PDF Export Samples

In this page

Overview

This gallery displays sample exports created using the "factory-default" templates shipped with the Better PDF Exporter for Jira. Our aim is to give you a quick understanding of what is possible out of the box. This is, obviously, just the beginning of the story, because the possibilities of export creation and customization are unlimited.

You can use the "factory-default" PDF templates in many ways:

1. As they are! (We polished them further and further over the years so that they give a ready-made solution for most situations.)
2. Configure their look and behavior by updating their configuration variables (see next section).
3. Customize their look and behavior by editing the templates and the Groovy scripts.
4. Make a copy of them for the starting point of a new template.
5. Use their implementation as "cheatsheet" when developing custom templates.

Updating PDF template configuration variables

Many of the templates shipped with the Better PDF Exporter for Jira offer configurability via variables. These variables appear in the top part of the PDF templates or in the top part of the Groovy scripts, and are documented right in the code.

Some variables are required to work correctly (like setting up the Tempo authentication for Tempo Timesheets exports), while others affect the export's look or behavior. For instance, the Gantt chart template (gantt-chart-fo.vm) offers the following configuration variables:

#set($showCurrentTime = true)					## whether to highlight the current week or day
#set($startDateCustomFieldId = 10400)			## should be a date picker type custom field
#set($endDateCustomFieldId = 10401)				## should be a date picker type custom field
#set($progressPercentageCustomFieldId = 10800)	## should be a number type custom field or 0
#set($viewPeriod = "week") 						## use one of "week" or "day"
#set($groupSubTasksByParent = true)				## whether sub-tasks should be rendered

You can edit the configuration variables intuitively:

1. Login to Jira as administrator.
2. Go to Administration → Add-ons → PDF Templates.
3. Click the template file you wanted to edit, for example gantt-chart-fo.vm. It opens in the built-in template editor.
4. Edit the variables.
5. Save your changes.
6. Make a new export. It will reflect the changes in the configuration variables immediately.

Creating new PDF templates

You can easily create custom templates by reading the template development documentation and by using the recipes that we collected for frequent use cases.

For those who'd rather focus on their core business and use Midori's expertise to create custom PDF templates for them, Midori offers template development services.

Issue exports sharing customer-facing document archiving

The issue-fo.vm template exports one or more Jira issues (ad-hoc JQL searches, saved filters) to standard PDF documents. It offers you several configuration variables to choose what to include in the exported PDF files: field values, sub-tasks, comments, attachments, worklogs, change histories, etc.

The visual design is intentionally kept on the bare minimum so that the emphasis is on the content, not on the "chrome". Nevertheless, you can customize it with extreme flexibility: add your own logo, corporate colors and brand identity.

Unlike with browser exports, the layout is just perfect every time: no text cut-offs, no image overflows, no unwanted scrollbars.

Issue lists sharing customer-facing document archiving

The issue-navigator-fo.vm template exports any list of Jira issues from the Issue Navigator to a landscape-oriented table, using the currently configured columns and ordering. It allows you to create custom PDF documents from ad-hoc JQL searches and saved filters with a single click.

As for visuals, this one and all our templates apply the "invisible design" paradigm, allowing readers to focus on the data. Nevertheless, you are welcome to customize its look to your own branding and needs.

Jira dashboards & reports reporting project management

Jira dashboards and Jira reports are great tools to summarize issue, project and progress information in the Jira web user interface, but they were not designed for exporting and for sharing with external people. The dashboard-fo.vm template exports dashboards, reports and Scrum/Kanban boards to PDF documents which can then be shared, emailed or archived easily.

In addition to the manual actions, you can automate the PDF creation and emailing process, and the periodical reports will arrive to the target mailboxes 100% automatically!

Learn more about the Dashboards

See the Dashboards page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Timesheets & invoices reporting invoicing billing

The timesheet-fo.vm template calculates the Spent Time totals per issue and the grand totals for the whole issue list. It supports both the Jira internal time tracking feature and Tempo Timesheets, the most popular time tracking app for Jira.

