Once you have built a table, you need to get it into its final destination. That might be a notebook cell, a standalone HTML file, a LaTeX document, or an image file for inclusion in a report or presentation. Great Tables provides several export methods to cover these use cases, each with options to control the output format.
In most notebook environments (Jupyter, Quarto, Marimo), simply placing a GT object as the last expression in a cell will render the table automatically. However, you can also use the show() method for explicit control over where the table is displayed.
from great_tables import GT
from great_tables.data import exibble
gt_tbl = (
GT(exibble.head(3)[["num", "char", "currency"]])
.tab_header(title="Example Table", subtitle="A small demonstration")
.fmt_currency(columns="currency")
.fmt_number(columns="num", decimals=2)
)
gt_tbl.show()| Example Table | ||
| A small demonstration | ||
| num | char | currency |
|---|---|---|
| 0.11 | apricot | $49.95 |
| 2.22 | banana | $17.95 |
| 33.33 | coconut | $1.39 |
The target= argument controls the display destination. The available options are:
"auto" (the default): displays inline in a notebook if possible, otherwise opens a browser window."notebook": forces inline notebook display."browser": opens the table in your default web browser. This is particularly useful when working in the console or when you want to see the full styled output that some IDEs may suppress.The as_raw_html() method returns the table as an HTML string. This is useful for embedding tables in web applications, email templates, or custom HTML documents.
html_str = gt_tbl.as_raw_html()
# Show the first 200 characters to see the structure
print(html_str[:200])<div id="mpzwvnrloj" style="padding-left:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;overflow-x:auto;overflow-y:auto;width:auto;height:auto;">
<style>
#mpzwvnrloj table {
fontThe method accepts several arguments that control the output format.
Email clients typically strip <style> blocks, so you need inline CSS for the table to render correctly. Set inline_css=True to move all styles into style attributes.
With inline CSS, your table will render correctly in Gmail, Outlook, and other email clients that strip external stylesheets.
If you need a self-contained HTML document (with <html>, <head>, and <body> tags), set make_page=True.
This wraps the table in a complete HTML document that can be opened directly in any browser without additional scaffolding.
The write_raw_html() method is a convenience wrapper that writes the HTML output directly to a file.
The file is written with the same options available on as_raw_html() (such as inline_css= and make_page=), passed through as keyword arguments.
For inclusion in LaTeX documents, the as_latex() method generates a LaTeX fragment containing the table.
\begin{table}
\caption*{
{\large Example Table} \\
{\small A small demonstration}
}
\fontsize{12.0pt}{14.4pt}\selectfont
\begin{tabular*}{\linewidth}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}rlr}
\toprule
num & char & currency \\
\midrule\addlinespace[2.5pt]
0.11 & apricot & \$49.95 \\
2.22 & banana & \$17.95 \\
33.33 & coconut & \$1.39 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular*}
\end{table}
The output uses a tabular environment by default. For tables that span multiple pages, you can switch to the longtable environment.
The tbl_pos= argument controls the float placement when not using longtable. Valid options include "!t" (top), "!b" (bottom), "!h" (here), and "!H" (exactly here, requires the float package).
LaTeX output is still experimental. Not all table features (such as certain styling options) are fully supported in the LaTeX renderer.
The gtsave() method renders your table as a high-quality image file. It supports PNG, JPEG, WebP, and PDF formats. Under the hood, it uses the nokap package to drive a headless Chrome browser for pixel-perfect rendering.
The output format is determined by the file extension. Here are some common formats:
.png for lossless raster images (great for reports and presentations).pdf for vector output (ideal for print and LaTeX inclusion).jpeg or .jpg for compressed raster images.webp for efficient web-optimized imagesThe zoom= argument controls the resolution of raster outputs. The default value of 2.0 produces retina-quality images. Increase it for even higher resolution, or decrease it for smaller file sizes.
# High-resolution image for print
gt_tbl.gtsave("high_res.png", zoom=4.0)
# Standard resolution for web
gt_tbl.gtsave("standard.png", zoom=1.0)A zoom=4.0 value produces an image four times the default resolution, which is ideal for print materials where crisp text is essential.
The expand= argument adds padding (in pixels) around the captured table element. You can provide a single integer for uniform padding or a tuple of four values for (top, right, bottom, left).
# Uniform padding
gt_tbl.gtsave("padded.png", expand=20)
# Asymmetric padding
gt_tbl.gtsave("asymmetric.png", expand=(10, 20, 10, 20))Adding padding is especially useful when the saved image will be placed on a colored background or inside a slide layout where the table edge needs breathing room.
The vwidth= and vheight= arguments set the virtual viewport size. This can affect how responsive table layouts are rendered.
A wider viewport can prevent the table from wrapping or truncating columns, while a narrower one can test how the table responds to constrained width.
Some tables with custom fonts or dynamic content may need a short delay after page load before the screenshot is taken. The delay= argument (in seconds) controls this wait time.
The gtsave() method requires the nokap package and a Chrome or Chromium browser to be installed on your system.
The following table summarizes when to use each export approach:
import polars as pl
export_df = pl.DataFrame({
"Method": ["show()", "as_raw_html()", "as_latex()", "gtsave()"],
"Use Case": [
"Interactive display in notebooks or browser",
"Embedding in web apps, emails, or HTML docs",
"Inclusion in LaTeX/PDF documents",
"Static image files for reports and slides",
],
"Output": ["Rendered display", "HTML string", "LaTeX string", "PNG/PDF/JPEG/WebP file"],
})
GT(export_df)| Method | Use Case | Output |
|---|---|---|
| show() | Interactive display in notebooks or browser | Rendered display |
| as_raw_html() | Embedding in web apps, emails, or HTML docs | HTML string |
| as_latex() | Inclusion in LaTeX/PDF documents | LaTeX string |
| gtsave() | Static image files for reports and slides | PNG/PDF/JPEG/WebP file |
Each export method preserves the styling, formatting, and structural components you have built into your table. Choose the method that matches your final output medium, and your carefully crafted table will look great wherever it lands.