Adding A Downloadable PDF In Your WordPress Blogs

PDF format came as a revolution in the 1990s. It was a challenge to access documents in the same form across various devices and operating systems. It would always change the formatting of the document when changing the device or operating system, casting a wrong impression on the reader.

PDF was a solution to this very problem. Hence, in no time, the territory of PDF format expanded across global boundaries. Therefore, a downloadable PDF for your WordPress blog has more benefits than you can think of!

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and can contain images, texts, interactive buttons, embedded fonts, videos, hyperlinks, and so on.

Wikipedia, very aptly, defines PDF as:

Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems.

In a research by the PDF Association, “PDF” has taken up a lot of space in the Google search. If you look at the graph, it is continually staying above the mark. The curve has been rising steadily since 2008.

Now, the thing is you can easily convert your live WordPress pages, posts, or WooCommerce products into this most widely accepted format. In this blog, you will learn how to convert your blog into a downloadable PDF for WordPress.

Journey of PDF So Far…

Talking about eCommerce and WooCommerce shops, the leniency that the PDF format provides us with the kind of elements we can include becomes a necessity to run your business. With the readily available content in downloadable PDF format for WordPress, the process of collaborations, inventory management, invoice generation as well as personalized marketing becomes a cakewalk.

John Warnock co-founded Adobe with Charles Geschke. They wanted to solve the disturbing formatting that a single document would look like across different devices and systems. So, they proposed this idea that would help you allow to view your documents in the same form across devices and different operating systems. This was revolutionary!

The Portable Document Format or popularly known as PDF was initially called the Interchange PostScript or ‘IPS’ at the Seybold Conference in San Jose in 1991. Just to give you an idea, computer documents were easily printable back then with the help of PostScript as the language.

Fix the inability to exchange information between machines, between systems, between users in a way that ensured that the file would look the same everywhere it went.
Said Leonard Rosenthol, the chief PDF architect at Adobe

The PDF format has a very rich history and Adobe Acrobat hence launched its Version 1.0 on 15th June 1993. The founders did not expect it to become universally accepted at once, and it did not come as a shock when it did not become a hit and reliable technology. Being able to create downloadable PDF files was expensive, to count the shortcomings of the first version.

The Acrobat Reader was also expensive at $50. They fixed it by launching a free version. The only color space supported in the first version was RGB. It was another shortcoming that had to be taken seriously.

The Next Launches…

The next launches by this team created history and PDF is here to join the long haul. The upcoming years saw the next versions of the new PDF file format 1.1. It could support multimedia, external linking, device-independent colors, notes, security features, and whatnot. I mean each feature that it could include now would have made people exclaim with joy back in the 90s.

By the time Acrobat 4.05 was released, it could hardly be disputed that PDF had become an accepted file format for information exchange. More than 100 million copies of Acrobat Reader had been downloaded from the web.
~Prepressure

PDF 1.7 became an ISO standard (ISO 32000-1) in 2007. There was reportedly a 90% rise in PDF files online in 2021. The PDF format continually improved its existence over the years to become more and more user-friendly.

During its years of evolution, the PDF was made available across the web and offline globally. Downloadable PDF format in WordPress has become indispensable to share information, run marketing campaigns, or even protect official data.

How Do I Add a PDF That Can Be Downloaded to a WordPress Blog?

The best answer to this question is to add a WordPress plugin for downloading PDF files. Which plugin to choose is up to you. When it comes to blogging, I would like to explore the following features:

1. It Should Allow Customizing Your Blog Into PDF in the Manner It Deserves!

This is a crucial step when it comes to blogging. If you want your readers to look at your blog in the way you want them to. It is important that you can control the look and feel of your blog being converted into a shareable PDF format.

2. It Should Allow Custom Fonts to Celebrate Diversity Across the Globe

When you are trying to reach the local audience, it is important to produce content in the language they are accustomed to. Therefore, custom font support is as important as any other feature in a PDF converter plugin for WordPress.

