Export a canvas to PDF

Export to PDF when a page canvas needs to become a stable file: an offline review copy, an archive, a client handoff, a meeting record, a training handout, or a single package that replaces many separate screenshots and source files.

A PDF export captures the page canvas as a page-based document. It follows the canvas page structure, selected page scope, page sizes, folded-page state, loaded media, visible theme, and quality setting at the time the export starts. The result is a downloadable PDF that can be emailed, stored, attached to another system, or shared outside ALLO.

Use PDF export for the artifact people need to read later. Use Share a canvas when people need live access inside ALLO. Use Embed when a page canvas should appear live inside another website. Use Download all images when the team needs image assets instead of a page-based document.

What PDF export is good for

PDF export is a major handoff workflow because it gives people one file they can open without walking through the canvas editor. It is useful when the recipient needs to read, archive, approve, print, file, or circulate the result.

Use it when you need to:

1. Send a workshop or review output to stakeholders who were not in the canvas.
2. Archive decisions after a meeting, sprint review, class session, or client presentation.
3. Hand off a page canvas to legal, operations, finance, customers, or external partners.
4. Keep a dated record of what the canvas looked like at a specific point.
5. Share one PDF instead of asking someone to open many files, links, images, and comments.
6. Give reviewers a higher-resolution static output than a screenshot.

PDF export is not a backup of the editable canvas. It does not preserve edit history, live comments, workspace roles, object-level edit behavior, or the ability to rearrange content later. Use version history, backup, restore, or normal canvas sharing when the job is to recover or continue editing the live canvas.

Availability

Before exporting

Prepare the page canvas before starting export. A PDF is a snapshot-style output, so small canvas issues become durable file issues.

Check page order in the slide rail or overview. The PDF follows the selected page sequence, so move pages before exporting if the story is wrong.

Rename important pages. Page titles are not printed into the exported PDF, but clear titles make the source canvas easier to inspect before export, verify afterward, and match against page numbers when someone later asks which section a PDF page came from.

Unfold pages that should appear. Keep pages folded when they should stay out of the exported flow. Folding is useful for facilitator notes, backup material, old versions, or internal scratch work, but it also means those pages are not part of the visible page flow.

Review page size. Page size affects PDF shape, margins, scaling, and mixed-size output. If every page should have the same paper or screen shape, use Resize all canvas pages before people align final content. If only a section is special, resize selected pages or one page.

Wait for media to finish. Large images, PDFs, Office files, thumbnails, file previews, and background-removed images can take time to upload or process. Export after the canvas looks correct, not while placeholders or loading previews are still changing.

Check sensitive content. A PDF can leave ALLO. Remove private notes, internal backup pages, one-off comments visible on the canvas, and customer-specific data that should not travel with the file.

Export all pages

Open the page canvas, then open the canvas header menu and choose Export to PDF. You can also open Share and choose the Export tab when it is available.

The export form starts with All pages selected. Keep it selected when the PDF should include the whole visible page flow. Choose the quality level, confirm the recipient email list, then select Send.

ALLO starts the PDF job and sends the PDF when processing is complete. For larger canvases, export can take a few minutes. You can see progress in the canvas while pages are being prepared. When the export finishes, ALLO delivers it by email, an in-app download notification, and Inbox depending on the recipient and workspace path.

Export selected pages

Use selected-page export when only part of a page canvas should become the PDF: a client-facing section, a class handout, a workshop recap, an appendix, or a few pages from a long working canvas.

In the Export tab, uncheck All pages. Enter page numbers and ranges in the Pages field, using the page numbers people see in the page flow. Examples:

1. 1-3
2. 1-3, 5
3. 1-3, 5, 7-9

ALLO treats the field like a print-style page range. Values it cannot read are ignored. If the field is blank, or if none of the entered values can be used, the export falls back to all pages. Check the range before selecting Send, especially on long canvases where one missing page can change the handoff.

Selected-page export is based on page numbers, not page titles. If the page order changes after you type a range but before you send the export, confirm the range again.

Choose quality

The Export tab includes PDF quality options:

Use High Quality for most client review, internal archive, training, and stakeholder handoff work. Use Maximum Quality when the PDF contains dense diagrams, detailed product screenshots, fine text inside images, or material that will be zoomed or printed. Use Standard Quality when speed, file size, or email delivery matters more than fine detail.

Quality changes the rendered output. It does not repair blurry source images, low-resolution screenshots, broken thumbnails, expired files, or text that was already too small on the canvas.

