Adobe Acrobat PDF
PDF files have become the de facto file format for electronic document distribution. It is the one format you can assume that everyone’s computer can read. Adobe’s software lets you view PDF files stored on your hard drive or directly off the internet.
Crystal Reports has been exporting reports to the PDF format for many years and they can produce a replica of the original report. As such, this is a report-based export because the report layout and formatting are preserved exactly.
In version 10 and XI of Crystal Reports, when you export to a PDF file the font size is reduced by 5% from what is on the report. This helps avoid truncating fields in the final PDF file. If you wish to have Crystal Reports keep the font size at the original size specified in the report, you have to add a field to the Windows Registry. Run the Regedit.exe program to create the following field and assign a value of 1 to it:
The export options dialog box for PDF files is very simple. It is shown in Figure 15-2.
Figure 15-2. PDF export options (for Crystal Reports XI R2).
The only option you can set is the page range. You can either print the entire report or set the beginning and ending page range.
Figure 15-2 is the Export Options dialog box from Crystal Reports XI R2. The new option that comes with the R2 edition is the ability to create bookmarks in the PDF file from the group tree. If you have not installed R2, you will not be able to create bookmarks in the PDF file.
