Report Formats
Format is a single dropdown in the Create Report dialog, and it is the only thing that changes between a PDF and a spreadsheet. The data you pick, the Breaks, and the options all work the same way regardless.
In short: choose a PDF when the report will be looked at, and a spreadsheet when it will be analyzed further.
Comparing the formats
| Format | Images and charts | Aggregates | Breakdowns | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDF (Portrait) | Yes | Yes | Tables and charts | Printing and sharing a finished plan |
| PDF (Landscape) | Yes | Yes | Tables and charts | Wide fixtures and wide tables |
| PDF (Side-by-Side) | Yes | Yes | Tables and charts | Reading data while looking at the fixture |
| XLSX | No | Yes | Tables | Analysis, with one sheet per section |
| XLSX (Single Sheet) | No | Yes | Tables | Sorting or pivoting everything at once |
| CSV | No | No | No | Feeding another system, smallest file |
PDF formats
All three PDF formats carry the same data. They differ only in how each section is laid out on the page.
- PDF (Portrait) puts the section image on its own page, then the report tables below it.
- PDF (Landscape) is the same layout rotated, which suits wide fixtures and reports with many Properties.
- PDF (Side-by-Side) is landscape with the section image repeated down the left half of every page and the report content on the right half, so the fixture stays in view no matter how long the table runs.
PDFs are the only format that embeds the planogram images previewed in the dialog, and the only one that renders Breakdowns as charts:
Several options exist only for PDFs, since they need a page to live on: the Font selector, Header Notes, Coversheet, Topdown View, Single Line Rows, Auto Rotate Images, Include Logo, Hide Section/Page Counts, QR Code, and Hyperlink. All of them are covered in Creating a Report.
XLSX
XLSX reports contain the same Properties, Aggregates, and Breakdown tables as a PDF, without images or charts, in a workbook you can sort, filter, and pivot.
The two XLSX formats differ only in how sections are arranged. Plain XLSX gives each report section its own sheet. XLSX (Single Sheet) puts every section on one sheet, separated by a sub-header row, which is what you want when you intend to sort or pivot across the whole report.
Header Color and Accent Color in the options column set the fill of the header and sub-header rows and of the alternating rows below them, so reports can match your own template.
CSV
CSV is a plain table of Properties, one row per Position. It carries no Aggregates, no Breakdowns, no images, and no formatting, which makes it both the smallest file and the easiest to load into another system. The dialog disables Breakdowns while CSV is selected.
Where the Fixture Bill of Materials lands
The Fixture Bill of Materials option lists every fixture in the Plan with its quantity. Every format can carry one, but each shows it in its own way:
- PDF - its own page at the end of the report
- XLSX - its own sheet
- CSV - a table appended after the Position rows
- JSON - a
FixtureBOMarray ofkind,name,skuandqty
JSON
JSON is not in the Format dropdown. It is available only when a report is generated through the Web API, which can hand back the report data directly instead of a file. You choose the Report Property Set, Breaks, and options the same way, so a report you designed in the dialog can be pulled as raw JSON without rebuilding it.
Reach for it when another system is the audience rather than a person: feeding a dashboard, a BI tool, or your own reporting pipeline. When someone needs to open and read the report, use one of the file formats above.
