Mike Doherty

<h3>Basic use</h3>
<p>To embed a PDF you’ve uploaded to your WordPress site’s media<br />
library, simply put the URL for the attachment page in your<br />
post on its own line. The PDF will be embedded with the<br />
default settings at that location, as if it were using oEmbed.</p>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<pre><code>Post short URL:

http://localhost/?p=9

Attachment default URL:

http://localhost/?attachment_id=9

Attachment pretty URL:

http://localhost/test/report1/

Media direct URL:

<p><a href="http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/report1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow ugc">Click to access report1.pdf</a></p>
</code></pre>
<p>This doesn’t work for PDFs hosted on other websites, or if you<br />
need to change the parameters.</p>
<h3>Using the <code>[pdf]</code> shorttag</h3>
<p>If the PDF isn’t in your WordPress site’s media library, or if<br />
you want to customize any parameters for the embed, then use<br />
the <code>[pdf]...[/pdf]</code> shorttag. Between the tags, you’ll provide<br />
the URL for the PDF to embed. If the PDF is in your WordPress<br />
site’s media library, you can either give the attachment page<br />
URL, or the URL to the PDF file directly.</p>
<p>The <code>[pdf]</code> shorttag accepts several optional parameters:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>width</code> – sets the width of the frame the PDF is embedded in.<br />
By default, this is set to 100%.</li>
<li><code>height</code> – sets the height of the frame the PDF is embedded<br />
in. By default, this is unset.</li>
<li><code>title</code> – sets the title of the PDF, for use in the fallback<br />
link text.</li>
<li><code>open_params</code> – sets the <a href="https://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/acrobat/PDFOpenParameters.pdf" rel="nofollow ugc">PDF open params</a><br />
which control how the PDF file is displayed in the embed frame.<br />
These are poorly supported in browsers.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<pre><code>Post short URL: [pdf width="200px"]http://localhost/?p=9[/pdf]
Attachment default URL: [pdf height="500em"]http://localhost/?attachment_id=9[/pdf]
Attachment pretty URL: [pdf title="Report 1"]http://localhost/test/report1/[/pdf]
Media direct URL: [pdf]http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/report1.pdf[/pdf]
Change PDF open params: [pdf open_params="page=10&view=Fit"]http://localhost/?p=9[/pdf]
</code></pre>
<h3>Compatibility</h3>
<p>The PDF should be embedded in the page, with the document scaled so it fills the<br />
embed frame horizontally. Unfortunately, embedding PDFs is not well-supported.</p>
<h4>Auto-loading embedded PDFs</h4>
<p>Unlike with images, web browsers may not automatically download and display<br />
embedded PDFs when the page is loaded. For security reasons, some users prefer<br />
not to allow the PDF plugin to run unless they trust the website the PDF comes<br />
from. This generally leaves a grey rectangle that the user may click on to allow<br />
the PDF to be downloaded and displayed.</p>
<h4>PDF open parameters</h4>
<p>As of v0.0.8, you can set the <a href="https://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/acrobat/PDFOpenParameters.pdf" rel="nofollow ugc">PDF open parameters</a><br />
by setting <code>open_params</code> in the shortcode, as shown above. This is unlikely to actually<br />
anything, since PDF open parameters are poorly supported in browsers. But you can try!<br />
Provide the parameters as a query string: <code>page=1&view=Fit</code>. Refer to the Adobe<br />
documentation on what parameters are available.</p>
<h4>Chrome</h4>
<p>The PDF should be scaled/zoomed within the embed frame so that the full<br />
horizontal width of the paper fills the frame. This is <a href="https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=64309" rel="nofollow ugc">not<br />
supported</a> in<br />
Chrome’s default PDF viewer, so the document will probably be scaled to 100%,<br />
which may either mean the document doesn’t fill the frame, or, more likely, the<br />
document is too wide for the frame, and the right-hand side of the document is<br />
hidden.</p>
<h4>Internet Explorer</h4>
<p>Internet Explorer requires a PDF plugin to render embedded PDFs. Generally,<br />
that’s Adobe Reader. Without such a plugin, the fallback download link will be<br />
used.</p>
<h4>Mobile browsers</h4>
<p>In particular, mobile browsers may show a grey box instead of the embedded PDF,<br />
and will download the file when it is clicked. Other mobile browsers might embed<br />
the PDF, but won’t allow it to scroll.</p>
<h3>Alternatives</h3>
<p>Your best alternative is to <strong>not</strong> embed PDFs. PDFs are bad for many reasons:<br />
not easily indexed by search engines, not easily accessible by readers who use<br />
assistive technologies, poorly supported by web browsers (as seen above) and so<br />
on. They’re just <strong>bad</strong> and you should avoid embedding PDFs if you can.</p>
<p>If you <em>really</em> can’t, then you might consider using another solution like<br />
<a href="https://pdfobject.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://pdfobject.com/</a> or <a href="https://mozillalabs.com/en-US/pdfjs/" rel="nofollow ugc">PDF.js</a>.</p>


Vanilla PDF Embed

Embeds PDFs in your pages and posts, without using JS.

