My users are complaining that they can't export a 50-page table from a standard Power BI report to PDF without the columns getting cut off. I've heard Paginated Reports are the solution for "pixel-perfect" printing. How difficult is it to migrate my existing Power BI datasets to Report Builder, and what are the main benefits for large-scale data distribution?
3 answers
Paginated Reports are designed exactly for this. Unlike standard PBI reports which are interactive and screen-optimized, Paginated Reports (RDL files) are designed to fit on a page. You use the Power BI Report Builder tool to connect to your existing Power BI dataset. The migration isn't an "auto-convert," you have to rebuild the table layout, but the advantage is that it handles multi-page tables beautifully, allowing for repeating headers and custom footers which standard reports just can't do.
Do your users need to subscribe to these reports via email, or do they just want to trigger the export manually? Paginated reports have much better subscription options for sending full attachments rather than just a screenshot of the dashboard.
It's quite easy to use the same dataset. You just connect to the "Power BI Semantic Model" in Report Builder, and all your measures are available to drag and drop.
Margaret is correct. Leveraging the existing semantic model saves so much time and ensures that the numbers in your Paginated Report match the numbers in your interactive dashboard exactly.
William, they need both. Ideally, a PDF should be emailed to the department heads every Monday morning. Does Report Builder support the same DAX measures I've already written in my main PBIX file, or do I have to rewrite all the logic in the SQL query?