How it works
Alva Courses builds the PDF from the lessons in your course builder. A title page shows the course title, its description and the date the PDF was generated. Each lesson then starts on a new A4 page, headed by its section name and lesson title, in builder order.
The PDF is an admin copy of your course content, useful for reviewing a course, keeping an offline reference or printing it. It contains no student data: no progress, comments or reflection answers.
Export a course
1. Open the course
In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, click Courses, and open the course you want to export.
2. Choose Export as PDF
At the top of the course page, click Actions, then Export as PDF. The Exporting Course to PDF window opens with a Beta Feature: notice asking you to report any issues you find.
3. Start the export
Click Export PDF. A progress bar shows the lesson Alva Courses is working on, with a count such as "Processing lesson 12 of 40". A course with many lessons can take a few minutes.
4. Keep the page open
Stay on the course page until the export finishes. The window can't be closed while it runs, and leaving the page or closing the tab cancels the export: Please keep this window open. Closing it will cancel the export.
5. Find the downloaded file
When the PDF is ready, Alva Courses shows PDF generated successfully! and your browser downloads the file. It is named after the course title in lower case, with spaces, punctuation and accented letters turned into underscores, cut to 50 characters: "Watercolour Basics" becomes watercolour_basics.pdf.
What each block becomes
Alva Courses prints what works on paper and turns media and interactive blocks into links or placeholders. No file or video is embedded in the PDF.
| Block | In the PDF |
|---|---|
| Text, HTML | The formatted content: headings, lists, links, tables and images. An embedded frame or SVG prints as a short "(not supported in PDF export)" note. |
| Image from Shopify Files or a web address | The image, with any Alt text printed beneath it as a caption. |
| YouTube, Vimeo | A "Watch on YouTube" or "Watch on Vimeo" link, with the video's thumbnail where one is available. |
| Video from Shopify Files or a pasted link | A "Watch Video" link showing the video's web address. A Loom link gets a "Loom Video" panel above its link. |
| Video from Alva Video Hosting | A "Video" panel showing the video's title and "Watch this video online", with no link. |
| PDF, Audio, EPUB, MS Office, File from Shopify Files | A link to the file. A PDF block's pages are not copied into the export. |
| Any image or file from Alva File Storage | Its title followed by "(stored in Alva File Storage)", with no link and no picture. |
| Quiz | An "Interactive Quiz" panel asking the reader to complete it online. The questions are not printed. |
| Reflection Box | The block's Title (or "Reflection" when it is blank) above eight blank ruled lines to write on. |
| Shopify Product | A "Products in this lesson" box with a link to each product page on your store. No prices or images. |
| Button | The button text and the web address it links to. |
| Contact Form, Reset Progress | Left out. |
Inline notes already in a Text block print where they sit, in square brackets with the title first, for example "[Before you start: check the units.]". The symbol students hover or tap is hidden.
What the PDF leaves out
An Alva Courses PDF is a copy of your lesson content, not of the course player. Expect these gaps:
- Quiz questions, contact forms and Reset Progress buttons are not printed. Videos from Alva Video Hosting appear as a placeholder panel with no link, and Alva File Storage files, which students open through expiring links, appear by title only.
- The title page uses a fixed purple design, not your course player's colours, fonts or course image.
- The wording the PDF adds itself, such as "Generated on" and "Interactive Quiz", is in English. Your own content prints as you wrote it.
Limits of the beta
Alva Courses exports courses of up to 200 lessons, and stops an export that runs longer than 20 minutes. If an export fails, the window closes and a message explains why:
- Course has no lessons to export: add a lesson, then export again.
- A message that the course exceeds the maximum of 200 lessons per PDF export: a course that large can't be exported.
- Another export is in progress. Please wait and try again.: wait a few minutes, then start the export again.
- An error after 20 minutes: the export ran too long and was stopped. Try again later.
Because PDF export is in beta, email courses@alvaapps.com with the course name if a lesson prints wrongly or an export keeps failing.
What learners see
Students see nothing new. PDF export is an admin-only action in Alva Courses: the course player has no option to download a course as a PDF, and the file goes only to the computer you exported from. Your course stays exactly as it was.
Common questions
Does the PDF include draft lessons?
Yes. The export includes every section and lesson in the course, including drafts and scheduled or drip-fed lessons that students can't see yet. Check the PDF before you pass it on.
How do videos appear in my PDF?
A video from Alva Video Hosting prints as a "Video" panel with its title and no link, because it only plays in the course player. YouTube and Vimeo blocks print a link, with a thumbnail where one is available, and other video links print as a link you can open online.
Why does it say another export is in progress?
Another PDF export was already running when you started yours. Wait a few minutes, then start the export again.
Is the PDF in my store's language?
Your course content prints exactly as you wrote it. The labels the PDF adds itself, such as Generated on, Watch on YouTube and Interactive Quiz, are always in English.
See also
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Last updated 2026-10-12