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Choose a PDF template

A PDF template sets the page size, margins, text size, cover, contents and running header and footer of every publication. Pick one of four built-in templates with pdf in opend.config.yaml, and change any of its settings.

Built-in templates

TemplateWhat it gives you
standardThe default. A4 portrait, normal margins, 10.5 pt text, a title page with the title in the accent colour, contents, each chapter on a new page, the publication title in the header and page numbers in the footer.
reportUS Letter with wide margins, a banner title page (a full-width band in the accent colour), the site title in the header and {title} · Release {release} in the footer.
compactDense A4 for printing: narrow margins, 9.5 pt text, no title page (a title block opens the first page) and chapters that run on.
handbookPocket-sized A5 in a serif face, with a plain left-aligned title page, no header and the publication title in the footer.

Settings

SettingValuesWhat it does
template standard, report, compact, handbook The built-in template the other settings change. Default standard. Every other setting defaults to the template's own value.
pageSize A4, Letter, Legal, A5 The paper size.
orientation portrait, landscape Which way up the page is.
margins normal, narrow, wide Page margins: 20/18 mm, 14/12 mm or 26/25 mm (top and bottom / sides).
fontSize small, normal, large Body text of 9.5, 10.5 or 11.5 points.
font default, system, humanist, serif, rounded, mono The body font. default follows the site theme. Only fonts installed on the server that prints the PDF are used.
cover classic, banner, minimal, none The title page. none puts a title block at the top of the first page instead.
coverNote text An extra line on the cover, such as Confidential.
toc true, false Print the contents after the cover.
chapterBreaks true, false Start every top-level chapter, and the first page after the contents, on a new page.
header text Text at the top of every page; empty for none. {title} (the publication), {site} (the site title), {release} and {date} (when the PDF was printed) are filled in.
footer text Text at the foot of every page, before the page number, with the same placeholders.
pageNumbers true, false Print page / pages at the foot of every page.

Example

pdf:
  template: report
  pageSize: A4          # the report layout, on A4 paper
  coverNote: Confidential: for customers only
  footer: '{title} · {date}'

Quote text that starts with {: unquoted, YAML reads it as a mapping. A setting the template does not know, or a value it does not allow, is reported as invalid-config. Print CSS goes in the project theme; see Theme the site, the panel and PDFs.

On a hosted site, staff can choose a template on the admin console's Appearance page instead. Saved there, it replaces these settings for every release until it is reset; see Change the site's look from the admin console.