I covered this some in my other tutorial, How to Enter a Post in WordPress: The Basics, but I've been asked twice in the last few days how to put a PDF into a post (or page) so readers can download it.
This is great if you're offering your ebook for free, providing free printables or provide other downloadables. As an example, here's MyWeeklySchedule (its creation is familiar if you've read Tell Your Time).
First, create your PDF
You'll first need to create your PDF of course. I won't go into great detail about that here other than to say you can create a Micorsoft Word document and then Save As a PDF. If you don't have Word, you can use the free OpenOffice.org to do the same thing.
Once you've got your PDF, here's how you put it in a post:
Can't see the video? Watch it here.
Video Notes:
- If you're writing a post, highlight the text in your post that you want readers to click to access the PDF.
- Click the "Add Media" icon at the top of your post window (and next to the "Add Image" icon) to upload your PDF.
- Choose your PDF from your computer and upload.
- Click "Insert into Post."
- (If you're not ready to write your post yet, click "Media" and "Add New" in the left column in your Dashboard to save for later. When you're writing your post, you'll follow the steps above except instead of selecting your PDF from your computer, you'll choose it from your Gallery or Library.)
Thanks for this! I have a document I want to share in the Fall.
My question, though, is how to make a document a PDF. I use OpenOffice and I don't see an option to save as a PDF (in either Writer or Draw). I was under the impression that the only way to make a document in to a PDF was to purchase Adobe Acrobat Writer, but I may be behind the times!
Never mind! I found it. In OpenOffice, it is under "File" and then "Export PDF".
For anyone else!
Glad you figured it out!
Yay! Thank you! This is much easier than I thought it would be.
Thank you so much for this. I am feeling the urge to switch to WordPress even though I will go kicking and screaming lol Hosting PDF's is always an issue and it seems that only WP and Typepad will allow you to use them.
LOL.
Any idea how to make a PDF in a post that you click through? Rather than click on and open? I have seen it on a few sites for example Iheartcvs.com … you can flip through the pages of the PDF. I've tried searching online on how to do this but maybe because I dont know what its really called I"m not having much luck! I would love to do this with my weekly ads!
Thanks for all your wonderful advice!
I'm not exactly sure what you are referring to but do you mean an embedded PDF viewer? Something like Scribd?
I dont think that is what I'm talking about. See thats half my problem! Hard to google a how to when I dont know what its called!
What i'm thinking of shows you the first page of the PDF (like say page one of an ad) and in the top corner of that picture there are two arrows (one pointing each way). You can click the arrow to flip to the next page of the ad.
I guess it would be more of a PDF Picture rather than a document. Maybe?!
PS Thank you for your blog! I saved a lot of money doing a lot of my own set up with the help of all your post!
Ah OK, I know what you're talking about. Yes, being able to page through weekly ads from stores. Did you try emailing ilovecvs to see whether she just embeds that from the store's site or if there's a script she uses?
Thank you for another great tutorial! I really enjoy that use use both video and the notes underneath.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for sharing. The tutorial and the notes provided work so well together!!!
Amy,
Your tutorials are always so awesome and easy to follow!
I already knew how to upload a PDF BUT I did not know about Open Office. I know a lot of people do not have Word so this will definitely come in handy.
I have a weekly mash up on Mondays and I will love to share this video with my readers! They may not know about uploading a PDF or about Open Office.
~Allie
Feel free!
I just learned how to do this a few weeks ago and now I do it all the time. I called my designer, because I couldn’t figure it out. I’d created a complicated process in my head and she emailed three steps to me and I was relieved. I want to host my eBooks on my two blogs without uploading the books into the folders of each site – it’s just a bad idea for me to monkey around in the website files and folders.
Thanks for sharing these tips.
My pleasure!
Well, I found your site through a search…and it's just what I needed! I wanna create an e-book, however I'm clueless.
I have a question though, what if I wanted to give away an e-book and I don't have hosting anywhere. Are there any sites that would host a PDF for FREE?
Hmmm…good question. Not sure if anyone else has experience hosting PDFs somewhere. Otherwise, I'd google "free pdf hosting online" or something similar.
Thanks so much, Amy. I was looking at your schedule and the first question that came to mind was, "Does she really only homeschool for an hour and a half?!"
The second question was, "What does her children DO for the rest of the day while she works!?"
I don't ask these questions out of a spirit of criticism. I would really LOVE to know how it is done, because if there are answers to be found in How to Work From Home and Still homeschool, then I am all for it:)
I don't want my hubby to have to get a second job again! (He's a bi-vocational pastor!)
Great question! My husband is actually home and we homeschool together. For this season in our lives, my online endeavors are our main source of income which allows him to be really involved at home. We tag team, so when I'm working, he's with the kids and vice versa.
Amy,
ff I'm making a Facebook business page for my crafting blog, but it is not a blog where I sell anything, what category do I put it in? Or is it not right to have one unless I actually have a business? I am trying to get recognized and followed though so I guess in a way I am selling something–me.
I think there's "personal website" or "blog" as options (maybe under Person??). Not sure it's been a while.
Just do a little poking around.
I want to embed a PDF that was sent to me via e-mail in my blog. How do I do this since I don't have the embed code.
I'll operate from the assumption here that you have permission to embed the file. If not, I'd just link to the original post where it exists and give credit of course. Next, from your WordPress Dashboard go to Media –> Add New. Then you'll have a unique URL for the file. You can use that URL as you would any link. Or when you're writing a post, you can click the "Insert Media" icon (just above the window where you type your post) and insert it that way. Hope that helps!
I guess I'm confused! How would I put the PDF on my FB page? Is there another kind of page you're referring to?
If I was going to put access to a PDF on my FB page, I would first upload the file to my blog and then link to that file from my FB page. There's no way to upload a PDF directly onto your FB page (that I'm aware of anyway). I hope that makes a bit more sense?
Thanks Amy! Afer I asked the question I looked around some more and it looks like there is a Scribd app that can be added to pages for a tab to put PDFs on. Gonna try that first!
From the title of your post, I thought you might mean FB page……but I guess you meant website page! =)
Thank you for this!! This was very helpful and exactly what I needed!
Thanks, once again, Amy. This PDF information was just what I was looking for. Not only do I always find what I'm looking for on your site, I'm always able to find it quickly. What a huge help you are!
hi,
I know how to embed pdf into blogger post.But i have doubt that embedding pdf files in blogspot accepts google policies?,Because i am using adsense ,Whether they ban me?Because they were strict in downloading files due to viruses.Can anybody help me?
I love you! Thank you so much for this- I've been trying to insert pdf's in my stupid blog and I didn't even think of just linking to the pdf. Wonderful!
Glad it was helpful, Jeanette!
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I just knew you'd have easy, accurate instructions. Thanks again!
You're welcome!
I visit day-to-day some sites and various sites to read articles or reviews, however this webpage presents quality based writing.
Hi Amy!
I'm creating a printable (using Word and saving as a PDF), but I'd like to offer it only to e-mail subscribers. I've googled like crazy and just can't figure it out! As far as I can tell, I'm supposed to save it to my site somewhere (no idea where), then add a link at the end of my e-mail feed, but I haven't figured out how to add it, yet (I'm using Feedburner). Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Justyn