What is an ATS?
An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is software employers use to collect applications and manage candidates throughout hiring.
Many of these systems include resume-parsing tools. At its simplest, parsing is a little like copying the text from your resume and pasting it into a database. The parser then tries to identify what each piece of information represents. It adds your name, contact details, job titles, dates, education, and skills to the appropriate fields in your candidate profile.
If the text cannot be extracted cleanly, some of those fields may be incomplete or incorrect. Recruiters may still be able to open and read your original PDF, but your experience could be harder to find through searches, filters, or matching tools.
No single ATS works exactly like every other one. Some platforms offer scoring or automated screening, while others primarily help recruiters store, organize, search, and review applications. So it’s misleading to say every ATS automatically rejects resumes below a particular score.
To find out which export method worked best, I tested three Figma PDF export plugins. One produced broken text, another required a paid account for a watermark-free export, and one produced a clean, readable PDF for free.
Why ATS compatibility matters for designers
Designers naturally care about typography, hierarchy, spacing, and composition. That can make tools such as Figma more appealing than a traditional word processor. Sometimes, it’s simply easier to lay out a document in Figma than in a traditional word processor. You have more control over the design and can create exactly the layout you want.
However, a resume’s appearance is only half the equation. Its text also needs to remain readable when extracted from the PDF. A beautifully designed resume can still cause problems if names, dates, job titles, or bullet points become garbled, disappear, or appear in the wrong order.
One quick way to spot these problems is to copy all the text from the exported PDF and paste it into a plain-text editor. This is not exactly how every ATS parses a resume, but it gives you a useful approximation: if you cannot extract clean, logically ordered text from the PDF, a resume parser may struggle too.
Why people recommend Google Docs or Microsoft Word
Google Docs and Microsoft Word are commonly recommended because they are designed for working with text. When used to create a straightforward resume and exported correctly, they generally produce documents with searchable and selectable text.
That doesn’t make every Word or Google Docs resume automatically ATS-friendly. Complicated tables, columns, headers, footers, graphics, and text boxes can still cause parsing problems. But a simple document created in a word processor is usually a dependable starting point.
Can you use Figma instead?
Yes, but you should test the exported PDF carefully.
Figma gives designers precise control over typography, grids, spacing, and visual hierarchy. The complication is how Figma exports text. According to Figma’s documentation, it exports PDF text as glyphs. Compatible PDF viewers can still select and copy the text, but it isn’t stored the same way as editable text in the original Figma file.
In practice, the key question isn’t simply whether you can highlight the text. It is whether that text remains complete, correctly spaced, and in a sensible reading order when extracted.
Third-party Figma plugins offer alternative ways to generate PDFs with selectable text. I tested three of them, and the results varied considerably.
The three Figma plugins I tested
I tested three plugins that take different approaches to preserving text in PDFs. These results reflect my own tests, supported where relevant by feedback on the plugins’ Figma Community pages.
Typeport
Typeport offers free, unlimited export for a single-frame PDF, which is enough for a one-page resume. However, removing the Typeport watermark requires a Pro account. Pro is also required for multi-page export, custom fonts, bookmarks, and password protection.
You can test or export a basic one-page resume for free, but you must pay for a finished PDF without the watermark.
TrueText PDF
TrueText PDF exported selectable text, but the text in my file broke apart and did not extract properly.
Feedback on its Figma Community page is mixed. Some users report that it works well, while others have encountered outlined fonts or PDFs containing both outlined and editable versions of the text. This suggests that the results may depend on the document, fonts, or export setup.
CrispPDF
CrispPDF was free and produced the cleanest result in my test; the exported PDF contained properly spaced, selectable text that remained readable when copied into a plain-text editor. It also works with custom fonts.
The plugin is still relatively new and has little public feedback, so I cannot confirm that it works reliably for every resume. However, in my test, it produced the best result of the three options.
Why a single-column resume is the safest choice
Your layout matters as much as the export method.
A resume may appear as neatly separated columns to a reader, but the PDF also contains an underlying content order. When the content order is unclear, the parser can combine text from different columns, extract sections in the wrong sequence, or miss information.
For example, a parser might read a sidebar containing skills or contact details in the middle of your employment history. Although the visual layout appears correct, the extracted text may lose its intended meaning.
Greenhouse, a widely used applicant tracking system, specifically lists columned layouts, tables, headers, footers, graphics, and text boxes among the formatting choices that can cause incomplete or inaccurate parsing.
A simple, single-column layout reduces this risk. It also creates a clear reading sequence for recruiters scanning the resume themselves.
How to test your exported PDF
Before submitting a Figma resume:
- Open the PDF in a standard PDF viewer.
- Select all the text.
- Copy and paste it into a plain-text editor.
- Check that the content is complete and appears in the correct order.
- Look closely at names, dates, links, bullet points, and spaces between words.
This is a useful basic check, but it cannot guarantee that every ATS will interpret the file identically. If an employer specifically requests a Word document or another file format, follow those instructions.
The takeaway
You can design your resume in Figma, but don’t assume that a visually correct PDF is also machine-readable.
In my testing, CrispPDF produced the cleanest result without requiring a paid account. Combined with a straightforward, single-column layout, it let me keep Figma’s design control while producing a PDF with clean, extractable text.
The safest approach is simple: export the resume, inspect the extracted text, and retest whenever you change the design, font, or export method.
