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Best method for posting my downloadable PDF
May 16, 2011 8:24 PM   Subscribe

PDFilter: What's the best way to share my PDF online?

I have a PDF of a drawing -- I made it so I have the rights! -- that I'd like to make available for public downloads.

My options, as I see it, are to upload the PDF to my website and instruct people to right-click and save the file (old school, right?); I could embed the PDF on my website; or, I could post the PDF to a site like Scribd or Google Docs.

My goals:
- Free to do (aside from my time to implement the solution)
- I'd like to retain all rights to my image
- I'd like to see the number of downloads
- Don't require too much coding time on my part

What's the smartest way to go? If using a third party website is suggested, which one do you suggest?

Thanks in advance.
posted by clever_username to technology (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you have a website, just put it there. PDF files shouldn't blow the mind of the average computer user, most people have acrobat or another app set up to deal with PDFs right in their browser.
posted by jjb at 9:08 PM on May 16, 2011


You can use Google Analytics to track downloads of a self-hosted PDF. (This won't prevent people from hotlinking directly to the PDF to bypass that counter)
posted by misterbrandt at 9:17 PM on May 16, 2011


Thanks, jjb and misterbrandt! Old school PDF hosting it is!
posted by clever_username at 9:41 PM on May 16, 2011


(Well, with GA event tracking code!)
posted by clever_username at 9:42 PM on May 16, 2011


I'd like to retain all rights to my image

Posting it online doesn't invalidate your rights, but I think what you meant to say is that you don't want people copying it and using it without your permission. There's no way to do this.
posted by odinsdream at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2011


FlexPaper requires a minimal amount of work on your end to convert the file to SWF before posting, but after that you have a bit more control over what happens to it.

It's the same kind of interface experience you get with Scribd, only you can host it yourself.
posted by odinsdream at 7:53 AM on May 17, 2011


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