PDF export
The PDF tab turns selected frames into a press-ready PDF: rasterized pages embedded as DeviceCMYK (or RGB or grayscale), trim and bleed boxes, vector crop marks, and PDF/X-1a conformance, assembled entirely on your machine.
Pages are flattened raster. That means there are no transparency, blend-mode, mask, or font surprises at the print shop, the class of bug that plagues vector PDF pipelines. The trade-off: text is not vector in the output, so use 600 DPI when pages contain small text.
Export PDF requires a Pro license ($9.99/month). Everything else on this tab - presets, page ordering, settings, and Preview page 1 - is free, so you can see exactly what you would get before buying.
Presets
The left sidebar holds one-click configurations:
- Print-Ready: Export in CMYK (US) with GRACoL 2013, CMYK (EU) with FOGRA39, CMYK (Japan) with Japan Color 2001, and Grayscale.
- Web/Digital and Basic: RGB exports at lower DPI for proofs and screen use.
- Custom Presets: click Save preset to store your current settings under a name. Presets persist across sessions and files.
A Select print frames button selects every frame on the page that was created or stamped by the plugin. Tracking uses plugin data stored inside the .fig file itself, so renaming frames or updating Figma never loses your documents.
Pages and ordering
Every selected frame becomes a page. Order them:
- Name
By page number / name- Type
- default
- Description
Natural sort, so "page 2" comes before "page 10".
- Name
By canvas position- Type
- option
- Description
Rows top to bottom, left to right within a row.
- Name
Manual- Type
- option
- Description
An arrangeable list with up and down controls appears. Your order is kept as you change selection.
Export as picks one combined PDF or separate PDFs per frame.
Imposition composes pages into sheets:
- 2-up spreads places pairs side by side for proofing.
- Booklet (saddle stitch) reorders pages into printer sheet order (8 pages become sheets 8+1, 2+7, 6+3, 4+5), pads to a multiple of four with blanks, and crops the inner bleed so spreads join cleanly. Print double-sided, flip on the short edge, fold, and staple.
Color conversion
Choose CMYK, RGB, or Gray. For CMYK, pick the output profile your shop names:
| Profile | Region and stock |
|---|---|
| GRACoL 2013 (CRPC6) | US, coated sheetfed |
| GRACoL 2013 Uncoated (CRPC3) | US, uncoated |
| SWOP TR001 / SWOP 2013 (CRPC5) | US, web offset and publication |
| ISO Coated v2 (FOGRA39) | EU, coated |
| PSO Coated v3 (FOGRA51) | EU, coated, current standard |
| PSO Uncoated v3 (FOGRA52) | EU, uncoated |
| PSO Uncoated ISO12647 (FOGRA47) | EU, uncoated, legacy |
| eciCMYK v2 (FOGRA59) | Exchange space when the printer is unknown |
| Japan Color 2001 Coated | Japan |
Conversions are approximations with maximum black generation; the profile choice sets the declared output intent in the PDF. Custom colors force exact CMYK recipes for specific RGB values.
Bleed, marks, dielines
Bleed is auto-detected on frames made by Setup. Options: vector crop marks, a visible trim line, and a dieline (spot-color rectangle with corner radius, overprint on, plate name selectable: CutContour, Dieline, KissCut, PerfCutContour, Crease, Varnish).
Use Preview page 1 before exporting: it shows ink-simulated colors, marks, the trim box, and the dieline exactly as they will export.
Conformance
PDF/X-1a writes the GTS conformance keys, a named output condition registered at color.org, the Trapped flag, a document ID, and forces trim and bleed boxes. Since pages are flattened CMYK raster, the no-transparency and no-RGB rules of X-1a hold by construction.
Why not PDF/X-4? X-4 requires embedding the actual ICC profile binary, which needs a server-side pipeline. X-1a legitimately allows naming a registered printing condition instead, and it is the most universally accepted print standard. If your shop insists on X-4, export X-1a and convert in Acrobat with their profile.
Downsampling
Maximum DPI (600, 300, 150, 72) sets the rasterization ceiling. It is a ceiling, not a promise: a page too large for the raster budget is automatically rendered at a lower effective DPI instead of failing, the estimate tells you which page and to what DPI, and the PDF always keeps its exact physical size. Very large frames also get a tip pointing to the rescale tool.