Export to PDF - bookmarks to PBI report pages?

[Ignatov]

Dear community,

I am trying to export a PBI report to PDF and preserve links between the pages in the PBI reports. 

I've currently made Bookmark buttons which when clicked in PBI lead to another page - no changes in filtering or calculations made - just navigation to different page. When exporting to PDF - buttons are not clickable.

Does anyone have a neat solution to create navigation in the report when exported to PDF?

Best,

Bojidar Ignatov 

[v-robertq-msft]

Hi, @Ignatov 

Here’s a blog about importing Bookmarks into Multiple PDF Documents via Action Wizard. You can take a look and find if it’s useful to you:

https://www.evermap.com/Tutorial_ABM_ImportBookmarksIntoMultiplePDF.asp

In my opinion, insert a bookmark for each PDF file one by one is a more effective solution. Unless you have hundreds or thousands of PDF files to be exported.

Would you like to mark this solution as a result if you can get some help from my posts?

Thanks very much!

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Robert Qin

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[v-robertq-msft]

Hi, @Ignatov 

What’s your software to open the PDF files? I suggest you to use PDF Reader, you can search and download it in the Microsoft Store. Because you can create bookmarks freely for your PDF files through this software. To make the bookmarks useful in your report, you can create bookmarks in the location of the original bookmarks in your report, like this:

You can refer to this document to learn how to insert bookmarks to your PDF files:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/bookmark-page-pdf-document-open-adobe-reader/

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Robert Qin

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Ignatov]

Looks good! This process needs to be repeated manually for every PDF export I suppose? Any automation you are aware of on this side? 

[Ignatov]

@v-robertq-msft - completely understand - the bookmarks I've added are purely for navigation between pages of interest - no additional filtering or change in visualizations. 

There must be a way to have these navigation shortcuts working... 🙂

[v-robertq-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Ignatov 

In my opinion, the first thing you should keep in mind is that the PDF files exported from reports only contain static pictures that display the data and visualizations visible on your Power BI canvas. Neither you can interact with the visuals in the reports nor jump to another page using the bookmark. Therefore, if you want to make the bookmark useful, the best way is to download the report as pbix and open it on Power BI Desktop. 

Limitaions of exporting to PDF 

More info about downloading as pbix 

Best Regards, 

Community Support Team _Robert Qin 

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. 

[fxizquierdo]

In my opinion, the solution should come from Microsoft Power BI by enabling bookmarks to become links when exporting to PDF. Adding links post-export or through other tools, or embedding them in a complex way within Power BI, while feasible, complicates the solution for end-users who lack the time or knowledge to perform these workarounds. As my colleague mentioned, maintaining index bookmarks and pages, which Power BI itself offers, why wouldn't it be operational when exporting to PDF? Regards.