When it is used to aggregate time values only, it will result in a timesheet. When it is used to aggregate money values (multiplying the spent time with an hourly rate), it will result in an invoice. The logic that determines the hourly rate can select that based on the project, the customer, the worklog creator user, the Tempo account, the Tempo team, the Tempo role and anything else!

Learn more about the Tempo Timesheets integration

See the Tempo Timesheets integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Jira Software exports scrum reporting kanban agile

Better PDF Exporter fully integrates with Jira Software, the Jira edition custom-tailored for software engineering teams. First, Jira Software specific custom fields (Sprint, Epic, Story Points and Development) are exported to PDF. Second, the PDF Export menus are seamlessly integrated to the Jira Software screens: to the Backlog view (to export the Jira backlog or one specific sprint) and to the Scrum/Kanban boards (to export the issues in one column).

All in all, this allows you easily extending the built-in Jira Software exports with custom ones, even across projects, across sprints or calculated from arbitrary JQL queries.

Learn more about the Jira Software integration

See the Jira Software integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Jira Service Mgmt. exports ticketing sla reporting

Jira Service Management is Atlassian's fast-growing IT service management offering for IT operations, customer service and business teams. Better PDF Exporter integrates with Jira Service Management and exports tickets, queues and other service related information like comments, SLA status, CSAT ratings, etc. to PDF documents.

Not only the Jira Service Management custom field types (like SLA or Request Type) are supported, our app also integrates its Export drop-down menu to the Queue view, the most important screen in Jira Service Management. That allows exporting the tickets from a queue to a custom PDF report with one click.

Learn more about the Jira Service Management integration

See the Jira Service Management integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Advanced Roadmaps exports project management program management portfolio management roadmap

Advanced Roadmaps for Jira is Atlassian's Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solution, an agile roadmapping and project planning app for Jira Software. It helps project managers see the big picture by combining multiple projects and resources on a single timeline.

Better PDF Exporter exports the Advanced Roadmaps custom field values (Target Start Date, Target End Date, Team, Parent Link and Original Story Points) to PDF. Using the power of JQL, you can create custom documents from the complete portfolio, from multiple programs, from multiple plans, from multiple plan levels, or all these combined!

Learn more about the Advanced Roadmaps for Jira integration

See the Advanced Roadmaps for Jira integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Release notes software engineering release management

Using the app and the release-notes-fo.vm PDF export template has several advantages over the basic Release Notes generated by Jira. For example, this approach enables company branding (logos, colors), you can precisely specify what fields to include, you have full access to any piece of information inside and outside Jira. Also, you can include additional content like installation instructions, pricing information.

This is an easy and professional way to export software version documentation out of Jira.

Gantt charts scheduling reporting project management

Gantt charts are popular data representation tools in practical project management. The gantt-chart-fo.vm template exports Gantt charts from Jira epics, sprints or any list of Jira issues to PDF.

The report visualizes project schedules by displaying Jira issues as horizontal bars, along with their start and end-dates. These sample PDFs are Gantt charts created from Jira tasks with a single click.

Zephyr Squad test exports test management testing reporting

Better PDF Exporter is tightly integrated with Zephyr Squad, the most popular test management app for Jira. Zephyr Squad tests are "first-class citizens" in the PDF exports, meaning that similarly to Jira issues you can export all test-related information to PDF. It includes test case details (fields, attachments, comments, etc.), test steps, test executions and detailed step results during an execution.

This is an effortless technique to archive, document or share testing information with your peers using the industry-standard document format.

Learn more about the Zephyr Squad integration

See the Zephyr Squad integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

ScriptRunner exports scripted fields reporting calculated fields

ScriptRunner is the most powerful app to extend and customize Jira with every kind of custom logic, programmed in Groovy scripts. Among other extension points, you can implement custom fields with it, whose values are programmatically calculated or automatically loaded from external databases, APIs or other sources.

