Saving all cell-groups to pdfs with filenames

Question

I'm trying to programmatically save all input-output cell groups in a given notebook as automatically named pdfs. Is there a way to provide the filename, and save it as a PDF with cell labels but not brackets (just like "File" ► "Save Selection As...").

This is the closest I came but it misses the cell labels:

SelectionMove[EvaluationNotebook[], Previous, CellGroup, 2];
FrontEnd`SaveSelectionAs["~/out.pdf", EvaluationNotebook[], "PDF"]

This question's answer doesn't print the cell labels either, but the comments look like they might have a clue, not sure how to use "CellLabelsToTags" though.

Answer 1

You need to override the Notebook level CellLabelAutoDelete setting. Try the following:

SelectionMove[EvaluationNotebook[],Previous,CellGroup,2];
Internal`WithLocalSettings[
    CurrentValue[EvaluationNotebook[], CellLabelAutoDelete] = False,
    FrontEnd`SaveSelectionAs["~/out.pdf", EvaluationNotebook[], "PDF"],
    CurrentValue[EvaluationNotebook[], CellLabelAutoDelete] = Inherited
]

---

If you want to control other Notebook options, you can instead control the options of the FrontEnd session:

SelectionMove[EvaluationNotebook[],Previous,CellGroup,2];
Internal`WithLocalSettings[
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, CellLabelAutoDelete] = False;
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, ShowCellBracket] = False,
    FrontEnd`SaveSelectionAs["~/out.pdf", EvaluationNotebook[], "PDF"],
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, CellLabelAutoDelete] = Inherited;
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, ShowCellBracket] = Inherited
]

You can also call ExportPacket directly, the function that FrontEnd`SaveSelectionAs ultimately calls:

SelectionMove[EvaluationNotebook[],Previous,CellGroup,2];
Internal`WithLocalSettings[
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, CellLabelAutoDelete] = False,
    FrontEndExecute @ ExportPacket[
        Notebook[{NotebookRead[EvaluationNotebook[]]}, ShowCellBracket->False],
        "PDF",
        "~/out.pdf"
    ],
    CurrentValue[$FrontEndSession, CellLabelAutoDelete] = Inherited
]

The ExportPacket approach allows you to directly insert Notebook options into the Notebook object.