ArtUp LabsPublished 2026-10-22 · Facts checked 2026-10-22 · By ArtUp Labs, the maker of ArtUp Reports
Short answer. Jira Cloud's export menu for search results has no PDF option. Use Export → Print details and save the print as PDF in your browser. Atlassian has an open bug that large inline images are not resized to the printed page, with no workaround. For one PDF of many work items, one per page, with their images, use an export app — ours is ArtUp Reports.
What Jira Cloud gives you
The Export menu above the search results lists CSV (three kinds), Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Word, XML, form data, Print list and Print details. There is no "Export PDF". Source: Atlassian, Export your search results, checked 2026-10-22.
| Route | What you get | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Export → Print list → browser's Save as PDF | The result list as a table | Only the list columns; no descriptions, comments or images |
| Export → Print details → Save as PDF | A more detailed view of each work item | Layout and page breaks are the browser's; large images may be cropped (see below) |
| Export → Word, then save as PDF in Word | Jira's own Word layout | Atlassian recommends about 150 work items per Word export; no template |
| One work item: ••• → Print | That work item | One at a time; same image problem |
Images. Atlassian's bug JRACLOUD-96185, Large inline images are not resized to the printable page, is unresolved with the status Gathering Impact and says there is no known workaround. A related report, JRACLOUD-96214, describes printed screenshots that come out oversized or cropped, and was closed as its duplicate. Both checked 2026-10-22.
So the native route is fine for a list, or for a few work items with small images. Above that you are fighting the browser's print engine.
One PDF of many issues with ArtUp Reports
ArtUp Reports is our export app for Jira Cloud. It builds the PDF in your browser from the issues you can see; nothing goes to ArtUp Labs servers.
- Run the search, then open Apps → Export to Excel, Word or PDF. From a board, backlog or sprint menu the item is Export board issues, Export backlog issues or Export sprint issues; on one issue it is ••• → Export to Word or PDF.
- Choose PDF and the paper size, A4 or Letter.
- Choose the layout Single issue: every field, the description, comments and images, one issue per page. Issue list gives one table instead, without images.
- Click Export and keep the tab open. The result screen shows the number of issues, the time and Images missing.
What lands in the file: images from the description in place, other image attachments under Attachments, a repeated header row on tables that run over a page, page numbers as n / m, and the JQL, export time, author and issue count on the first page. Fonts for Latin, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are bundled with the app.
Measured on a test site
| Export | Where | Result |
|---|---|---|
| PDF, Single issue, 500 issues with 500 images | The app's export pipeline, run outside the browser, 2026-09-30 | 56.7–72.4 s across runs, 1,000 pages, 55 MB, 0 images missing |
| PDF, Single issue, 505 issues with images | Chrome, in Jira, 2026-09-30 | 88 s, the tab did not crash |
| Word, Single issue, 505 issues with images | Chrome, in Jira, 2026-09-30 | 83 s, 0 images missing; the app's frame peaked at 198 MB |
Measured All on our Jira Cloud test site; the seeded images average about 100 KB. Time depends on your site, network and the size of your screenshots.
Limits you should know before a big run
- Up to 2,000 issues per Word or PDF file. For a larger query the app asks you to narrow the JQL or switch to Excel.
- Many large images: the file is built in browser memory. Outside the browser, a test set of 2,000 issues with 2,003 distinct images took 209 seconds, made 3,994 pages and a 221 MB file, and the process peaked above 2 GB. We have not run that size in a browser tab, so for hundreds of full-size screenshots split the export by JQL — for example by component or by
createdmonth. - Image formats: PNG and JPEG are embedded in the PDF. A GIF, a broken image or an image from an external URL is left out, named in the file and counted in Images missing or listed as a warning.
- Emoji are left out of the PDF and listed as a warning.
- One file. All issues go into one PDF, one issue per page; the app does not write a separate PDF per issue.
- In Jira's new issue search, ticked issues are not passed to apps, so the export takes the whole search. To export a few, narrow the JQL:
key in (ABC-1, ABC-2).
Need your own layout instead of Single issue? Make a Word template — see Jira issues to Word with your own template — and save the .docx as PDF in Word. Need the same issues as a spreadsheet? See export Jira issues to Excel.
Questions people ask
Can I schedule a PDF export or email it?
Not with ArtUp Reports: it exports when you click, in your browser. It does not schedule or email files.
Will the PDF include work items I cannot see?
No. Issues are read with your Jira permissions; what you cannot see is not exported.
Does Jira Data Center work the same way?
This guide is about Jira Cloud. ArtUp Reports supports only Jira Cloud.
PDF, Word and Excel from any Jira search
ArtUp Reports exports a search, board, sprint or single issue to PDF on A4 or Letter, Word and Excel. Images are placed in the file, and every gap is listed on the result screen.
ArtUp Reports is on the Atlassian Marketplace. Sites with up to 10 users use it free.