Key pieces of information can shift, go unreadable, charts can move, and columns can get cut off. All of these issues can be really demotivating and unprofessional, be it on a forecast, a project tracker, or even a financial report. The good news? If you take the time to make a couple of pre-export adjustments, you can share your crafted information as a polished PDF.
Always Set Your Print Area First
Excel has an option for setting the print area and this is the simplest way to set your area. With your print area set, Excel will not try to include any additional cells or borders that need to be excluded.
You do not have to set this for every single Excel sheet you create, as if you create an Excel template to work from, this print area only needs to be set once and slightly adjusted every once in a while depending on the tables you're generating. Or more advanced, it can be automated through macros. Consider setting it for a quarterly budget and highlight the relevant table. Navigate to Page Layout, select Print Area, and choose Set Print Area to finalize it. Using this method, you can be sure that the PDF will capture the section you want.
Change Page Layout and Scaling
How well your PDF can be read depends on how the sheet pagebreaks. Always switch to Page Layout View before exporting to ensure there is nothing that runs off the edge and that there is not any text that looks cramped.
In the Page Setup menu, Scale your sheet so that it fits one page wide. However, do not force it to fit height-wise as this will only make the text tiny. This is especially useful for dashboards or wide financial statements, as there is no need to cram everything onto one page.
Use Page Breaks More Efficiently
Excel, for some inexplicable reason, has automatic pagebreaks. This is one of the most common issues Excel users face as it will divide tables or cut up charts.
Instead of accepting this, you can go to Page Layout > Breaks > Insert Page Break, and set your own that make sense. This way related data is not spaced apart from one another and keeps your charts and visuals in their respective pages.
Check Margins and Orientation
The way your data displays in PDF format can be affected by Margins and page Orientation. A P&L statement displays most effectively in Portrait, while a Gantt chart or wide KPI report shines in Landscape.
If you are short on space, trying Narrow Margins can also help fit more content while maintaining proper spacing. These simple adjustments will greatly enhance the readability of your PDF while keeping it looking professional.
Export, Don’t Print
Select Save As PDF instead of printing to PDF. This approach offers greater control over quality and file size.
If you’re sending the file for review or presentation, select Standard under Optimize for to ensure high quality. If the file is just for quick sharing through email, select Minimum size.
Conclusion
Taking a few extra steps when converting the file ensures your workbook content is displayed elegantly in PDF format. Implement these strategies, and your spine reports will shine devoid of improper formatting.
Pro Tip: For team members working with extensive one-off or periodic reports, crafting a template in Excel that can easily be converted to a PDF will save you substantial time, as well as avoid the frantic scrambles to format in the last possible minute.