Syed Balkhi

Jared Atchison

Slava Abakumov

David Bisset

Chris Kelley

Nathan Singh

LionSher Technologies

<p>Upload PDF files and embed them directly into your site’s posts and pages. It works as simple as adding images! Your PDF files will be automatically sized to their natural size and shape. You can also specify a width and the correct height will be calculated automatically. Our PDF Embedder plugin is fully responsive, so the embedded PDF will also look perfect, on any device. Additionally, the pdf embedder will automatically resize whenever the browser dimensions change.</p>
<p>The plugin has a unique method for embedding PDF files with the immense flexibility over the appearance of your document.</p>
<p>The PDF viewer has Next and Previous buttons to navigate the document, and zoom buttons if some areas of a PDF file are too small for your screen.</p>
<p>Your PDF files are embedded within your existing WordPress pages so we have full control over appearance, and all Javascript and other files are served by your own server (not by Google or any other third-party who may not be able to guarantee their own reliability). This means your PDF files will load fast, without any speed penalty.</p>
<p>Other PDF embedder plugins insert the PDF into an ‘iframe’ which means they do not get the flexibility over sizing. Ours does not and that is an incredible benefit to the overall viewing experience across all devices.</p>
<p>In the free plugin, there is no button for users to download the PDF, but download options are available in the Premium versions along with other awesome features.</p>
<p>Another Premium feature are Hyperlinks in your PDF being clickable. Links in the free plugin cannot be clicked.</p>
<h4>Usage</h4>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Once installed and Activated, click Add Media from any page or post, just like adding an image, but drag and drop a PDF file instead.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In the Classic Editor when you insert into your post, it will appear in the editor as a ‘shortcode’ as follows:</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><code>[pdf-embedder url="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Plan-Summary.pdf"]</code></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>You can change the default appearance – e.g. width, and toolbar position/appearance through <strong>Settings -> PDF Embedder</strong> and also shortcode or block attributes.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>To override your site-wide defaults on an individual embed, see the <a href="https://wp-pdf.com/free-instructions/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteplugin" rel="nofollow ugc">Plugin Instructions</a> for information about sizing options plus other ways to customize the shortcodes.</p>
<h4>Premium Features</h4>
<p>Features available in the PDF Embedder Premium versions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Download button in the toolbar</li>
<li>Continuous scroll between pages</li>
<li>Hyperlinks are fully functional</li>
<li>Full screen mode</li>
<li>Edit page number to jump straight to page</li>
<li>Track number of downloads and views</li>
<li>Mobile-friendly</li>
<li>Secure option – difficult to download original PDF</li>
<li>Removes wp-pdf.com branding</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>See <a href="https://wp-pdf.com/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteplugin" rel="nofollow ugc">wp-pdf.com</a> for details!</strong></p>
<h4>Mobile-friendly embedding using PDF Embedder Premium</h4>
<p>The free version will work on most mobile browsers, but cannot position the document entirely within the screen.</p>
<p>Our <strong>PDF Embedder Premium</strong> plugin solves this problem with an intelligent ‘full screen’ mode.</p>
<p>When the document is smaller than a certain width, the document displays only as a ‘thumbnail’ with a large ‘View in Full Screen’ button for the user to click when they want to study your document.</p>
<p>This opens up the document so it has the full focus of the mobile browser, and the user can move about the document without hitting other parts of the web page by mistake. Viewers can then Click Exit to return to the regular page.</p>
<p>The user can also swipe continuously between all pages of the PDF which is more natural than clicking the navigation buttons to navigate.</p>
<p>See our site <a href="https://wp-pdf.com/premium/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteplugin" rel="nofollow ugc">wp-pdf.com</a> for more details and purchase options.</p>
<h4>Protect your PDFs with our premium document embedder version</h4>
<p>Our <strong>PDF Embedder Premium</strong> plugin on its Pro plan provides the same simple but elegant viewer as the Basic version, with the added protection that it is difficult for users to download or print the original PDF document.</p>
<p>This means that your PDF is unlikely to be shared outside your site where you have no control over who views, prints, or shares it.</p>
<p>Optionally, add a watermark containing any text, including the logged in user’s name or email address to discourage sharing of screenshots.</p>
<p>See our site <a href="https://wp-pdf.com/secure/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteplugin" rel="nofollow ugc">wp-pdf.com</a> for more details and purchase options.</p>
<h4>PDF Thumbnails</h4>
<p>Our <strong>PDF Thumbnails</strong> plugin automatically generates fixed image versions of all PDF files in your Media Library, to use on your site as you wish.</p>
<p>You can use them as featured images in posts containing an embedded version of the PDF, or as a visual clickable link to download the PDF directly.<br />
It also displays the thumbnail as the “icon” for the PDF in the Media Library, making it easy for authors to locate the PDFs they need to insert in a post.</p>
<p>See our site <a href="https://wp-pdf.com/thumbnails/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteplugin" rel="nofollow ugc">wp-pdf.com/thumbnails/</a> for more details and purchase options.</p>
<p>With thanks to the Mozilla team for developing the underlying <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js" rel="nofollow ugc">pdf.js</a> technology used by this PDF documents viewer plugin.</p>


PDF Embedder

Great Plugin


Looks good but a couple pages of a perfectly valid PDF just come up blank. The same file works fine in Acrobat etc. and with the default Wordpress PDF embedder (which I think relies on the browser). So it didn't work for me. Maybe it will work for you.


Nope

Great plugin


This is one of those lovely plugins which does the job advertised, clearly and efficiently, without getting in its own way with feature creep. 


Clean, clear, and performant


Plugin caused all pages to reload and then crash.  Replaced with another plugin that does not cause this error.


Does not work on mobile


Super easy to install and use. Just works. 


Just works

Seamlessly embed PDFs into your content, with customizations and intelligent responsive resizing, and no third-party services or iframes.

Vanilla PDF Embed vs PDF Embedder