Better PDF Exporter for Jira allows exporting all those script fields to PDF documents, including both the ones powered by built-in and by custom Groovy scripts.

Learn more about the ScriptRunner integration

See the ScriptRunner integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Xray exports test management testing reporting

Xray Test Management is a complete, end-to-end test management app for Jira. It supports the entire testing and quality assurance lifecycle: test planning, test design, test execution and test reporting.

Better PDF Exporter exports all test-related information, including all Xray-specific entities and all Xray-specific custom fields, to PDF. It enables sharing test data with stakeholders, migrating test data to external systems, and most importantly creating every type of custom documents from test data.

Learn more about the Xray integration

See the Xray integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Structure exports testing requirements management reporting

The Structure Jira app helps project portfolio managers visualize, track and manage projects with an adaptable, user-defined, spreadsheet-like issue hierarchy. Unlike the two-level hierarchy available in Jira out of the box (issues and sub-tasks), Structure can manage hierarchies with arbitrary depth (trees containing issue nodes).

Better PDF Exporter can export structures with all the node details or with certain selected fields to custom PDF documents. It is also possible to easily implement structures in any custom PDF template using some concept of "hierarchical issues".

Learn more about the Structure integration

See the Structure integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Insight exports reporting asset management

Insight is the leading asset management app for Jira. It allows implementing CMDB, CRM, HR, ITSM or ITIL functionality on the Jira platform.

Better PDF Exporter is tightly integrated with Insight, allowing you to export all Insight custom fields with the desired granularity (object keys, names and attributes) to PDF. Having full access to Insight objects and their attributes, you can easily implement custom reporting and Business Intelligence on Insight data.

Learn more about the Insight integration

See the Insight integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Git Integration exports version control system git

Git Integration is the most feature-rich Jira app to integrate the Git version control system with the Jira platform. It supports all major Git servers, including Git itself, GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, Microsoft Azure DevOps Repos, AWS CodeCommit and Gerrit.

Better PDF Exporter can export the Git commits (all details!) associated with Jira issues, and all Git Integration specific custom fields to PDF. It makes it easy to create development-focused reports and documents from Jira.

Learn more about the Git Integration integration

See the Git Integration integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Elements Connect exports rest sql ldap data integration

The Elements Connect app integrates external data sources (SQL databases, LDAP, Active Directory, REST APIs, Salesforce, CSV files, etc.) to Jira.

Better PDF Exporter is tightly integrated with Elements Connect, allowing you to export all Elements Connect custom fields to PDF. Having full access to Elements Connect custom field values, you can easily implement custom reporting and Business Intelligence on Elements Connect data.

Learn more about the Elements Connect integration

See the Elements Connect integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Jira Misc Custom Fields exports scripted fields reporting calculated fields

Jira Misc Custom Fields (JMCF) is an extremely popular Jira app that offers calculated (scripted) custom fields to display information based on computed values. Those create more useful Jira issue screens, better search, better filtering, more powerful reports and dashboards.

Better PDF Exporter exports all the calculated (scripted) fields to PDF for emailing, sharing, reviewing purposes.

Learn more about the Jira Misc Custom Fields integration

See the Jira Misc Custom Fields integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Gliffy diagram exports illustration drawing diagram

Diagrams can save a thousand words when communicating Jira issues by illustrating complex concepts with easy-to-grasp drawings. Gliffy is the most popular diagram drawing app for Jira.

Better PDF Exporter allows exporting Gliffy for Jira diagrams to PDF, so that you can communicate issues with external parties outside Jira just as efficiently as inside Jira.

Learn more about the Gliffy integration

See the Gliffy integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

JEditor exports wysiwyg rich text

JEditor is a popular Jira app which makes it easier to edit text-type issue fields (Environment, Description, text-type custom fields, etc.) and issue comments. It does so by replacing Jira's built-in markup editor with a visual rich-text editor.