File, link, and embed behavior in the PDF

PDF export tries to keep useful links clickable where the object type and PDF reader support it. File objects, embed objects, link buttons, and sub-canvas objects can create clickable areas in the exported PDF. This is useful for handoffs: the PDF can show the canvas layout while still giving readers a way to open a source file, website, embedded reference, or connected canvas.

Clickable links are best treated as a convenience, not the only copy of important source material. They can depend on file availability, workspace settings, plan limits, file retention, deleted files, expired links, destination permissions, and the PDF app the recipient uses. Some PDF viewers preserve link areas better than others.

If a file object is important to the handoff, decide whether the PDF alone is enough. For formal delivery, include the source files separately or make sure the destination links will remain available to the recipients.

Share, Embed, and Export do different jobs

The Share modal can include Share, Embed, and Export tabs. They are related, but they are not interchangeable.

Use Share when the recipient should keep working in the canvas. Use Embed when the canvas should remain live in another page. Use Export when the recipient needs a file.

Disabling, renewing, or expiring a share or embed link can affect embedded canvases. It does not pull back a PDF file that was already downloaded or forwarded.

Access after export

Treat the exported PDF as its own file. After the PDF leaves ALLO, access to that file is governed by wherever it is stored or forwarded: email, local downloads, shared drives, ticket systems, document management tools, or another app.

Changing canvas permission later does not erase a PDF someone already received. If the PDF contains sensitive content, share it only with people who should have that copy.

Links inside the PDF are different. A clickable file, canvas, or website link may still require the recipient to have permission at the destination. An exported PDF can be readable while a linked ALLO file or canvas no longer opens because access changed, the file was deleted, a retention policy removed it, or a signed download link expired.

Email download links for exported PDFs can expire. Inbox download actions can request a fresh download path when the user still has access to the source canvas. If access was revoked, the Inbox row alone should not be treated as permission to download the PDF again.

Delivery and notifications

When you select Send, ALLO queues the PDF job. Small canvases can finish quickly. Large canvases, many pages, mixed page sizes, high quality, heavy images, PDFs, Office files, and embedded content can take longer.

Depending on the route and recipient, delivery can appear in several places:

1. An email with a PDF download action.
2. An in-app notification or toast when the PDF is ready.
3. An Inbox item with Download PDF for users who can still access the canvas.
4. A failure notification if the export cannot finish.

Do not close the browser just because the modal closed. The export runs as a server-side job after the request is accepted, but keeping the canvas open helps you see progress and recover quickly if the job fails.

Practical workflows

For a client review, create a page canvas with one page per review section. Fold internal notes, export only the client-facing pages, use High Quality or Maximum Quality, and send the PDF to the client contact. Send a live share link separately only if they should comment inside ALLO.

For a workshop recap, clean the page order, keep decisions and final notes visible, fold facilitator prep, export all pages, and attach the PDF to the meeting follow-up. If participants need source files, include them separately or confirm the PDF links stay available.

For an archive, export after the team has resolved comments and confirmed final state. Use a clear canvas name before exporting because the PDF file name is based on the canvas name. Store the PDF in the system your team uses for records.

For a handoff with many references, use the PDF as the reading package and the canvas as the editable source. The PDF can reduce the number of files someone has to open, but it should not be the only way to recover source documents if retention or permissions matter.

What can go wrong

If Export to PDF is missing, check whether the canvas is a freeform whiteboard. Page-based export is not available for freeform whiteboards. If it is a page canvas, check your permission, plan support, and workspace download restrictions.

If the Export tab is missing from Share, the current canvas may support sharing but not PDF export. Share can remain available even when Embed and Export are not available.

If the PDF takes longer than expected, wait for the job to finish and check email, notifications, and Inbox. Large media-heavy canvases and Maximum Quality exports can take longer.

If the PDF is missing a page, check the selected page range, folded pages, and page order. Unfold pages that should appear, then export again.

If a page looks cropped or scaled unexpectedly, check page size, mixed page dimensions, automatic height, and whether the page was too wide or tall for the intended output.

If images or file previews look wrong, open the canvas and confirm the media has finished loading or processing. Export does not fix unfinished uploads or broken thumbnails.

If a link in the PDF does not open, check the destination permission, deleted or expired files, plan or retention limits, and the PDF reader. Try opening the canvas or file directly from ALLO to confirm whether the source is still available.

If a recipient cannot download from email, the download link may have expired or been blocked by their email client. Ask them to open ALLO and check Inbox if they have canvas access, or resend the export.

If export fails, retry once after refreshing the canvas and waiting for media to load. If it fails again, use Fix a failed canvas export and send support the canvas link, export time, page range, quality setting, browser or desktop app, and whether the failure affects all pages or one page.