Penpot Not Working? Common Errors & Fixes

Penpot slows with many layers, heavy shadows and big pages. Use Chrome, split work across files and pages, and cut effects.

Penpot can freeze on long text blocks or big files. Shorten text, split files and use Chrome.

If the new WebGL render engine lags on your files, report a repro file and keep working in smaller files. The team says it is still improving the renderer.

Large Figma files often fail in the Penpot Exporter plugin. Export in smaller pieces and fix gradients and text after import.

Some boards, notably A4 size, export blank PDFs. Export a smaller board or use PNG or SVG.

After a self-hosted upgrade, check volume names, Postgres version, env vars and container logs; most failures are compose mismatches.

Set PENPOT_PUBLIC_URI to your HTTPS domain everywhere including the exporter, and add PENPOT_INTERNAL_URI.

Upload TTF files one family at a time; self-hosted installs on closed networks need uploaded fonts.

2.0 changed flex layout z-order to match HTML. Move background fills onto the flex layer itself.

Use the variants feature in 2.x; the old slash-name workaround is for older files.