3. Add PDF to WordPress Where You Can Find Comprehensive Header and Footer Settings

When you can control the header and footer settings, you can easily mention your brand across the pages of your downloadable PDF for WordPress blogs. You can use the header settings for a plethora of other things as well. To give you an example, check out the image below to explore all the header setting options the PDF Generator for WordPress plugin by the WP Swings team provides.

4. The Ability to Add Watermarks In WordPress Downloadable PDFs Is Basic to Disperse Your Brand Effectively

A plugin that allows you to disperse your brand subtly is of great help when it comes to WooCommerce marketing. You can do so by adding your brand name or brand logo to already created downloadable PDF files for your WordPress site.

5. PDF for Marketing Your WordPress Blog

Downloading WordPress blogs in PDF format becomes a great utility tool for marketing if you use it to fetch leads. Look for a WordPress PDF generator plugin that will make your users enter their e-mail ids to access your content in PDF format. You can also use this idea to sell your WordPress or WooCommerce memberships.

6. WPML Compatibility For Linguistic Inclusiveness On Your WooCommerce Store

This one is an important feature, again, if you are addressing the local audience in their native language. Therefore, make sure you invest in the right plugin with all the necessary features available.

These are some of the most important features I believe that you should look for in a WordPress plugin to generate PDFs from your WordPress blogs.

Now, the answer to which plugin to use to download PDFs for WordPress in the best manner possible is- PDF Generator for WordPress by WP Swings.

7. Control the Visibility of PDF Icon According to User Roles

You can now select which users you want to allow to download your live pages, products, or articles into PDF format depending on user roles thanks to our most recent upgrade to the PDF maker plugin. You get to specify which user roles will have access to your PDF icon on the front end and be able to use it.

8. Bulk Export for Generated PDFs Files

Users of the WP PDF generator plugins have access to a unique feature called bulk export, which enables them to download numerous pages and posts as PDFs at once. You can now export PDF files in mass using your preferred template thanks to the pro-PDF plugin’s most recent version.

9. Add Company Details For Better Brand Awareness

For brand distribution, the PDF generator plugin offers simple modifications. The firm information can be included in the layout settings section of the cover page template settings.

10. Native Language Support to Connect With Your Audience

With the help of this WP PDF creator, administrators can upload TTF font files to produce PDFs that are easy for their clients to read and understand. You may effectively reach out to your local audience using PDF Generator for WordPress’ help.

11. Full Access To Logs

The administrator receives a PDF log that contains information such as the post name, user email (if enabled by the administrator), user name, post type, etc. The administrator can utilize this log to keep track of which posts are downloaded on what dates, along with user information, and they can even delete those logs if they so want.

Benefits of Downloading PDFs for WordPress Blogs

1. Brand Dispersal

This utility tool allows you to disperse your brand name through watermarks and company names on the cover page. You can disperse your brand by providing authentic content to your readers adding value to their lives.

2. Channelize Omnichannel Marketing

You need not make any major investments to right away start your omnichannel marketing personalized for your audience on various channels and platforms. Since PDF is a universal format, it is convenient to distribute it online as well as offline.

3. Facilitating & Enhancing User Experience

By allowing your customers and audience to view your posts via different platforms, devices, and channels, you enhance their user experience. Thus, it is a great tool to invest in when it comes to converting your WordPress blogs into PDF format.

4. SEO Friendly

The good news is that the google search engine lists PDF files in its search results. So, you have plenty of scope in executing the white-hat SEO techniques in your WordPress blogs to rank organically on search engines.

5. Non-Text Elements Can be Included Effortlessly

The PDF file format allows you to easily embed non-text elements such as images, vector graphics, hyperlinks, tables, graphs, and so on.

6. Security

Security and privacy are of great importance in these times. The customers need to feel secure with the data you share with them or vice versa.

Concluding Note

PDF is now a global religion and I am not even kidding. Look for yourself!

Rest assured while trying our free PDF plugin to check if it increases the traction of your online business. Downloadable PDFs for WordPress sites are majorly a utility tool. But, you can certainly use it to your advantage!

Feel free to reach out to us to share your thoughts on this through the comments section!