Better PDF Exporter correctly exports all JEditor formatted texts to PDF. It allows users stay productive with the WYSIWYG editor and create rich documents with low efforts at the same time.

Learn more about the JEditor integration

See the JEditor integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Table Grid Editor exports table spreadsheet

The Table Grid Editor app adds tabular (spreadsheet-like) custom fields to Jira issues. This format enables managing structured information, like quote line items, employee history or checklists, in powerful custom fields.

Better PDF Exporter exports Table Grid Editor managed custom fields to PDF, fully preserving their structure also in the PDF documents.

(Table Grid Editor is effectively replaced by its modern re-implementation called Table Grid Next Generation. Both the old and the new apps are integrated with Better PDF Exporter.)

Learn more about the Table Grid Editor integration

See the Table Grid Editor integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Table Grid Next Gen exports table spreadsheet

The Table Grid Next Generation app adds tabular (spreadsheet-like) custom fields to Jira issues. This format enables managing structured information, like quote line items, employee history or checklists, in powerful custom fields.

Better PDF Exporter exports Table Grid Next Generation managed custom fields to PDF, fully preserving their structure also in the PDF documents.

(Table Grid Next Generation is the modern re-implementation of the legacy app called Table Grid Editor. Both the old and the new apps are integrated with Better PDF Exporter.)

Learn more about the Table Grid Next Generation integration

See the Table Grid Next Generation integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Projectrak exports reporting project custom fields project management

Projectrak is the project administration app for Jira that enables adding custom fields to projects, such as due dates, budgets and supervisors. It centralizes information that is project-dependent, not issue-dependent, but allows issues inherit that from their encompassing projects.

Better PDF Exporter can export the Projectrak-managed information both in the context of projects and in the context of issues. Ultimately, PDF exports make it easier for the project-, program- and portfolio managers to manage, watch and share Jira projects.

Learn more about the Projectrak integration

See the Projectrak integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Project status reports reporting project management

The project-report-fo.vm helps to create an executive level status report with visual Key Performance Indicators (KPI) like Schedule, Costs and Risk in the cover page and with precise issue lists in the other pages. You can freely customize this PDF template to your own KPI's, and then make the report generation automatic for a simple project progress tracking solution.

Requirements specification srs software engineering requirements management

The requirements-specification-fo.vm enables you to replace your hyper-expensive Requirements Management system with a practical and light-weight Jira based mechanism, producing accurate technical documentation with lower efforts. The template is based on the recommendations of the IEEE/EIA 12207.1-1997 standard (Recommended Practice for Software Requirements Specifications), but it can be applied to any kind of engineering discipline, from hardware design to mechanicals.

Traceability matrix reports test management testing requirements management

The traceability-matrix-fo.vm template renders a matrix with bi-directional relations between two list of issues, based on the issue links created between the items. It helps you to discover the dependencies between requirements (or use cases vs. implementation tasks) or the completeness of your test suite (coverage between features and test cases), for example.

Color Custom Fields exports visualization risk management project management

Using color-type custom fields to manage Jira issue attributes that can be intuitively color-coded will make your information intuitive, visual and easy-to-understand. A good example of this is modeling Impact and Likelihood with a red/yellow/green scale for a special "Risk" issue type in a Risk Management use case. Although color-type custom fields are not available in core Jira, the free Color Custom Fields app can add those as an immensely useful extension.

Better PDF Exporter can export the color values to PDF in a highly visual format.

Learn more about the Color Custom Fields integration

See the Color Custom Fields integration page for the tutorial video and the configuration guide.

Custom reports reporting archiving

You can model any sort of business process and manage any sort of data with Jira. Thanks to its low-level approach, based on document templates and Groovy scripts, the Better PDF Exporter app gives you incomparable flexibility and power to generate complex documents.

In this section we collected some custom-built Jira PDF report examples for inspiration.