Static export
A static export turns the manual into a ZIP with a ready-made website. Upload the online export to your own hosting; open the offline export from disk without a server – in a meeting, from a USB stick or as an archive.
What you will have
You will have a ZIP with a copy of the manual exactly as it is currently published.
Steps
Open Settings → Exports
In the panel, open Settings and the Exports tab. An account with the Admin role can run the export.
Choose the export profile
Pick Online export (upload to hosting) or Offline export (local use only). The table below shows the differences.
Generate the export
Click Generate online export or Generate offline export. A larger manual with videos can take a few minutes. Meanwhile, Generating… is shown.
Download the ZIP
When it finishes, click Download online export or Download offline export. The file stays on the server for 24 hours and is then deleted.
Open or upload the export
Unzip the offline export and open
index.htmlin a browser. Upload the contents of the online export to your hosting at the root of a domain or subdomain, for examplehttps://manual.company.com/. Do not put it in a subfolder likehttps://company.com/manual/– links, styles, images and tools would not work there.
How to tell it worked
Open the export (locally via index.html, online at its address) and check the home page, the logo page and one download. The content must match the published manual at the time it was generated.
Online or offline
| Online export | Offline export | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | your own hosting or CDN, sharing via URL | presenting without a server, handing over a ZIP, archive |
| How it opens | at a web address | by double-clicking index.html |
| Password for the whole manual | not carried over, the site is public | not carried over |
| Page and file passwords | work | none, everything is unlocked |
| Access via company email | does not work | does not work |
| Search | off | off |
| Custom online tools | work | work, even without internet |
Things to keep in mind
- An export is a snapshot. After each change in the panel, generate it again and upload the new ZIP to your hosting.
- An export on your own hosting has no panel, no analytics and no AI connector.
- Adobe Fonts are not in the ZIP. They load from Adobe’s servers, so they work only online and on a domain allowed in your Adobe Fonts project.
- Copy link copies the ZIP’s address. Anyone with it can download the file until you delete it or it expires. Once you have handed it over, delete it with Delete.
Problems and special cases
Instead of buttons you see “Visualbook exports are turned off on this website”. Exports are turned on by technical support – contact support.
You need content for an AI tool, not a website. Use Export for AI agents on the same tab – see Markdown for AI agents.