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Troubleshooting PDF Exports in Alcove

Troubleshooting PDF Exports in Alcove

Issues creating and exporting PDF documents

Valeria Albino avatar
Written by Valeria Albino
Updated this week

Common Issues with PDF Creation

PDF generation in Alcove allows you to create professional product documents. However, you may occasionally encounter issues when working with large numbers of products or high-resolution images.

Problem: PDFs Fail to Generate or Take Too Long

Issue: Too Many Images

When your PDF contains products with many high-resolution images, the generation process can slow down significantly or even fail due to memory limitations. Each product can display up to 5 images in the PDF.

Solutions:

  1. Reduce Image Size Before Upload

    • Resize your images to a smaller size (500k-2MB maximum per image) before uploading them to Alcove

    • Use image compression tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh to optimize images

    • Aim for image dimensions of 1000-2000 pixels on the longest side for optimal quality-to-size ratio

  2. Limit the Number of Images per Product

    • Use only the most essential images for each product

    • Consider removing duplicate angles or less important product views

Issue: Too Many Products in a Single PDF

Our system has the following limits:

  • Maximum of 150 products for single-page PDF exports

  • Maximum of 350 products for table view exports

Solutions:

  1. Split Your Export into Multiple PDFs

    • Use filters or product categories to create logical groups of products

    • Export each group as a separate PDF

    • Consider organizing PDFs by room, vendor, or product status

  2. Choose the Right Export Format

    • Use the Table View format for larger product catalogs

    • Use the Single Page format for more visual, image-heavy presentations with fewer products

Best Practices for Successful PDF Exports

  1. Prepare Before Exporting

    • Filter your product list to include only the items you need in the current PDF

    • Ensure all product images are properly optimized

  2. Optimize Your Workflow

    • Create multiple smaller PDFs rather than one large document

    • For presentations to clients, consider creating separate PDFs for different rooms or categories

  3. When Nothing Else Works

    • If you must include a large number of high-resolution images, create multiple PDFs with fewer products in each

Still Having Issues?

If you continue to experience problems with PDF exports after trying the solutions above, please contact our support team. When reporting issues, please include:

  • The number of products you were trying to export

  • Approximate size and number of images in your products

  • The export format you were using (Table View or Single Page)

  • Any error messages you received

Our team will be happy to help troubleshoot your specific situation.

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