# Export PDF/Vector Graphic without installing 1000 tools **URL:** \ **Category:** Kibana\ **Created:** [October 30, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792 "2017-10-30T18:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schizo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/schizo/32/23478_2.png) [@Schizo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Schizo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/1 "2017-10-30T18:07:37Z")
Is there an easy way of exporting a PDF or a vector graph without the need of installing additional tools? At least a printable html file, that reorganizes better? ---
**Author:** ![jbudz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jbudz/32/45922_2.png) [@jbudz](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jbudz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/2 "2017-10-30T20:25:31Z")
There's nothing built in to core kibana, with x-pack you get reporting. Under the hood it's loading up the page with phantomjs and taking a screenshot. The feature request for this is at [https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/1366](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/1366) may have some suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Schizo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/schizo/32/23478_2.png) [@Schizo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Schizo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/3 "2017-10-30T22:08:06Z")
But x-pack comes with a cost right? ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/4 "2017-10-30T22:52:11Z")
Yes. But building something like this yourself is also a cost isn't it? ---
**Author:** ![Schizo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/schizo/32/23478_2.png) [@Schizo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Schizo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/5 "2017-10-31T17:46:10Z")
That is true, but here is a a scenario for you. We are company with a headcount of 2000 employees. Our team presented a Kibana representation with our LogFiles and Real-Time Data, which everyone in management liked. Now one of them asked, if we send them the graphs as PDF. Of course I've said yeah! As this is what you expect right? It is more likely to expect that the graphs are exportable than not. So in this scenario when i would say "Kibana doesn't support PDF generation or any imagery" is almost the same like having a smartphone without Mobile Data, a deal breaker. I like Kibana but some features just seem to be very odd for me, not related to real production needs. Furthermore just to be able to generate PDF's or at least exportable Graphs, x-pack with it's 150 MB is overkill. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/6 "2017-10-31T23:58:31Z")
> [@Schizo](#): > > So in this scenario when i would say "Kibana doesn't support PDF generation or any imagery" But it does, through X-Pack, and; > [@Schizo](#): > > We are company with a headcount of 2000 employees It sounds like you can afford a subscription of some sorts. Have you tried Elastic Cloud? I'm not trying to push you to pay anything, I'm interested in how a company of that size, that obviously sees value in the software, decides what it does and doesn't pay for 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Schizo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/schizo/32/23478_2.png) [@Schizo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Schizo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/7 "2017-11-01T02:01:28Z")
Especially in bigger companies it is very complicated to convince people about new ideas and there are many devils advocates who just by principle want to kill new idioms. I love Kibana and don't care about PDF's but explaining others, especially not so technique affine people, that we can only generate PDF's when we get the additional package feels weird and they lose their interest. "Oh that's weird" That makes them lose appetite, unfortunately I am not the person who gives the call. ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/8 "2017-11-01T02:41:27Z")
Fair enough. What other packages are you looking to do this sort of thing via then? ---
**Author:** ![Schizo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/schizo/32/23478_2.png) [@Schizo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Schizo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/9 "2017-11-01T15:44:30Z")
We used some python libs but just started looking into Grafana. Let's see how this one turns out. ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/10 "2017-11-02T00:24:13Z")
Don't forget X-Pack has a 30 day trial and if you need longer just let us know, we can usually provide an extension if you need it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mikorym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mikorym](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mikorym)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/11 "2017-11-07T17:11:14Z")
So I'm coming in from the side here. I am in a similar situation to Schizo, and having gone through the same exercise, not only is X-Pack overkill (and a payed option) but the PDF reporting tools are buggy. My trial period has expired now, but several of my reporting requests did not process at all. The final PDF's that did render and exported were also not very impressive for a paid feature. I think that approaching the topic from a lightweight sort of paradigm is advantageous for a utility such as simple exporting. Whether paid or not, the problem should be solved efficiently. I agree with the premise that big companies are slow to adopt new software. I also agree with warkolm that the hosted options for elastic are reasonable—especially since X-Pack is included (AFAIK). My final comment would be (and this applies to my use case as well) that the easier it is to do "obvious" or "reasonable" additional actions in Kibana, the better it is for both the end-user and for the ES team in general. In that regard the more the ES team is able to customise towards individual needs, the more likely they are to profit from that end-user. So far I would say the ES team is very supportive in this regard of engaging with users. With that in mind, ease of use should be a priority. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/export-pdf-vector-graphic-without-installing-1000-tools/105792/12 "2017-12-05T17:11:19Z")
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