The standard Print Button component in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards has pretty basic functionality: it prints your dashboard as it is displayed on the screen. It's all or nothing; you can't select a specific part of the dashboard. The only setting you can make is whether the dashboard should be scaled to fit the page or to a certain percentage. When you click the button, the default Windows Print window appears and you can start printing.
The Xcelsius Dashboard Printer add-on by DataSavvyTools has a lot more options. It lets the user select a portion of the dashboard, queue up multiple snapshots before printing, format the output, and add annotations. Instead of printing, it can also send the screenshot to the clipboard or save as a file.
You can find the Xcelsius Dashboard Printer add-on at the DataSavvyTools website, http://www.datasavvytools.com/.
- Open an existing SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards file.
- Add the Xcelsius Dashboard Printer component to the dashboard. Actually, you're pretty much done setting up the component right now.
- Hit the Preview button or export the dashboard to an SWF file.
- Run the dashboard and click on the Printer button.
- A selection cursor is activated. Select a part of the dashboard.
- Click on the Capture button to save the selection. The screenshot is now added to the Capture Queue.
- Repeat steps 5 and 6 to add some more screenshots.
- Click on the Preview button to show the Preview Overview. Here you can adjust your screenshots and prepare them before you save them.
- Select a screenshot from the Capture Queue and click on the Output button. Choose Image to export to a JPG, PNG, or GIF file. Enter a file name and click on OK to save the file.
