Jetformat

Excel to PDF and XLSX editing commands

Convert visible worksheets to PDF, read and write cells, and reshape workbooks. Reads are free; writes are one credit per command, to-pdf one per page.

By Jetformat

The excel resource is Jetformat’s command group for reading and changing XLSX workbooks and converting their visible worksheets to PDF. Workbook data and printed output are separate results: a correct cell value does not prove that the printed page contains the intended range.

Prepare a workbook for PDF conversion

  1. Run excel inspect and identify the visible sheets and the sheet names you will use in later commands.
  2. Read critical cells with excel get. If formulas lack cached results, recalculate to a separate XLSX before conversion.
  3. Check the intended print area and output filename.
  4. Convert the prepared workbook, inspect the PDF page count, and review totals, clipped columns, and page breaks.

to-pdf (1 credit per output page)

jetformat excel to-pdf workbook.xlsx -o workbook.pdf

Visible worksheets become one PDF in workbook order. Hidden sheets are skipped. Pages are counted on the output.

inspect, get, names (free) · set, recalc (1 credit per command)

jetformat excel inspect finance.xlsx --json
jetformat excel get finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --cell B12
jetformat excel set finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --set A1=5 --set B2=Paid --set-formula C1=A1*2 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel recalc finance.xlsx -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel names finance.xlsx

set writes any number of cells in one command (--set CELL=VALUE, --set-formula CELL=FORMULA, repeatable) for one credit. recalc updates cached results, which files written by openpyxl and similar libraries lack.

Layout and structure (1 credit per command)

jetformat excel table finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --range A1:B2 --name Sales -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel sort finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --column A --order asc -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel filter finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --range A1:C20 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel freeze finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --row --col -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel merge-cells finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --from A1 --to B1 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel insert-row finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --row 2 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel add-row finance.xlsx --sheet Summary -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel hide-column finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --column A -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel column-width finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --column A --width 18 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel print-area finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --range A1:B2 -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel header-footer finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --header Title --footer Page -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel validation finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --range A2:A10 --list Ada,Bob -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel hyperlink finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --cell A1 --url https://jetformat.com -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel comment finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --cell A2 --text "check qty" -o finance.xlsx --force

Sheets and protection (1 credit per command)

jetformat excel add-sheet finance.xlsx --name Extra -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel copy-sheet finance.xlsx --from Summary --name Copy -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel rename finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --name Report -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel remove-sheet finance.xlsx --sheet Extra -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel protect finance.xlsx --password secret -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel protect-sheet finance.xlsx --sheet Summary --password secret -o finance.xlsx --force
jetformat excel unprotect finance.xlsx -o finance.xlsx --force

merge, split (1 credit per command) · extract-images (free)

jetformat excel merge a.xlsx b.xlsx -o workbook.xlsx --force
jetformat excel split workbook.xlsx -o workbook-parts --force
jetformat excel extract-images finance.xlsx -o finance-images

Merge copies values and formulas from visible sheets. Charts and images may not copy.

Limits

No .xls or .xlsm. Charts inside sheets are not rendered in the PDF yet. Number formats on recalculated cells are not applied yet. There is no delete-row command.

Choose a read, edit, or conversion

Need Command Billing unit
Read one value excel get Free read
Inspect the workbook excel inspect Free read
Change values or formulas excel set 1 credit per command
Update formula caches excel recalc 1 credit per command
Create a PDF excel to-pdf 1 credit per output page

An illustrative workbook with 3 visible sheets might produce 7 PDF pages. Conversion would then use 7 credits, not 3 credits. If one recalculation command precedes it, the total is 8 credits. Do not estimate pagination from sheet count alone.

Verify formula and print results separately

After recalculation, read a known total and compare it with the expected arithmetic. Then inspect the PDF independently. Unsupported formulas, number formatting limitations, print ranges, and wide tables can each cause different symptoms; repeatedly converting the same source will not resolve a source-data problem.

The XLSX package belongs to Office Open XML. Jetformat’s implementation limits above still apply. Follow the Excel conversion guide for a complete workflow or recalculation before PDF when generated workbooks show blank formula cells.

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