Mar 23, 2021 12:52 PM
Hello - I’m using page designer formatted on an 8.5x11. I’m using the table format to display a long list of inputs. The problem I’m running into is the list extends beyond the length of the sheet and I can’t figure out how to continue the cutoff information in a secondary table on the same sheet. It feels like I’m missing something straight forward. Thanks in advance!
Mar 31, 2021 11:35 PM
Hi @Andy_Chew and welcome to the community!
I don’t think you can. It’s one of the limitations of the page designer app.
Apr 01, 2021 07:39 AM
Yeah, as @Databaser said, this is one of the huge limitations of the very weak Page Designer app.
If you’re trying to display a long list of linked records, you have to know in advance the maximum height that you will need to display.
It’s possible that you can extend the height of the linked records box across page breaks, but then Airtable will print blank pages if your list is really small.
(I’m also not sure how elegantly Airtable handles page breaks — I think it cuts off portions of text at the bottom of the current page & the top of the next page, but you would need to experiment with this to see if you can prevent this from happening.)
One possible workaround — and this is a REAL long shot because it will probably NOT work for your needs — is to create your Page Designer layout from the context of the linked records table instead of the main table.
Then, make the Page Designer layout settings very small vertically, and just put one record on that small vertical layout. Then, print multiple “records” at once, which is the equivalent of printing multiple “pages”. Since your “pages” are very small vertically, many records will fit on one actual page, and they will easily roll over onto subsequent pages.
However, the huge & gigantic downside to all of this is that it really doesn’t work for most people’s needs, because you can’t put a header or a footer or any other static information around all of the records, because it treats each record as its own page. So that rules out this workaround for most people.
In general, the Page Designer app is just a really poor app, so I would highly recommend emailing support@airtable.com to ask them to please improve it. They have not shown it any love yet, so who knows if they will ever improve it.
In the meantime, for more advanced page designing needs, you would need to turn to an external tool like DocuMint or DocuPilot (both of which can handle printing unlimited linked records on a document), and then you could initiate the process of printing by writing a JavaScript or by using a no-code automation tool like Integromat.
p.s. I am a professional Airtable consultant and a Registered Integromat Partner, and the Integromat link contains my personal referral code. If you have a budget for your project and you’d like to hire an expert consultant to help you with it, please feel free to contact me through my website at ScottWorld.com.
Apr 01, 2021 12:49 PM
I’m just worried that they will give up on creating/improving apps now that the have an app market with (paying) apps in it. Why would they bother if they can rake in fees that way in the future?
Apr 01, 2021 07:37 PM
Possibly. Although I don’t think any of the internal Airtable apps come with fees (just 3rd-party apps), so I think it would be wise for Airtable to keep improving their existing apps, to continue giving their platform as much value & competitive edge as possible.
Apr 15, 2021 06:45 PM
Can anyone tell me how to make the data inside the airtable into a table format inside the page designer app?
Apr 16, 2021 07:04 AM
It’s not possible unless you’re putting a linked record field onto your Page Designer layout. The linked record field can be embedded as a table. However, you also have to specify the maximum number of rows for your table.
Page Designer is a deeply flawed app. If you’d like it to be fixed or improved, please be sure to email support@airtable.com about this.