make a pdf of the google sheets tab you chose

get a printable roster without exporting the budget beside it. a bot can export one google sheets tab or rectangle as a pdf.

by the dusk bot team · checked 12 november 2026 · how we made this

give the original sheet link and tab name, then choose portrait, gridlines or fit to width. dusk counts export as a change, so it needs read and write access. your source cells stay untouched.

pixel art: a lime pixel bot and a pink pixel bot beside the Google Sheets mark on a white tile, a chart on an easel and a long receipt, on a lilac hill in front of a birch wood under purple hills, one saying "just this tab please"

what it does

get the right rows onto readable pages. paste the normal sheet link and name the tab or rectangle. the export works on that selection rather than guessing which workbook content you want.

choose orientation, margins, sheet names and repeated frozen rows. google leaves some print settings, including margins, unclear. fit to width can still leave tiny text. open the pdf at normal size.

when you would use it

print the duty roster alone. keep budget tabs out of the export.
show only the quote that matters. choose its approved rectangle for review.
give a wide attendance table room. try landscape.
file a clean totals table. turn gridlines off for the pdf.

try it

paste this into a chat with your bot

every tuesday at 15:45, open the fernwater production spreadsheet saved in the production folder. confirm the rehearsal roster tab and export its current version as a landscape pdf. fit it to width and repeat frozen rows. ask me before exporting. put the pdf here for me to read. never include other tabs, change cells or email the result.

when: tuesdays at 15:45
needs: google sheets connected with read and write for pdf export; access to the production folder containing the spreadsheet link

what comes back looks like this (an example)

fernwater rehearsal roster
tab: rehearsal roster
layout: landscape, fit to width, frozen rows repeated
pdf attached. open it at normal size to read the column headings.

set it up

connect google sheets with read and write. allow the pdf export action.
paste the original sheet link with the chosen tab open. published viewing links won't work.
name the tab or whole cell block and choose orientation. ask for review before export if wanted.
open the pdf. look for clipped edges and awkward page breaks before keeping the schedule.

what it needs from you

input	required	what it is
`sheet_id`	yes	Numeric ID of the sheet tab to export (the gid in a Sheets URL), not the tab title or spreadsheet ID.
`spreadsheet_id`	yes	Google Sheets spreadsheet ID or original docs.google.com Sheets URL, not the spreadsheet title.
`portrait`	no	Whether to use portrait orientation, mapped to portrait.
`top_margin`	no	Top margin passed to the sample-backed top_margin control.
`left_margin`	no	Left margin passed to the sample-backed left_margin control.
`fit_to_width`	no	Value for the sample-backed fitw PDF print control.

from composio's catalog for Google Sheets (action GOOGLESHEETS_EXPORT_SHEET_AS_PDF, read 12 november 2026⁴). your bot fills these in from what you tell it.

how dusk bot handles it

dusk bot counts Export Sheet as PDF as a change: it alters something in Google Sheets, and the sending setting does not cover it. a bot you allow only to read can never call it.

the permissions Google Sheets asks for to run it: drive, drive.readonly, spreadsheets, spreadsheets.readonly.

where it stops

copy the link from the right tab. it tells the bot which one to export.
published viewing links won't work. use the original spreadsheet link, not a /d/e/ address.
give the whole rectangle. say a1:f30 rather than asking the bot to guess the edge.
look at the margins in the pdf. google leaves some print settings unclear, so the file itself is your guide.

try it in 2 minutes

open the tab you want and copy its normal link
ask for that tab as a landscape pdf
choose gridlines and repeated frozen rows
open the file at normal size and read the smallest text

only the intended tab or rectangle appears
the smallest text is readable
headings and page breaks make sense
no source cells changed

mistakes people make

copying a published viewing link

open the original spreadsheet and copy its link instead.

trusting fit to width

open the pdf at normal size. fitting everything can make it unreadable.

questions

can i export only part of a tab?

yes. give a rectangular range. name the whole block, such as a1:f30, so the bot doesn't guess where your table ends.

will asking every time for sends approve this export?

no. dusk treats export as a change. put 'ask me before exporting' in the routine if you want that checkpoint.

sources

dusk bot docs: files and apps
dusk bot docs: routines
dusk bot docs: a bot's computer
composio, Google Sheets toolkit (catalog version 20261101_00), checked 12 november 2026

drafted with ai help from the dusk bot docs and the sources listed on this page, then checked against them. if something here is wrong or out of date, write to [email protected].