Recipe PDF Export: A Reliable Production Snapshot
Turn a saved recipe into a clear A4 snapshot for the bench, handover, or review. See what is included, how scale and print choices carry over, and what still needs independent verification.
What a Formul.io Recipe PDF Captures
A Formul.io recipe PDF is a formatted snapshot of a saved recipe, not a certified product data sheet. It is designed for a person to read at the bench, during a handover, or in a formulation review. The export is generated in your browser as fixed A4 portrait pages; the native app builds the same file and opens the system share sheet.
The snapshot uses the recipe currently open on its detail page. It does not send the recipe to a separate document service, assemble a second server-side dossier, or silently recalculate the formula during export. That makes the source easy to understand: what was saved in the recipe is what the PDF can show.
Treat the PDF as working documentation
The export does not perform laboratory testing, supplier verification, allergen risk assessment, label approval, or HACCP hazard analysis. It does not automatically create an allergen declaration, nutrition label, Nutri-Score report, costing statement, or certification record. Validate legal labels and food-safety decisions under the requirements that apply to your business.
PDF export is included on the current Free plan at the basic export level, with no monthly PDF quota. Pro changes one presentation detail: the print.clean entitlement removes the “Made with Formul.io” footer. Clean print does not add a company logo or change the recipe data.
Each action exports one recipe. For a file another Formul.io user can load and continue editing, choose the .formulio Bundle instead; for a machine-readable ingredient table, choose CSV.
What Appears in the Recipe PDF
PDF export renders the same document view as Print. Some sections are always derived from the saved recipe, while three optional sections reuse the switches last set in the Print dialog on the same browser or device.
| Section | When it appears | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Recipe header | Always | Recipe name, calculator type, description and tags when present, applicable total weight and scale, the saved version and its workflow status, plus the export date |
| Ingredients or dragée layers | When the saved recipe contains them | Ingredient names, scaled quantities and recipe percentages; dragée uses its layer table instead of the standard ingredient table |
| Composition chart | When Composition chart is enabled and composition data exists | The saved water, sugar and fat composition; supported recipes may also include their composition visualization |
| Production stages | When Production stages is enabled and stages are saved | The authored process and its ingredient assignments |
| Metrics | When scalar calculated metrics exist | The saved calculator outputs, grouped and formatted through the calculator metric catalog |
| Pinned notes | When Pinned notes is enabled and notes are pinned | Only notes deliberately pinned for the production handoff; unpinned notes stay in the app |
The recipe PDF is assembled from the saved recipe and current print preferences.
The default print preferences include the composition chart and pinned notes, while production stages start off. Opening Print lets you change those three switches; each change is remembered locally, and the next one-click PDF reuses it. These preferences belong to that browser or device, not to the recipe, so verify them when exporting from another workstation.
The PDF takes its batch scale from the recipe detail page at the moment export starts. For calculators that support scaling, ingredient quantities and the displayed total are multiplied while percentages and saved formula metrics remain unchanged. Dragée is the exception: its output follows the saved layer settings rather than the standard weight multiplier.
Scale before you export
Set the required batch scale on the detail page first. The scale control inside the Print dialog belongs to that individual browser-print job; one-click Export → PDF reads the scale currently shown on the recipe page.
How to Export and Verify the PDF
Export only after the saved recipe and its calculated results represent the batch you intend to hand over.
Save the source recipe
Finish the edit and save it, then open the saved recipe detail page. The export action belongs to the saved recipe; it does not capture unsaved editor changes.
Save a version if you want one named
The header prints the newest saved version and its status. If the recipe has changed since that version, save a new one — otherwise the export is stamped as edited after the version it names.
Set scale and optional sections
Choose the batch scale on the detail page. If needed, open Print, set Production stages, Pinned notes and Composition chart, then close the dialog; those switches are saved immediately for PDF export.
Choose PDF from the menu
In the recipe header, open More (⋮). Under Export, choose PDF. There is no second options dialog: Formul.io prepares and downloads the file, or opens the native share sheet.
Open and compare the result
Check the downloaded PDF against the recipe detail page before sharing it. Confirm quantities, units, scale, metrics, optional sections, notes and page breaks.
Use a short release check every time. Confirm that the recipe name identifies the correct product, the calculator type is expected, the ingredient total matches the intended batch, and the version line names the version you meant to release. If it reads edited after this version, the document reflects work that has not been saved as a version — decide whether to save one before distributing the file.
Review the human details too. Make sure each required process stage is present, only approved pinned notes are exposed, and long ingredient or metric tables are readable across page boundaries. A successful download proves that a file was created; it does not approve its contents.
Each PDF page is captured as an image for consistent layout. The result is a visual, read-only handoff rather than a reliable source for copying text into another system. Use CSV for ingredient rows or a .formulio bundle for an editable transfer.
Versioning, Troubleshooting, and FAQ
The header names the saved version the document corresponds to and the workflow status of that version — for example v3 · Approved. That is what makes one printout comparable with another: two copies of the same recipe can be told apart without opening the app.
Three cases read differently, and each is deliberate. A recipe edited after its newest version was saved is stamped edited after this version, because the export renders the recipe as it stands rather than the stored snapshot, and the version number alone would name a formulation the document does not contain. A recipe that has never had a version saved reads not saved as a version, rather than claiming a version number nothing backs. A formulation printed straight from a calculator, before it is saved as a recipe, carries no version line at all.
The generated filename is based on the recipe name and ends in .pdf; it carries neither the version nor a date. Rename approved files with a convention your team can audit, such as Dark-Ganache_v03_2026-09-03.pdf, and use the version printed in the header as the authority when the two disagree.
An exported file never changes when the recipe changes. After any approved edit, save a new version, export again, and distribute the new file deliberately. Archive or withdraw the superseded copy instead of silently overwriting it in a shared folder.
For common problems, check the source in this order:
- A section is missing: open Print and check its switch. For notes, also confirm the intended notes are pinned.
- Quantities use the wrong batch size: return to the recipe detail page, set its scale, then export again.
- You cannot tell which copy is current: compare the version line in each header; the higher version is the later document, and one marked edited after this version was taken from unsaved work.
- The file is not downloaded: wait for the success or error message, retry once after reloading the saved recipe, and check the browser download list. In the native app, select a destination in the share sheet.
- Another system needs the data: use CSV or
.formulio; the PDF is optimized for visual review.
Is recipe PDF export available on the Free plan?
Does PDF export recalculate my recipe?
Why are stages, charts, or notes missing?
Can I use this PDF as an official label or HACCP record?
Does changing the batch scale change calculated metrics?
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