Introduction
Exporting as an events calendar is a practical format that allows you to create a PDF with a professional and well-organised layout of a list of events and activities.
Within each sharing option you will find toggles (), which you can enable or disable to include or exclude specific features and related details.
Watch the short explanatory video below:
Select events for export and sharing
Exporting and sharing begin with selecting the events.
Expand the box below to review how to use the “Select” function:
- Click the checkmark icon in the top right.
- Click the events to select them. Selected events will display a black checkmark, and the green counter at the top will update accordingly.
- Click the green counter to view only the selected events.
- Use the hand icon to drag and reorder events— this determines the order in which they will appear in the export.
For a more detailed explanation, see the article Introduction to the Events section.
Once you’ve selected the events, the Manage panel will automatically appear on the right with sharing and export options.
If the panel doesn’t appear (e.g. due to a small screen size), click the circled three dots icon in the top-right:
Select Events calendar to open the dedicated screen. On this screen, you will find the navigation menu on the left, where you can configure the content according to your preferences.
Step 1: General settings
In this section you can configure the main settings of the events calendar you are about to generate. As you fill in the fields, the document preview on the right will update accordingly.
If the preview is not visible at the moment, don’t worry: it will appear once you have selected the date range, which we will cover shortly.
To begin, enter the Document name (i.e. the file name once downloaded) and select the export language.
Export order
Choose how the events should be ordered in the document. The order can be:
- Chronological – events are ordered by date. Within the same date, events are ordered by start time.
- Alphabetical – events are listed by Event organiser or, if this is not available, by event location (Venue field).
Below you can see two examples:
Cases to consider:
- Organiser and Location are different: The calendar will display the Organiser name and the Location address name. In this case, alphabetical ordering is based on the Organiser name.
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Organiser field not filled in
If the organiser is not specified in the selected event records, alphabetical ordering uses the information in the Location address name field, following this priority:- Location address name, if available;
- Company of the Location contact;
- First name and Last name of the Location contact.
- Insufficient data for alphabetical ordering: If the Organiser field is not filled in and neither Location address name, Company, nor First name and Last name of the Location contact are available, the event will not be visible in Alphabetical order, but it will still be included in Chronological order.
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Organiser and Location coincide: The First name and Last name, Company are shown as the Organiser and the Location address name is shown as the Location.
If the Location address name is not available, the Company field is shown; if this is also not available, the First name and Last name is shown. - Multiple events by the same Organiser: If multiple events are organised by the same Organiser, they are ordered alphabetically by Location address name under the same Organiser.
Select date range (only when using Chronological ordering)
Define the time range you wish to include in the events calendar.
You can select a maximum period of 20 consecutive days. To enter the dates, click the calendar icon or type the numbers directly on the keyboard.
The preview will start to populate on the right.
If the calendar includes many activities, you can scroll down the preview to check how all the content will appear in the final document. This allows you to identify any text that is too long or information that needs to be corrected directly in the event records.
If you notice content that needs revising, we still recommend completing the configuration and exporting the calendar: the document can be edited after generation from the Export section. This process is described later in this article.
This way, you avoid having to re-enter all the graphic and textual settings you have already defined.
Page background and text style
In this section you can customise the visual appearance of the document by choosing:
- the background colour;
- the font and text colour.
We recommend always checking the preview to ensure sufficient contrast between background and text, in order to guarantee clear readability of all content.
Advanced settings
Here you can define additional PDF options, including:
- whether to include bleed (i.e. additional margins useful for professional printing);
- page numbering;
- the footer displayed on all pages of the document.
Step 2. Cover and Introduction
The Cover and Introduction enhance your events calendar, giving it a more professional and refined appearance from both a content and visual perspective.
Cover
The cover represents the first page of the events calendar and consists of three elements:
- Background: This can be a solid colour (different from the internal pages) or an image. If the image does not have proportions compatible with a vertical A4 page, it will be automatically adapted and may be partially cropped. Make sure to upload an image with sufficient resolution, as indicated in the software, especially if you intend to print the PDF.
- Logo: The logo previously uploaded in Account details under Settings is automatically placed in the top left corner. If you wish, you can upload a different logo, still in high resolution and in PNG format with a transparent background. This alternative logo will not overwrite the one saved in your account settings. The logo size cannot be modified; if your logo appears too large, you can upload an alternative version with a wider transparent margin.
- Title: You can enter a title of up to 80 characters (including spaces) and choose the text colour. The title font is the same one selected in Step 1 – General settings; it is not possible to choose a different font for the cover.
Introduction
The Introduction corresponds to the second page of the events calendar and consists of three text fields and one image. The font and colours for this section are defined in the document’s General settings. In the Page title field, you can insert line breaks by pressing the Enter key on your keyboard. In the Introduction text field, in addition to managing line breaks, you can highlight words to display the editing menu and apply bold, italic, or insert a link.
Below are some examples of Cover or Introduction pages that you can create with Artshell.
If you do not wish to include either the cover or the introduction, simply leave all the fields in both sections empty and proceed with generating the PDF anyway. The document will still be created including the cover and introduction as the first two pages, which will however be blank. You can easily remove them by opening the PDF with Preview (on iOS/macOS devices) or Adobe Acrobat.
Step 3. Items
Here you will see the list of events currently selected for export. Check that all the events you wish to include are present. To add more events, click Manage selection: the side panel will open, allowing you to select additional events.
If you have selected too many events, you can remove them individually or click the icon to clear the selection and choose the correct events again.
Be careful not to select events outside the previously defined date range.
Step 4. Dates and times
In this section, choose which activities of each event you want to include in the export.
Step 5. RSVP and activity attributes
In this section you are shown additional labels that you can include in your PDF. The Show RSVP option is directly linked to the Booking options field: if this is enabled (even with restrictions), the RSVP label will automatically be displayed on all events that include booking options. Activity attributes are additional labels that you can associate with events to provide quick and easily readable information to users. In this section you will find the list of all attributes present in the activities of the selected events. Use the checkboxes to select or deselect the attributes you wish to include.
Once selected, each attribute will be displayed as a label on all events to which it is associated.
Step 6. Export
If the preview meets your expectations, you can proceed with the export by clicking the Export button at the bottom.
Editing the events calendar
If you realise that you have made mistakes while creating the events calendar, you can always make changes from the Export section without having to start over and compile a new PDF from scratch. Click Edit configuration to open the edit panel and change your events calendar.
Conclusion
Once the export is complete, your events calendar will be available in the Export section, where you can download it, edit it, or regenerate it at any time. This allows you to correct any inaccuracies, update content, or adapt the layout without repeating the entire configuration process. Thanks to the flexibility of the available options, exporting as an events calendar enables you to create professional, customised documents that are ready to be shared or printed, enhancing the presentation of your event programme.