Problem

We have this large design project—Nexo and we had to design the entire visual language of the brand. One of the visual materials was a pitch deck for the product, which we decided to design using Sketch since our design system was already set there.

The design workflow was:

1. Design each slide on a separate artboard in Sketch
2. Export all artboards as PDFs
3. Combine all PDFs in one using Acrobat Reader
4. Optimize the file size in Acrobat Reader

Working on a PDF presentation that is constantly being improved and republished, means that you have to go through all of these 4 steps a few times per day which is not only annoying but it is also very time-consuming. Therefore:

The whole process should be streamlined in a much simpler workflow

We strongly believe that if a repetitive process can be automated, then it definitely should. This way, you can focus on solving real (design) problems instead of fighting with a software.

Solution

Firstly, I started by using Terminal to merge all separate PDF files into a single one by running a Python script that comes with the macOS Automator.

Then I found a way to optimize the file size with ps2pdf, which is a part of Ghostcript, by running a Terminal command.

Still—I had to run two commands after the PDF export is completed.

I realized that there must have been a way to auto run these commands on something like a hook. Consequently, that hook must have been triggered when one uses the built in export functionality of Sketch; and I found SVGO Export.

By reusing a part of its codebase, I was able to create a simple, no-GUI plugin that automates the whole process of exporting, merging and optimizing PDFs.