---
title: "Export PDF Ant task"
source: https://dev.pageseeder.com/guide/publishing/ant_api/extensions/task_export-pdf.html
description: "The export-pdf Ant task converts PSML documents to PDF using configurable rules and Apache FOP. It supports custom fonts, multiple configuration files with priority levels, and can run standalone or within PageSeeder."
last_updated: 2026-08-11T16:09:37+10:00
tokens: ~1552
---

# Task export-pdf

This task can be used to convert a portable or processed PSML document to *PDF* according to rules in the [PDF export config usage](pdf_export_config.md).

To use this Ant extension standalone outside PageSeeder you can download the `pso-pdf-ant-x.jar` and `pso-pdf-core-x.jar` files from [maven central](https://search.maven.org/search?q=g:org.pageseeder.pdf).

## Definition

Minimal definition:

```xml

<export-pdf src="[source]" />
```

 Full definition:

```xml

<export-pdf src="[source]"
            dest="[destination]"
            fontfolder="[font base folder]"
            fontconfig="[font config file]"
            working="[working folder]"
            debug="true|false">
  <config file="[config file]"
          priority="[priority number]"/>
</export-pdf>
```

## Attributes

| **Attribute** | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **src** | Path to the `.psml` source file to process | Yes |
| **dest** | Path to the destination file. If unspecified, the default value is the name and location of the source with `.pdf` extension | No |
| **fontfolder ** | Path to the font base folder | No |
| **fontconfig ** | Path to the font config XML file | No |
| **working** | The directory holding temporary files such as the concatenated configs files and XSL-FO scripts. The default is: `[java.io.tmpdir]/antpdf-[number]` | No |
| **debug** | If `true` an `fo.xml` file is created under the working folder | No |

## Elements

### `<config>`

Defines a config file which overrides rules in the [default config](pdf_export_config_default.md) file. There might be multiple `<config>` elements.

| Attribute | Description | Required | Default |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **file** | Path to a configuration file | Yes |  |
| **name** | Use default to apply the rules to all, or else specify the name of a PSML document type. ***DEPRECATED** use document labels for custom styles.* | No | `default` |
| **priority** | The priority number for the rules in this config file. When there are multiple files, higher priority overrides lower. | No | `1` |

### `<configs>`

> **Deprecated:** This element is deprecated, use `<config>` instead.

Defines a set of config files which overrides rules in the [default config](pdf_export_config_default.md) file. There might be multiple `<configs>` elements. Any config files with the following path is read `[config folder]/[document type]/pdf-export-config.xml`

| Attribute | Description | Required | Default |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **folder** | Path to a configuration folder | Yes |  |
| **priority** | The priority number for the rules in these config files. When there are multiple files, higher priority overrides lower. | No | `1` |

## Custom fonts

*Custom fonts require pso-pdf v0.4.15 or higher.*

The PDF specification says that the following fonts or equivalents must be available in every PDF reader: Helvetica (normal, bold, italic, bold italic), Times (normal, bold, italic, bold italic), Courier (normal, bold, italic, bold italic), Symbol and ZapfDingbats.

However, these only cover a subset of characters. The `export-pdf/@fontfolder` and `export-pdf/@fontconfig` optional attributes can be used to configure custom fonts to embed in the PDF for additional characters or layout requirements.

The `@fontconfig` must be a path (relative to the `build.xml` or absolute) to an XML config file. Following is the XML file used by the default PageSeeder PDF export, where `@embed-url` is the path to each font file, relative to `@fontfolder`. The `<font-triplet>` elements specify how that is referenced in the [PDF export configuration](pdf_export_config.md).

```xml

<fonts>
  <font embed-url="NotoSans-Regular.ttf">
    <font-triplet name="NotoSans" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
  </font>
  <font embed-url="NotoSans-Bold.ttf">
    <font-triplet name="NotoSans" style="normal" weight="bold"/>
  </font>
  <font embed-url="NotoSans-Italic.ttf">
    <font-triplet name="NotoSans" style="italic" weight="normal"/>
  </font>
  <font embed-url="NotoSans-BoldItalic.ttf">
    <font-triplet name="NotoSans" style="italic" weight="bold"/>
  </font>
  <font embed-url="NotoSansMath-Regular.ttf">
    <font-triplet name="NotoSansMath" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
    <font-triplet name="NotoSansMath" style="normal" weight="bold"/>
    <font-triplet name="NotoSansMath" style="italic" weight="normal"/>
    <font-triplet name="NotoSansMath" style="italic" weight="bold"/>
  </font>
</fonts>
```

The default PDF export configuration references these fonts as follows. The `ZapfDingbats` font is included for the tick/check mark character.

```xml

<property name="font-family"
          value="NotoSans,NotoSansMath,sans-serif,ZapfDingbats"/>
```

## Usage

### Invoking in Ant

This task is included by default in the PageSeeder publisher so `<taskdef/>` is only required when using it outside the publisher.

```xml

<project ... xmlns:psp="antlib:org.pageseeder.pdf.ant">

  <!-- only required for standalone -->
  <taskdef uri="antlib:org.pageseeder.pdf.ant" 
           resource="org/pageseeder/pdf/ant/antlib.xml" 
           classpath="pso-pdf-ant-0.2.2.jar"/>

  <target ... >
    <!-- Invoke Task -->
    <psp:export-pdf src="test.psml" dest="result.pdf"/>
  </target>
</project>
```

Using a [namespace](http://ant.apache.org/manual/Types/namespace.html) is not required, but it is a good mechanism to know the origin of the task. The recommended namespace is `psp`. The following is an example of custom fonts being used.

```xml

<psp:export-pdf src="test.psml"
                dest="result.pdf"
                fontfolder="fonts"
                fontconfig="fonts/font-config.xml"/>
```

### Standalone

Because it is designed to work as a standalone process, no connection to PageSeeder is required. However, when run in the context of a PageSeeder export, use the [Task export](../tasks/task_export.md) and [Task process](../tasks/task_process.md) to download the source PSML file.

### How does it work?

This Ant task:

Loads the config files.

Creates XSL-FO according to the rules in the config files and the default config.

Uses Apache FOP to generate the PDF output from the XSL-FO.