If you are encountering an issue with exporting or printing a Lucid document, following the steps included in this article often resolves the issue. Read on for troubleshooting tips you can try on your own before contacting the support team.
How to export or print
If you are not experiencing performance issues with exporting or printing and want instructions on how to use these features, check out our Export and print a Lucid document article.
Try basic troubleshooting first
Most problems with exporting or printing a document are related to browser or network issues. Check out our Basic troubleshooting article for more information. In most cases, the steps outlined in this article will resolve the problem you are having.
Identify the issue
If basic troubleshooting did not solve the problem, use this section to identify the specific issue you are having with exporting or printing a Lucid document. Under each of the common issues below is a list of troubleshooting steps that usually resolve the issue. Click the troubleshooting step for more detail.
Export failed
If you receive an error that your export failed, or the file never downloads to your device, try these troubleshooting options:
Export is taking a long time
If your download takes longer than ten seconds to process, you will receive the following message:
Due to the size of this document, it may take some time to generate your file. Please keep this document open until your download is complete. Feel free to keep working. Additional changes will not affect the downloaded file.
If your document has not downloaded after 5 minutes, try these troubleshooting options:
File doesn't look right
If the file you downloaded doesn’t look right or appears differently than it did in the Lucid editor, try these troubleshooting options:
- Adjust content scale
- Check Master Pages
- Copy content to another document
- Disable infinite canvas
- Export another file type
Note: If the text on your exported file has disappeared or doesn't look right, it may be related to custom fonts. Check out our Troubleshooting: Text article for more information.
File is the wrong size
If the file you downloaded doesn’t look right or appears differently than it did in the Lucid editor, try these troubleshooting options:
Troubleshooting steps
Adjust content scale
If your export is timing out or your content is the wrong size in the downloaded version, adjusting the content scale can help. To adjust the content scale, infinite canvas must be toggled off.
To adjust the content scale in Lucidchart, follow these steps:
- Open
the More menu from the top-left of the canvas.
- Hover your cursor over “File”.
- Hover your cursor over "Settings".
- Click Document settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, adjust the percentage using the arrows next to “Content scale”.
To adjust the content scale in Lucidspark, follow these steps:
- Click
- Hover your cursor over “Board settings”.
- Click Open board settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, adjust the percentage using the arrows next to “Content scale”.
Tip: If you want your content to fit on one downloaded page, click the Fit to page icon located above the “Content scale” setting.
Copy content to another document
If your document is having trouble exporting or the downloaded file does not appear correctly, try copying the document's content and pasting it into a new document. To do this:
- Select all the content on the canvas by pressing Ctrl-A (PC) or Cmd-A (Mac) on your keyboard.
- Right-click on the selected content.
- Click Copy.
- Open a brand new Lucidchart document or Lucidspark board.
- Right-click on the canvas.
- Select Paste.
- If you have multiple pages in your Lucidchart document, repeat these steps for each page.
After you move the content, try exporting from the new document.
Decrease document file size
If your document takes up a large amount of storage, it may take a long time to download. In some cases, a document’s size can cause the export to fail.
The following steps can help decrease the file size of your document:
- Decrease the number of high resolution images by deleting them from the canvas.
- Split your content into multiple documents.
- If your Lucidchart document has a large number of pages with a lot of content, consider importing those pages into a new Lucidchart document.
- Adjust the content scale.
Disable infinite canvas
If your document is having trouble exporting or the downloaded file does not appear correctly, disabling infinite canvas can help.
To disable infinite canvas in Lucidchart, follow these steps:
- Open
- Hover your cursor over “File”.
- Hover your cursor over "Settings".
- Click Document settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, toggle off “Infinite canvas”.
To disable infinite canvas in Lucidspark, follow these steps:
- Click
- Hover your cursor over “Board settings”.
- Click Open board settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, toggle off “Infinite canvas”.
Enable and adjust page tiles
If your content is the wrong size in the downloaded version of your document, enabling and adjusting the page tiles can help. To adjust the page tiles, infinite canvas must be toggled off.
To enable and adjust the page tiles in Lucidchart, follow these steps:
- Open
- Hover your cursor over “File”.
- Hover your cursor over "Settings".
- Click Document settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, toggle on “Page tiling”.
- Adjust the page tiles using the “Size” and “Format” dropdowns.
To enable and adjust the page tiles in Lucidspark, follow these steps:
- Click
- Hover your cursor over “Board settings”.
- Click Open board settings.
- Under the “Canvas and page” section, toggle on “Page tiling”.
- Adjust the page tiles using the “Size” and “Format” dropdowns.
Export another file type
If your export fails, doesn’t look right, or is the wrong size—and other troubleshooting options didn’t help—try exporting your document as another file type. This is particularly helpful when exporting your document as an image or Visio file.
For example, if you export a Lucidchart document as a VSDX file, and it doesn’t appear correctly when you import it into Visio, try exporting the document as a VDX file instead.
Check Master Pages (Lucidchart only)
Master Pages in Lucidchart are omitted from the downloaded version of your document. If you want to include a Master Page in your download, you need to convert it into a page. To do this:
- Right-click a Master Page tab in Lucidchart.
- Master Pages are indicated by
the M icon.
- Master Pages are indicated by
- Select Convert to Page.
FAQ
Why is my printed or exported document separated into multiple pages?
You may need to adjust the size of the pages in your document. Toggle on page tiling in the Document Settings to see the boundaries of each individual page on the workspace. From there, you can adjust the size of the page tiles. For more information, check out our Adjust document and board settings article.
Why can’t I see all layers of my downloaded file?
When you export a Lucidchart document as a PDF, you can choose to export each layer individually by toggling on “Show Individual Layers”. In all other instances, your download will show layers based on when you last clicked Sync Visibility in the layers panel. For more information, check out our Add layers to a Lucidchart document article.
Why won’t links and Actions work on my exported document?
Actions such as toggling conditional formatting and layers will not work on an exported document. Links will work only if you export your document as a PDF, but not with any other file type. For more information, check out our Add an Action or link to a shape in Lucidchart article.
Resources
For more information, explore the additional resources below. These resources are available in English only.
Community post
Post in the Lucid Community
If none of the steps or resources above resolve the issue, search the Lucid Community for the answer to your question or post a new question to get support.