# Export the canvas, a board, or a selection as PNG or PDF

> Right-click an empty area of the canvas and choose Export canvas, then PNG or PDF; select a board or items first to export just those.

Category: Canvas
Web page: https://www.pactto.com/help/export-canvas
All guides: https://www.pactto.com/help.md

## Export as an image or PDF

You can save the whole canvas, a board, or selected items as a PNG image or a PDF file. The file downloads to your computer. You need **Can edit** access (or be the room owner). People with **Can review** or **Can view** access do not see these options.

### Export the whole canvas

1. Make sure nothing is selected, then right-click an empty area of the canvas.
2. Choose **Export canvas**, then **PNG** or **PDF**.

The file is named "pactto-canvas-" followed by the date and time.

### Export a selection

Select what you want, right-click it, and choose the export option. What it is called depends on what you selected:

| Selected | Menu item | Formats |
|---|---|---|
| One board | **Export board** | PNG, PDF |
| Several boards | **Export boards** | PDF (one page per board) or PNG (a ZIP with one image per board) |
| One image | **Export** | PNG, PDF |
| One video | **Export current frame** | PNG, JPG |
| One PDF | **Export current page** | PNG |
| One table | **Export visible view** | PNG, PDF |
| Anything else, or a mix | **Export selection** | PNG, PDF |

A single exported item is named after it, for example the board name or "(video name)-frame.png".

### Export a board as a multi-page PDF of its contents

To turn a board into a PDF with one page per item, select the board, right-click, and choose **Merge board into PDF**. See [Work with PDFs](https://www.pactto.com/help/work-with-pdfs.md).

## What is included

- Included: images, videos (the frame on screen), PDFs (the page on screen), tables, Pactto docs, sticky notes, text, shapes, and drawings.
- Not included: comments, screen shares, and older website items.
- If a file cannot be loaded at export time, Pactto leaves it out and exports the rest.

## If something goes wrong

- "Nothing to export.": there is nothing on the canvas, or in the selection, that can be exported.
- "Couldn't export. Try again." or "Couldn't export this item.": the export failed. Try again, or export fewer items.

## Good to know

- A PDF export is a picture of the canvas, so its text cannot be selected or searched.
- Very large canvases are scaled down so the longest side stays within 8192 pixels.
- To download the original files instead of a picture, see [Download files from the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/download-assets.md).

## Related guides

- [Download files from the canvas, one at a time or all at once](https://www.pactto.com/help/download-assets.md): Select a file and click Download in its title bar, or right-click a selection, a board, or the empty canvas to download many images, videos, and PDFs at once.
- [View, page through, split, and merge PDFs](https://www.pactto.com/help/work-with-pdfs.md): Select a PDF to get page controls (or use the arrow keys); use Split pages to images or Split to PDF pages to break it into pages, and Merge board into PDF to combine a board into one file.
- [Add a table to the canvas](https://www.pactto.com/help/create-table.md): Click Table in the toolbar or press Y to add a table with Description, Status, Assignee, Due date, Priority, and Notes columns that you can edit, extend, reorder, and download as a spreadsheet.
- [Create a Pactto doc for shared notes](https://www.pactto.com/help/create-pactto-doc.md): Click Doc in the toolbar or press D to add a document to the canvas that everyone in the room can write in at the same time.