The floor plan from your draughtsman arrives as a 2MB JPEG. You drop it into the listing PDF, and now it's pixelated when the buyer prints it. The buyer asks for a higher-resolution version, you re-export, the file balloons to 30MB.
Floor plans need a different approach than photos.
Use the highest-quality source
Always start from the draughtsman's PDF or high-resolution PNG, never a phone photo of a printed plan. If the source is an image, convert image to PDF at original resolution. The floor plan is the one document buyers print and measure against — quality matters here in a way it doesn't for living-room photos.
Keep it on its own page
Floor plans deserve a full PDF page, in landscape if the property is wider than tall. Don't shrink to fit alongside text — buyers can't measure a floor plan that's been scaled down. If you're merging into a listing pack, merge PDF so the floor plan sits on its own page, after the photos.
Don't over-compress
When compressing the listing pack, exclude the floor plan from aggressive compression. If your compression tool doesn't support per-page settings, split PDF to extract the floor plan, leave it uncompressed, compress the rest, then merge back together. The extra two minutes is worth it.
Annotate if useful
Buyers love a floor plan annotated with room dimensions and total square footage. Use annotate PDF to add measurements directly on the plan if the draughtsman hasn't included them. This is the single fastest way to make your listings feel more thorough than the next agent's.
FAQ
What's the right resolution for a floor plan PDF?
300 DPI for print quality. The draughtsman's PDF is usually already at this — don't re-export at lower resolution.
Should the floor plan show furniture?
Optional — staged plans help buyers visualise, unfurnished plans help with measurements. Some agencies provide both as separate pages.
Can I edit a floor plan PDF?
Light annotations (room labels, measurements) yes via annotate PDF. Structural changes to the plan itself should go back to the draughtsman.
What about 3D floor plans?
3D plans work as a supplement, but always include a standard 2D plan as well — that's what buyers print and measure against.
Floor plans are the one PDF page buyers print. Give them a clean, sharp version. Start with a clean conversion.