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LinkedIn PDF

Noa Lupu
Updated

Learn how to publish PDF documents to LinkedIn, either by uploading a PDF you've already designed or by turning a multi-image post into one.

→ Upload a PDF document
→ Browse and download the PDF
→ Edit the document title
→ How PDF posts work
→ Turn a multi-image post into a PDF
→ Troubleshooting

PDF posts show up on LinkedIn as swipeable documents, a great fit for decks, reports, guides and carousels. In Planable there are two ways to create one:

  • Upload a PDF you've already made in Canva, Figma, PowerPoint or any other tool. Planable sends the exact file to LinkedIn, so it goes out just as you designed it.
  • Turn a multi-image post into a PDF, and Planable builds the document from your images (up to 20).

Both work for LinkedIn personal profiles and company pages, on every plan.

Upload a PDF document

  1. Create a post on a LinkedIn page, or open an existing LinkedIn post that doesn't have any media yet.
  2. In the composer toolbar, click Upload PDF document, next to the media upload button. You can also drag a PDF from your computer straight onto the post.
  3. Planable checks the file, then shows the upload progress as a percentage.
  4. Once it's uploaded, the PDF appears inside the post. Give it a title, add a caption if you'd like, and schedule or publish as usual.

File requirements

  • Format: PDF only. Export PowerPoint, Word or Keynote files to PDF first.
  • Size: up to 100 MB.
  • Length: up to 300 pages.
  • Protection: the file can't be password protected or damaged.
  • One file at a time: upload a single PDF, without any other media.

If a file doesn't meet these requirements, Planable blocks the upload and shows a short message explaining why.

Good to know: Pages can't be edited inside Planable. To reorder, remove or crop pages, edit the PDF in your design tool and upload it again.

Browse and download the PDF

The PDF shows right inside the post, so you and your team (or your client) can review it before it goes out.

  • Use the arrows to click through the pages. A page counter (for example 3 / 12) shows where you are.
  • Pages load as you move through them, so long documents don't have to load all at once.
  • Hover over the PDF and click Download PDF to save the original file. Anyone viewing the post can do this.

Good to know: The PDF can be browsed inline, at the size of the post. It can't be opened in a larger, full-screen preview window.

Edit the document title

LinkedIn shows a title above every document. You can edit it right on the preview, up to 128 characters.

  • The title starts as the file name, including the .pdf ending, so you'll usually want to rename it.
  • If you clear the title, LinkedIn shows the file name instead.

How PDF posts work

  • A PDF is the only media on its post. Each LinkedIn post holds one PDF and nothing else: no images, video or link preview. The upload buttons are hidden while a post already has media, so remove the images first to add a PDF, or remove the PDF to add images.
  • Captions are optional. A PDF post can be published without any caption text.
  • Scheduled or published right away, the post goes out as a native LinkedIn document post, with the original file and the title you set.
  • It lives on the post, not in the Media Library. To get the file back later, use the Download PDF button on the preview.
  • Calendar, List and Grid views show the first page as a thumbnail with a PDF badge. If the thumbnail isn't available, the PDF badge shows on its own.
  • Who can add a PDF: anyone who can edit the post. In workspaces that lock posts once they're approved, the PDF can't be changed after approval. 
  • Media storage: if your workspace has used up its media storage, the button opens the storage upgrade prompt, just like image uploads.

PDF posts and Sync

Posts with a PDF can't stay synced. When you add a PDF to a post in a synced group, Planable turns sync off for that group and shows the message "Sync turned off for this group. Posts with a PDF can't be synced."

  • The other posts in the group keep their own content.
  • The sync toggle stays locked while the PDF is on the post. To sync the group again, remove the PDF.
  • The PDF belongs to the LinkedIn post only. Adding another page to the group later doesn't copy the PDF across.

Learn more about grouped posts in Sync ON / OFF.

Where uploaded PDFs aren't supported

  • Planable mobile app: PDF posts show the caption only, not the document. Use the web app to review them. On LinkedIn pages set up for manual publishing through the mobile app, the phone receives the caption without the PDF.
  • Public API and Planable MCP: PDFs can only be added from the web app.

Turn a multi-image post into a PDF

Don't have a PDF ready? Planable can build one from the images in your LinkedIn post.

  • Add your images and hover to click on the "Turn into PDF" button.
  • Set the title for your PDF and it's good to go.
  • You can reorder your images when you first upload them, or after they've been turned into a PDF.
  • You can add up to 20 images.

Good to know: Turn into PDF works for image-only posts. Posts that combine a GIF with images can't be published as a PDF carousel. See LinkedIn posts with a GIF and images.

💡 Pro tip: If you design your carousel in Canva, Figma or PowerPoint, export it as a PDF and upload it directly. The file goes out unchanged, with no 20-page limit.

Troubleshooting

"LinkedIn rejected the PDF upload" on a company page

LinkedIn only lets Super admins and Content admins of a company page publish documents. Without one of these roles, the post fails at publish time with this message. It applies both to uploaded PDFs and to multi-image posts turned into a PDF.

  1. Ask a page admin on LinkedIn to give the Super admin or Content admin role to the account that connected the page in Planable.
  2. Reconnect the page in Planable.
  3. Publish the post again.

Planable doesn't retry this error automatically, so you'll need to publish again once the role is updated.

My PDF won't upload

Check that the file is under 100 MB, has 300 pages or fewer, and isn't password protected. Planable shows a short message with the exact reason. See File requirements.

My post is taking a while to publish

Large files can take LinkedIn a while to process. If LinkedIn hasn't finished after about seven minutes, Planable tries again automatically, up to two more times, before marking the post as failed.

The post shows "Preview unavailable"

If your browser can't load the file, the post shows the file name and "Preview unavailable" instead of the pages.