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This article targets you as a report author who designs reports for Power BI. It provides suggestions to help you choose when to develop Power BI paginated reports.
Power BI paginated reports are optimized for printing, or PDF generation. They also provide you with the ability to produce highly formatted, print-ready layouts. So, paginated reports are ideal for operational reports, like sales invoices.
In contrast, Power BI reports are optimized for exploration and interactivity. Also, they can present your data using a comprehensive range of ultra-modern visuals. Power BI reports, therefore, are ideal for analytic reports, enabling your report users to explore data, and to discover relationships and patterns.
We recommend you consider using a Power BI paginated report when:
When you already have SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Report Definition Language (RDL) reports, you can choose to redevelop them as Power BI reports, or migrate them as paginated reports to Power BI. For more information, see Migrate SQL Server Reporting Services reports to Power BI.
Once published to a Power BI workspace, paginated reports are available side by side with Power BI reports. They can then be easily distributed using Power BI apps.
You might consider redeveloping SSRS reports, rather than migrating them. It's especially true for those reports that are intended to deliver analytic experiences. In these cases, Power BI reports will likely deliver better report user experiences.
There are many compelling scenarios when you might favor developing a Power BI paginated report. Many are features or capabilities not supported by Power BI reports.
For more information related to this article, check out the following resources:
Events
31 Mar, 23 - 2 Apr, 23
The ultimate Power BI, Fabric, SQL, and AI community-led event. March 31 - April 2. Use code MSCUST for a $150 discount. Prices go up Feb 11th.
Register todayTraining
Learning path
Design effective reports in Power BI - Training
This learning path introduces a design process to design and deliver compelling Power BI reports. It begins by describing a proven design process created by leading report design experts. The process encompasses phases to understand the report users and their requirements, explore pleasing report designs, and develop reports all the way into production.
Certification
Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate - Certifications
Demonstrate methods and best practices that align with business and technical requirements for modeling, visualizing, and analyzing data with Microsoft Power BI.
Documentation
Data retrieval guidance for paginated reports - Power BI
Guidance for creating data sources and datasets for Power BI paginated reports.
Create a paginated report based on a Power BI shared dataset - Power BI
Create a paginated report in Power BI Report Builder based on a Power BI shared dataset.
Paginated reports in Power BI: FAQ - Power BI
This article answers frequently asked questions about paginated reports. These reports are highly formatted, print-ready output optimized for printing or PDF generation.