Is there a way to create a selection set of frames for export?
When exporting to single page PDF (via File → Export Frames to PDF) all frames on the page are exported to a single PDF, including master components or anything else floating around. If you use the export section in the design panel, you can create a selection of frames to export, but they export as individual files.
I want to be able to select specific frames for export, and then have them export to a single PDF. Even better if I can save that selection, so I don’t have to reselect all the frames.
Also, it would be great if there was a way to organize the order in which those frames export. That way I don’t have to worry about how they’re actually organized on the page.
I have had the same problem for some time. I found a workaround, which was pretty simple but depending on your use case, might work:
Hide frames you do not want to export (select all and press CTRL + SHIFT + H)
Export frames to PDF will now export only the visible frames to a single PDF file
To make sure only the frames you want are exported make a page in the file that only has those frames in it. If you have components or other frames you want to keep, move them to another page. Figma only exports the frames that are on that single page.
You can also control the order the pages are exported by changing the order of the pages in the layers panel.
Hi! It’s not what everyone is asking for, and I too wish PDF’ing only selected frames were an option, but here a solution that requires bare-minimum effort.
Select the frames you want to output to PDF.
Choose menu item
Object > Hide Other Layers
Export Pages to PDF
Undo
Hide Other Layers
As an aside, I like that Figma relies on how the top-level frames are laid out on the Figma page to determine the PDF order, and not on their z-order like in Sketch, which was a monumental pain.
I use the following layout for document pages (a.k.a., top-level frames), which is a layout that Figma recognizes when deciding how to order pages in the PDF. This layout is also helpful for design reviews when conducted in Figma itself.
As a bit of promotion, I wrote a plugin – initially in the hellscape of Sketch’s API and now in Figma’s – that organizes such a document for you, providing section numbers, page numbers, and a table-of-contents (listing sections), using the same layout rules that Figma uses to determine PDF page order. It’s a big time-saver.
Another workaround option: Figma allows you to create mutliple pages. Create a page called Export and copy the frames you want to export to that page. Then export to PDF and it only exports the frames from that page.
This is an especially nice approach if you’re just trying to export your finals without reference and draft pages. I also keep a page call “Archive” and another called “Reference.” Move those things in and out of your main workspace as needed.
@Brian_Gundersdorf
that’s a great solution and there is a better one too. It’s the Super PDF plugin which can export any frame or section or whatever you choose straight from the canvas and merge it to a single PDF file. It’s faster than creating a new page and copying the frame there.
