Convert QVW to PDF

Convert a QVW file when recipients need a fixed report they can print, archive, or open without QlikView. PDF preserves the rendered report but removes the dashboard's interactivity and underlying data model.

What the QVW format is

QVW is QlikView's native document format. A QVW file can contain the data model, load scripts, charts, tables, selections, expressions, and sheet layouts for an interactive business-intelligence application.

QlikView Desktop opens and edits QVW files; QlikView Server can publish them through AccessPoint. Qlik Sense uses the different .qvf format. A QVW may also depend on external databases, files, credentials, or document permissions, so opening the file alone may not reproduce its latest data.

What the PDF format is

PDF is a page-oriented format that preserves rendered text, graphics, and layout across operating systems. It is suitable for printing, emailing, and archiving, including distribution to people who do not have QlikView.

A PDF does not retain QlikView selections as interactive controls, reload scripts, expressions, data connections, or the application data model. It records the visible output at the time of export.

How to convert QVW to PDF

QlikView Desktop is the dependable conversion tool. Generic PDF converters cannot interpret QlikView's proprietary application structure.

1. Install a QlikView Desktop version compatible with the QVW file and open the file. Use an authorized installation and supply any required document password.
2. Reload the document only if the PDF must contain current source data. Reloading requires the original files or database connections, valid credentials, and any required permissions; otherwise use the data already stored in the QVW.
3. Make the required selections and open the sheet or configured report that should be included.
4. For a sheet or report, choose File → Print, select the relevant print range or object, and choose a PDF printer such as Microsoft Print to PDF, Save as PDF, or Adobe PDF.
5. Set the paper size, orientation, margins, scaling, and page range, then save the output with a .pdf extension.

For a configured QlikView report, use its report-printing command when available because the report definition may specify objects, page breaks, and layout. For multiple sheets, print each required sheet and merge the PDFs with a desktop PDF editor or a trusted PDF-merging tool.

Converting a published QVW

If the application is published on QlikView Server, open it through AccessPoint, apply the required selections, and use the available print or PDF export command. Options vary with the QlikView Server release, browser, permissions, and document configuration. If no PDF export is available, print the rendered browser view to a PDF printer. The server account must have access to the document and its data.

Quality and compatibility limits

PDF output reflects the rendered state and selected print area. Hidden, collapsed, filtered-out, or off-page objects are not included. Wide tables and dashboards may be split across pages or scaled until text is difficult to read; landscape orientation, larger paper, adjusted margins, or a higher-resolution PDF printer can improve the result.

Check the PDF after export for missing fonts, truncated columns, page breaks, and selections. QlikView versions, extensions, macros, unsupported objects, and unavailable data connections can change or prevent rendering.

There is no dependable general-purpose online QVW-to-PDF converter because QVW files contain QlikView-specific logic and may reference confidential external data. Do not upload such files to an online service. Use QlikView Desktop or an authorized QlikView Server; online PDF tools are appropriate only for later tasks such as merging already exported PDFs.