About Creating Custom Print Layouts for High-Fidelity Printing of Dashboard Pages

You can create custom print layouts for high-fidelity printing of dashboard pages from the "Dashboard builder", if allowed at your organization. Custom print layouts allow your end users to produce high-quality printed dashboard content. For more information on printing dashboard pages, see "Printing Dashboard Pages".

When you create a custom print layout:

The dashboard page is exported to BI Publisher and the following items are generated automatically:
- A BI Publisher Report with a layout based on the exported dashboard layout
- A data model to retrieve data for the dashboard page components

BI Publisher Report Editor opens in a new browser window with the autogenerated layout displayed as a thumbnail. The report editor allows you to edit or delete the layout, or add a new layout.

Once you have saved the custom print layouts in BI Publisher, they are available for that dashboard page and appear in the Custom Print Layouts area of the "Print Options dialog". Figure 4-1 shows a custom print layout named page 1 in the Custom Print Layouts area.

Figure 4-1 Example of a Custom Print Layout in the Print Options Dialog

You then make the custom print layouts that you have created available to end users on the Print menu of a dashboard page by selecting them in the Custom Print Layouts area of the Print Options dialog.

Note:

If you delete the data model or the layout manually from the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog, then the associated BI Publisher report will no longer work and the custom print layouts will no longer be available. If you delete an analysis, then the data model and layout will be available but will fail when run.

Note:

As you create custom print layouts, be aware that some customizations and some views may not be supported in BI Publisher. Among some of the items that are not supported are hierarchical columns, performance tiles, map views, trellis views, and dashboard prompts. If an item is not supported, it will be removed from the layout and a message will be displayed as to the reason it is unsupported.

For how to create a custom print layout, see "Creating Custom Print Layouts for High-Fidelity Printing of Dashboard Pages".