# Change formats for PDF subscriptions

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2020-08-12
- **Format:** Video · 4 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Productivity
- **Tools:** Tableau (formatting, server, subscriptions)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/change-formats-for-pdf-subscriptions-in-tableau-server-and-tableau-online-2020-3
- **Watch:** https://www.youtu.be/pDPdqw6w-3E

I walk through the PDF subscription enhancements introduced in Tableau 2020.3, which let you change the page size and orientation of subscribed PDFs. I demonstrate creating a subscription, finding it under tasks, and editing its format afterwards.

## Key takeaways

- Tableau 2020.3 lets you set and later change the page size and orientation of PDF subscriptions
- Choosing the 'unspecified' page size produces the highest quality PDF that scales crisply to any paper size when printed
- Subscriptions aren't listed in the Explore content section because they're alerts, not content
- You find and edit your subscriptions under the Tasks area, in the Subscriptions tab
- You can also create and change subscription formats programmatically via the REST API, useful for server admins

## Chapters

- 0:14 Creating a PDF subscription
- 0:54 Choosing the unspecified page size
- 1:34 Setting frequency and subscribing
- 1:52 Finding subscriptions under tasks
- 2:30 Changing the format afterwards
- 3:05 Using the REST API

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/change-formats-for-pdf-subscriptions-in-tableau-server-and-tableau-online-2020-3

---
just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena