How to Export a Figma Design as a PDF

Click an empty spot on the canvas so nothing is selected. The Export section now applies to the entire canvas of the current page. Add a PDF setting and export. This gives you one file of everything on the page, laid out as it sits on the canvas, which suits a quick review copy more than a polished document.

You don't need edit access to export. Viewers find the Export section under the Properties tab of the right sidebar, and in Dev Mode it shows up once you select something. The one exception is a file where the owner has turned off exporting for viewers, covered below.

This is the part most people get stuck on. Figma's export docs cover exporting a selection and bulk export, but they don't describe combining frames into a single multi-page PDF. The forum thread on exporting several A4 designs as one PDF has around 16k views.

Plugins handle it. Several PDF plugins take the frames you select and export them as pages of one document, and some add print options Figma doesn't have, such as bleed or CMYK output. Compare them here:

Making a deck? If your audience can open a link, presenting straight from Figma Slides skips the PDF step.

Work through these in order.

1. No Export section. Refresh the file first. If it's still missing and you're a viewer, the owner has turned off "Viewers can copy, share, and export from this file". Ask them for edit access or an exported copy.
2. Nothing selected. The Export section only shows export options for the current selection. Click the frame itself, not the page.
3. File > Export shows nothing. Bulk export only lists layers on the current page that already have an export setting. Add a PDF row to each frame first, or switch to the page they're on.

Large placed images are the usual reason. Every photo in the frame goes into the PDF, and Figma keeps images up to 4096px on the longest side. Compress or resize photos before you place them, crop out what you don't need, and avoid stacking hidden image layers in frames you export. Also check the PDF quality setting: it starts at Medium, so if someone raised it, try lowering it again.

Figma's help center doesn't explain when PDF export keeps text as selectable text, and the forum thread on it has no official answer. If you need searchable text, test a small frame first, and check that the text is a real text layer rather than something flattened or outlined.

A PDF keeps vector shapes and text as vectors, so reviewers can zoom in without it going soft, and several frames can travel as one file if you use a plugin. A PNG is fixed pixels, which is simpler for chat and slides. For a single screen dropped into Slack, a 2x PNG is often the better choice. For a spec, a deck or anything printed, use PDF.

Figma exports in Same as file, sRGB or Display P3. There is no CMYK option, so print shops that require CMYK will need a converted file. A print plugin or a pass through a desktop publishing app handles that. For raster print files, see how to export 300 DPI from Figma, and for the other formats see how to export from Figma.