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Anna_Dabek
August 30, 2023
Question

Exporting as PDF - huge size

  • August 30, 2023
  • 15 replies
  • 26918 views

I’ve created over 100 artboards in Figma and want to create a PDF from them. After exporting the file, I found that it’s quite large in size. How can I effectively reduce the file size? Compressing the PDF with online tool (ilovepdf) only seems to decrease the size by about a third, and it’s still around 10MB. I can’t export it as an image also.

Any help and explanation why it’s so heavy will be appreciate!

    15 replies

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    PDFsail
    PDFsail
    New Member
    July 25, 2025

    Hello, I also encountered a similar problem as yours. The file compression using ilovepdf did not meet my expectations. I found this online PDF compression tool on the Internet and hope it will be helpful to you.

    xamalama
    xamalama
    New Member
    January 6, 2026

    It’s because Figma converts all text to SVG (X-objects) in PDF. There is a plugin that exports text as text. But wish Figma had this natively 🥲
    https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1255146474787882010

    This is the answer! Whoever made that plugin… Thank you so much. 2.5 MB export from Figma, with this plugin 42kb!

    The other plugins mentioned just output the same or in one case double the size.

    Anna_Gingle
    Anna_Gingle
    New Member
    March 12, 2026

    I can’t even email a slide deck to my clients. The file is too big and gmail requires it to be sent as a google drive link. My clients are microsoft suite native and the VPN they are required to use blocks them from gdrive.

    BatchCraft
    BatchCraft
    New Participant
    August 6, 2026

    Hi @Anna_Gingle, I ran into the same problem and built a Figma plugin specifically for it.

    We have tested BatchPDF in a live, high volume retail marketing production studio where teams produce large photography and campaign production briefs.

    In one real production test, the same 52 page Figma document exported at around 90 MB using another well known PDF plugin. With BatchPDF, the result was approximately 15 MB while maintaining perfectly usable image quality. That is roughly an 83% reduction.

    BatchPDF includes simple presets for Print, Balanced and Small File. If you need an even smaller PDF, Custom settings give you direct control over image resolution in PPI and JPEG compression. This makes it possible to balance file size and image quality for each document.

    Supported text and vectors remain PDF objects, so text can stay selectable and searchable.

    Full disclosure: I am the developer. I recommend testing it on one representative document first:

    https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1662786572015744789

    If you try it, I would be very interested to hear the original and resulting file sizes.

    Christopher Fernandes
    Christopher Fernandes
    New Member
    September 10, 2026

    Best way to get <1mo PDF in FIGMA.
     

    1. CTRL+shift+C and CTRL+V so you get images. 
    2. Then you shift+A to get a Canvas for each slide (converted as image) 
    3. Export that + Ilovepdf and you get un <1mo PDF.

     

    Low export size PDF with Figma


    Best,
    Christopher Fernandes | Senior Designer
    Ferrstudio.ch | Le savoir Ferr

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