What is PDF
The PDF is a digital document file that contains one or more pages with text and images and in some cases video and audio too. Until the widespread use of Kindle books, most authors used PDF to publish eBooks. But the biggest setback of using PDF to publish copyright content is that it can be easily stolen over the internet. Consequently the use of PDF as a prefered way to sell the soft copies of books by authors declined gradually. Nowadays they mostly use kindle store for this purpose. However to publish free manuals, free books and information brochures, PDF is still the best and most convenient way. Many WordPress users want to embed PDF content inside WordPress posts/pages.
Is it possible to embed PDF in WordPress pages?
Yes. It is 100% possible to publish a PDF file on your WordPress website, thanks to big and ever growing community of WordPress developers. There are many WordPress plugins that offer to embed PDF documents in WordPress for free and you need not spend money for this. All you need to do is install a working PDF viewer plugin from WordPress plugin repository and then upload your desired PDF file to WordPress media library and finally add the shortcode to WordPress text editor. In this post we are going to know about PDF reader plugins for WordPress which are not only best but also for free absolutely. All plugins mentioned in this article have first been tested by us.
If you don;t know how to install a plugin, read this tutorial
Embed Any Document Plugin by Awsm Innovations
| Mobile Responsive |  |
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| Mobile Touch Support | |
Embed Any Document is a simple and free plugin that lets you embed any PDF with only a few clicks. This plugin is compatible with Classic and Block Editor as well. So we can say it is the easiest way to embed PDF in WordPress for free. If you use old Classic editor, you can use “add document” button to upload and embed PDF file in a page. In Block Editor you can add and customize its block. This plugin uses Google PDF Viewer to embed and display PDF files. With its premium version, you have an option to display PDF in Microsoft Office Online as well. But I think Google Docs Viewer leaves almost nothing to be desired.
How to Embed PDF using Embed Any Document
- Install and activate the plugin
- In any post use “add new block” if you are using Block Editor or Gutenberg Editor
- Search for a block named “Document”
- In block options upload the desired PDF file or choose already uploaded PDF from WordPress media library
- Customize width and height of PDF viewer and enable or disable PDF download link and then click on “insert” button
- If you are unable to use this block, you can simple add the given shortcode below
In this shortcode you can change width and height of the PDF
How to search in embedded PDF
The search feature for a PDF document is one of the most extensively used and earnestly expected feature by a PDF file reader. And luckily Embed Any Document comes with the document search option. To use this feature, first click somewhere on the embedded PDF and then use keyboard Ctrl F or cmd F to search any text inside the PDF.
[sociallocker id=1489]Download Embed ANy Document Plugin
[/sociallocker]
PDF Embedder by Dan Lester
| Mobile Responsive | |
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| Mobile Touch Support |  |
PDF Embedder is another very easy-to-use plugin that lets us add and display PDF documents on WordPress pages. PDF Embedder supports Classic and new Block Editor both. It is a simple PDF reader and doesn’t offer ‘search in PDF’ option in its free version. So if you just want to embed a small manual or brochure, it will work well for you. However, without ‘search’ feature, it may not be a good choice.
How to use PDF Embedder
- If you are using WordPress classic editor then simple use add media button and upload your PDF file. The plugin will automatically generate PDF viewer shortcode
- If you are using new block editor, you can use PDF embedder dedicated block or alternatively use its shortcode;
PDF embedder is fully responsive and can adjust width and height according to the display size.
Download PDF Embedder
[sociallocker id=1489]https://wordpress.org/plugins/pdf-embedder/[/sociallocker]
FlowPaper
| Mobile Responsive | |
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| Mobile Touch Support | |
| Flipbook | |
Flowpaper offers PDF embedding with beautiful flipbook viewer. Its PDF viewer loads directly from their own server and offers advanced interface with flipping pages option, thumbnail of pages and advanced ‘in document search’ feature that lists the search result with page number and excerpt. The advantage of using Flowpaper is that it has no option to disable default PDF download link. However, you can disable it adding following CSS rule in your WordPress CSS.
How to use Flowpaper Flipbook PDF reader
Use the following shortcode in any text area of WordPress
You can customize height and width of your PDF reader by changing width and height values in the shortcode
Download Flowpaper plugin
[sociallocker id=1489]https://wordpress.org/plugins/flowpaper-lite-pdf-flipbook/[/sociallocker]
If you have any question feel free to ask us in comment section and thanks for reading this post. 🙂
Shams, a professional blogger, has expertise in WordPress and Web Hosting. He is used to playing around with WordPress plugins, themes, web hosting services and some other innovative stuff regarding web design. He sifts out good stuff for web designers and reviews it to help them choose what they really need.
Being an energetic tech enthusiast, he regularly pens down breaking news and tutorials related to technology particularly Smartphones and other gadgets. Sometimes writes tech tips too. It was the dawn of Internet age when he started dabbling in it and has since been delving into the realm of the internet. He occupies a permanent burrow in virtual world.
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