Export AFA screens to PDF

This topic describes how to export various AFA screens, such as dashboards and report pages, to PDF, and also lists recommendations for Print dialog settings per browser type.

PDFs can be printed or sent automatically in device report emails. (see Configure device report page messages).

Export AFA data to PDF files

Do the following:

  1. Click the Export/Print PDF or Export link shown in the upper-right corner of the screen.

    One of the following occurs:

    Dashboards

    On a dashboard page, a PDF of the dashboard is created. Your browser opens a Print dialog to print the new PDF.
    Reports

    On a report page, your browser will either open a Print dialog to export the report page currently in view to a PDF, or an Export item dialog appears.

    If the Export item dialog appears, select the report pages you want to export to open the browser's Print dialog.

    Tip: You can define, per brand, which Rules columns you want to appear in the exported PDF of the Changes Summary Report. You can also scale the Rules and NAT Rules tables so they can fit in the exported pdf. See this AlgoPedia article.

    Depending on your browser and its settings, a preview version may open in a separate tab. For example:

  2. In the browser Print dialog, select to save the file as PDF. Additionally, use the print preview to verify that all other print settings are set to show all colors and graphics, and to ensure that no content is cut off.

    Tip: The process and recommended settings may differ depending on the browser you are using. We recommend using a recent version of Google Chrome for optimal results.

    Use the following recommendations to ensure that your PDF is exported correctly:

  3. When you are finished with any adjustments required and are satisfied with your preview, click Save to save your PDF.

    In the Save dialog, enter a meaningful name for your PDF, and the location you want to save the file.

Note: When the Print Preview dialog is open in one browser tab, ASMS cannot function in a different tab of that browser window.

General Print dialog recommendations

Select the following options, regardless of your browser:

Layout/Orientation Change the layout to Landscape.
Paper Size Select A4 or Letter.
Scale

Change the Scale value as needed so content is shown correctly and nothing is cut off.

For example, the traffic simulation query map may not display correctly by default. Adjust your Scale settings to fix this.
Background Graphics

Select the Background Graphics check box to display the report in full color.

Affected elements may be the status detail bars and table cell borders.

Margins Adjust the margin values as needed so that graphs and tables are shown correctly. For example, if you are exporting traffic simulation query results, adjust the Margins until the report displays your map correctly in the print preview.
Header and Footer Select the Header and Footer check box to include optional data in the report.

Chrome-specific recommendations

In the Chrome Print dialog, set your Destination to Save as PDF.

Expand the More settings link to adjust additional settings.

For more details, see General Print dialog recommendations.

Firefox-specific recommendations

In the Firefox Print dialog, set your Name to Microsoft Print to PDF.

Open the Print Preview by selecting the Firefox menu button, and then selecting Print.

In the Print Preview, update the following as needed:

  • Change the Scale and select Landscape:

  • Click Page Setup at the top left, and select Print Background (colors & images).

    For example:

For more details, see General Print dialog recommendations.

  • Cut off reports:

    If the print preview shows that the HOME page in the exported report is cut off at the end of the page, especially when printing multiple sections of the report, export one page of the report at a time.

    Do one the following:

    • In the Export item dialog select only one checkbox for each report.
    • Export to PDF directly from a specific page in the report.

    For more details, see the relevant Firefox bug at bugs.launchpad.net.

    On all pages in the report, long frames may be cut off when exporting from FireFox. In such cases, use the scaling options to squeeze more content into the frame, or use a different browser. For more details, see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/.

  • Print preview window does not open

    If the print preview does not appear, you may need to allow popups from your AFA machine. Click Options in the yellow bar at the top of your browser to allow popups for AFA.

Microsoft Edge-specific recommendations

In the Edge Print dialog, set your Printer to Microsoft Print to PDF.

Click More settings to adjust additional settings.

For more details, see General Print dialog recommendations.

HOME page data cut off

If the print preview shows that the HOME page in the exported report is cut off at the end of the page, especially when printing multiple sections of the report, export one page of the report at a time.

Do one the following:

  • In the Export item dialog select only one checkbox for each report.
  • Export to PDF directly from a specific page in the report.
Certificate requirements

In Edge, AFA does not support exporting the Policy tab of the report to PDF on systems that do not have a valid security certificate.

Doing this simply shows a Preparing for Export message, without continuing.

In such cases, we recommend using a different browser. For more details, see ASMS system security.
Background colors

Microsoft Edge does not support background colors. Therefore, PDFs exported from Edge are in black and white only, and tables may appear without cell borders. For more details, see answers.microsoft.com.