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Export Smartsheet to PDF

Smartsheet's native PDF export is accessible only through File > Export and does not respect active filters, making it difficult to produce a clean, focused PDF for stakeholders or print-ready output. The exported PDF includes all rows and columns, which often requires recipients to scroll past irrelevant data — or requires the exporter to clean up the sheet before running the export.

Without Grid Tools

The daily workaround

Full sheet in every PDF
The native PDF export captures all rows and columns, including those hidden by filters, producing a dense document that recipients must scroll through.
Pre-export sheet cleanup
Users hide columns or manually delete rows they do not want in the PDF, then export, then undo their changes to restore the working sheet.
Print to PDF as a workaround
Some users use the browser's Print to PDF function, but Smartsheet's print layout truncates wide grids across pages and produces inconsistent results.
Repeat cleanup for each audience
Producing a different PDF view for different stakeholders — leadership vs. operations — means manually preparing the sheet each time.
Screenshot: File menu export to PDF in Smartsheet
Navigating to File > Export > Export as PDF in native Smartsheet
Screenshot: PDF includes all rows despite active filter
Exported PDF contains all rows — active filter is not respected
Screenshot: Browser print-to-PDF with truncated columns
Browser Print to PDF truncating wide columns across pages

With Grid Tools

How Grid Tools handles it

Export PDF from the toolbar
Grid Tools adds a PDF export button to the toolbar so you can generate a PDF without opening the File menu or leaving the current view.
Filtered rows excluded
The PDF output reflects the current filtered view — only visible rows are included, with no manual pre-export cleanup required.
Select columns to include
Choose which columns appear in the PDF before exporting so the document contains only the fields relevant to the recipient.
Print-ready layout
Grid Tools formats the exported PDF for readability, handling column widths and page breaks to avoid the truncation issues common with browser-based print workflows.
Screenshot: Grid Tools export to PDF button in toolbar
Export to PDF button in the Grid Tools toolbar
Screenshot: Column selection before PDF export
Selecting columns to include in the PDF output
Screenshot: Clean PDF with filtered rows and selected columns
PDF output with only the relevant rows and columns

Frequently asked questions

Does Smartsheet's native PDF export respect filters?

No. Smartsheet's native PDF export includes all rows regardless of active filters. Grid Tools exports only the rows currently visible in the filtered view.

Can I control which columns appear in the PDF?

Yes. Grid Tools includes a column selector before export so the PDF contains only the columns you choose.

How is Grid Tools' PDF export different from browser Print to PDF?

Browser Print to PDF renders the current screen view and often truncates wide grids across page breaks. Grid Tools formats the output specifically for PDF, handling column widths and pagination more reliably.

Can I export a Smartsheet report to PDF?

Grid Tools' PDF export applies to grid sheets. Smartsheet reports have their own native export options in the report interface.

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