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Attila_Bujdoso
Attila_Bujdoso
January 26, 2021
Question

PDF export - text not selectable

  • January 26, 2021
  • 67 replies
  • 33247 views

Hi all, I created some designs that I exported as PDF. I have two problems with the result:

  1. The text is not selectable (I tried Mac’s Preview and Safari).

  2. The files are rather large (1MB for an A4 size design, no images or vectors, just a few text bozes.

Any ideas how to overcome this? (I would try to avoid bringing it back my design to Sketch.

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    Bronwyn1
    Bronwyn1
    New Participant
    September 10, 2025

    PDF Export with TEXT and VECTOR objects | Figma

    This plugin did it for me

    Only thing that has worked properly for me so that I can open in Adobe and edit text. Not prefect so far but the only thing that worked

    Jorge_Rebate
    Jorge_Rebate
    New Member
    January 12, 2026

    Posting the alternate solution here from @Jane_Castellani, since Spectrum is not longer active.

    Export to PDF, AND keep text selectable in 2 steps

    There is a way I know to convert from Figma to PDF (keeping editability: ability to select, copy and paste the text in the new document)

    STEP 1. Simply export your frames as SVG, but be sure to remove the check mark in the “outline text” option, within the options to export SVG (three points, see image).

    STEP 2. Now go to CLOUD CONVERT web page, and select convert from SVG to PDF or simply click on this direct link: SVG to PDF | CloudConvert. Then select the SVG files to upload (there is an option to unify several SVG files as a single PDF document) and press the “Start Conversion” button.


    This solution is so usefull if you need to label the document for accessibility ;) Thanks so much

    DevDevelops
    DevDevelops
    New Member
    February 27, 2026

    Hi! I recently developed a Figma plugin, TrueText PDF, that enables exporting PDFs with selectable text instead of flattened text.
    I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your feedback.
    https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1608786203490497687/truetext-pdf

     

      Jorge_Rebate
      Jorge_Rebate
      New Member
      February 27, 2026

      Hi! I recently developed a Figma plugin, TrueText PDF, that enables exporting PDFs with selectable text instead of flattened text.
      I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your feedback.
      https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1608786203490497687/truetext-pdf

       

      It’s not working rigth now?

      It’s stuck in the same % when i try to export.

       

      Exporting with TrueText

       

        DevDevelops
        DevDevelops
        New Member
        February 27, 2026

        Hi! I recently developed a Figma plugin, TrueText PDF, that enables exporting PDFs with selectable text instead of flattened text.
        I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your feedback.
        https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1608786203490497687/truetext-pdf

         

        It’s not working rigth now?

        It’s stuck in the same % when i try to export.

         

        Exporting with TrueText

         

        ​@Jorge_Rebate  Thank you so much for reporting the issue. The issue has been fixed. You can try reloading the page once and then try to export again. Let me know if it works for you this time :) 

         

          StudioAgx
          StudioAgx
          New Member
          February 27, 2026

          Hi! I recently developed a Figma plugin, TrueText PDF, that enables exporting PDFs with selectable text instead of flattened text.
          I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your feedback.
          https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1608786203490497687/truetext-pdf

           

          Hi,
          Feedback - I tried it on 5 slides and it crashed midway through the download. Then I tried it on a single slide, and it was able to export into PDF. But not all text was selectable. 

          DevDevelops
          DevDevelops
          New Member
          February 27, 2026

          Hi! I recently developed a Figma plugin, TrueText PDF, that enables exporting PDFs with selectable text instead of flattened text.
          I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your feedback.
          https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1608786203490497687/truetext-pdf

           

          Hi,
          Feedback - I tried it on 5 slides and it crashed midway through the download. Then I tried it on a single slide, and it was able to export into PDF. But not all text was selectable. 

          Hey ​@StudioAgx, thanks for the feedback. I’ll try to resolve it to the soonest. Is it possible to share the screenshot of the text block which is not being selected. It would be a great help for me to debug the issue. 

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