Building a Report

This page walks you through building a paginated report from a blank document sheet to an exported PDF.

Step 1: Create a document sheet

Open the dashboard where you want the report to live, click New Sheet, and choose Document. The sheet opens with a blank page canvas, an outline panel on the left, and an inspector on the right.

Document sheets sit alongside regular dashboard sheets. Switch between them with the sheet tabs at the top.

Step 2: Configure the page

Select the page in the canvas (or pick Page from the outline) to open the page inspector.

• Size — Letter (8.5" × 11") or A4 (210 × 297mm)
• Orientation — Portrait or Landscape
• Margins — set top, right, bottom, and left independently in inches or millimeters

The canvas updates as you change values, so you can see the printable area before you start adding content.

Step 3: Add a header and footer

Headers and footers are optional. Toggle them on from the page inspector, then click into the header or footer band on the canvas to edit it.

Common things to put there:

• A logo (upload an image)
• A report title
• Page numbers ({{page.number}} of {{page.total}})
• A date stamp or filter summary

Header and footer content repeats on every page.

Step 4: Add sections

A report is a vertical stack of sections. There are two ways to add one:

• Inline + button — hover between sections on the canvas and click the + to insert above or below.
• Outline panel — use the outline on the left to add, reorder (drag), or remove sections.

Available section types:

• Text — rich text with variables
• Table — paginated data table
• Pivot — cross-tab summary
• Spacer — fixed vertical gap
• Page break — force the next section to a new page

Sections render in order, top to bottom. Tables and pivots paginate automatically when they overflow the page.

Step 5: Configure a table section

Add a Table section, then connect it to data:

1. Open the Data Explorer panel.
2. Drag a table or saved query onto the section, or write a new query in the section's query editor.
3. Run the query to preview rows.
4. Use the inspector to set columns, formatting, alignment, totals, and column widths.

The table paginates across pages as rows overflow. Headers repeat on every page by default.

Step 6: Add document inputs

Reports often need values supplied at export time — a date range, a facility, an account. Open the Document Input Bar at the top of the report and click Filter or Control to add one.

Document inputs are scoped to the report. They power both query filtering and variable substitution in text.

For the full reference on input types, default values, and required inputs, see Inputs and Variables.

Step 7: Use variables in text

Add a Text section and reference any document input with handlebar syntax:

Statement for {{facilityName}}
Period: {{period.range}}

Variables work in text sections, headers, and footers. They resolve at export time using the values supplied for each input.

See Inputs and Variables for the full variable accessor reference.

Step 8: Preview your report

Click Preview in the toolbar to switch the canvas into a chrome-free view. The outline and inspector stay open so you can keep editing — Preview just hides authoring affordances (selection handles, insert buttons, placeholder hints) so you can check the visual output.

Toggle Preview off to keep authoring.

Step 9: Export to PDF

Click Export PDF. If the report has required inputs, you'll be prompted to supply values. Semaphor renders the report and downloads the PDF.

For batch exports, scheduled delivery, and download formats, see Exporting Reports.