When exporting a course as a PDF, an error message may appear for various reasons, indicating that the export process has failed.

Possible Causes for PDF Export Failure

  • Sharable Content Objects (SCOs) assigned multiple times: An SCO appears multiple times in the same course. More information on this can be found in the article on multiple use of SCOs.
  • Permission issues: If the user does not have the necessary permissions for certain layout themes or course domains, errors may occur.
  • Media size: Large media files, such as videos or images with a resolution exceeding 10,000 pixels, can affect the export.
  • Incorrect HTML formatting: Incorrect HTML formatting, such as bold text in questions, has been used. 
  • Faulty external links: If an incorrect URL is assigned to text elements, it can prevent the export.
  • Multilingual courses: Translation errors, such as an empty link to a glossary term, may be present.

Options for Troubleshooting

To check the cause of the PDF export failure or to resolve potential issues before exporting, several options are available in Knowledgeworker Create:

  • Update the course: Open the Course Settings and use the Save and Update button to bring the course up to date.
  • Use Course Information and adjust media: Use the course information (via the More menu for the course) to view all media and questions used in the course at a glance. Check the media size, reduce image resolution, and compress videos to ensure a smooth export. Learn more in the article on video compression.
  • Fix HTML errors: Check for HTML errors in questions and correct them. Learn more in the article on HTML formatting in Knowledgeworker Create.
  • Check language versions: If you plan a multilingual export, review all language versions before exporting to ensure translation completeness and identify possible errors that may not exist in the original course.

Further information can be found in the course Optimizing Content for PDF Export.
There are additional factors that do not affect a PDF export and do not trigger an error message but may not be displayed correctly in the generated PDF. These include special characters such as emojis. After exporting, check whether the PDF output meets your expectations.

Please note that the points mentioned here are also relevant if the course is exported as a web or SCORM package and the course PDF is to be included in the course.