Documents and printing: from resource to handout
The four export formats, the handout reading tools, annotations that stay put, and printing that always comes out light.
- Best for
- Classroom teachers
- Typical use
- 10 minutes
Search the guide
Type one or more words to search every chapter.
Everything AlloFlow generates can leave the app as a document a student can hold: a finished copy to read, a blank copy to write on, or a self-contained web page with its own reading tools. This chapter covers choosing between them and the details that matter once paper is involved.
For building the resources themselves, see Prepare a lesson.
The four export formats, plainly
| Format | What it is | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Print / Save as PDF | A finished copy to read. Opens your print window; print it or save as PDF there. | Reference copies, family communication, reading material. |
| Worksheet | A blank copy to write on: answer boxes become ruled lines, multiple choice becomes fill-in bubbles, and a Name / Date / Score header appears. | Paper practice and anything handed in physically. |
| HTML handout | One self-contained file with its own reading toolbar. Works offline once downloaded; nothing phones home. | Sending work home, devices without AlloFlow, screen-reader use. |
| Slides | A presentation export. | Whole-class instruction. |
The export screen explains each format under its selector, so you do not need to memorize this table.
The worksheet has one more trick: if your lesson has both an adapted text and a glossary, you can turn the passage into a fill-in-the-blank worksheet. Glossary terms become numbered blanks, a word bank appears below, and the teacher copy carries the answer key. It works in any lesson language.
The HTML handout's reading tools
The exported page carries its own accessibility toolbar, independent of AlloFlow:
- Text size steps from 90% to 175%, with a live percentage readout. Content reflows instead of getting cut off, at every size, on every screen width.
- Fonts: nine faces that work with no internet at all, including a readable serif, a rounded face, and a dyslexia-friendly option. Four high-legibility web fonts (OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible, Lexend, Andika) are available behind a clearly labeled "needs internet" checkbox at export time, off by default so no handout phones out unless you chose that.
- Reading themes, sentence read-along where the lesson includes audio, and the annotation tools below.
Annotations that stay put
Students and teachers can highlight, add notes and stickers, record voice notes, and draw freehand directly on the handout. Marks belong to the document: they scroll with it, stay attached through text-size and font changes, and survive reload. "Erase my marks" clears only your own annotations, tells you how many it would erase, and is disabled when there is nothing to erase.
Teacher annotations made in the app travel into the export, including drawings.
Printing
- Screen-only controls never print; what comes out is the worksheet, not the interface.
- Printing from dark mode produces a normal light page. Dark themes are for screens; paper always comes out black on white, so no one empties a toner cartridge by accident.
- The crossword and other glossary printables include a separate answer-key page after a page break, so you can keep the key and hand out the rest.
The Expert Workbench
The Document Builder's ribbon has an Expert Workbench tab: type a plain-language instruction ("make every heading a proper H2", "add alt text to the images") and it applies structural edits across the document. It is the same engine the PDF remediation pathway uses. The panel shows example instructions, so an empty text box never greets you.
Practical guidance
- Preview in the real format. A resource that looks right in the app can break at 175% text on a phone; the reflow work makes this rare, but the habit is free.
- For families without reliable internet, the HTML handout with the default fonts is the safest artifact: one file, works from a download, nothing external.
- Keep the answer-key page before handing a stack to students; it prints last on purpose.