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Using Sample PDFs for Marketing & Search Engine Optimization

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Many content creators overlook the potential of using their PDF files to enhance visibility on search engines, not realizing that search engines will parse accessible PDF files for content. There's a whole untapped source of web content, right under your nose! At PDF Ink we spend a lot of time promoting PDF security, but sometimes PDF content can be too secure. If you are trying to generate leads or improve SEO, it might be time to share sample PDF files.

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Integrating SetaPDF-Stamper using PHP

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Look ma! No WordPress required! In the documentation for PDF Ink, it is explained how to write a simple script to fire up the PDF Ink PHP library and stamp a PDF file. The library is written in such a way that it can be used without WordPress, and any one of six different PDF-manipulation library sets can be used. This is helpful when one set doesn’t work with a specific PDF, but another set might. As always, when PDF Ink fails for any specific PDF, the solution is to either attempt to repair the PDF — or upgrade to a better library, like SetaPDF-Stamper. The example in the documentation […]

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PDF Embeds with Adobe SDK and PDFObject

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Adobe SDK The JavaScript-based Adobe PDF Embed API allows us to embed PDF viewers, showing manipulated (encrypted/passworded and/or stamped) PDFs on our WordPress site using PDF Ink shortcodes. These embeds can be highly customized using filter hooks, becoming handsome and useful interfaces for your users. It is up to you and/or your developer to familiarize yourself with use of the Adobe SDK API and the Adobe SDK PDF appearance/function control options in order to customize your embeds further. Using a default PDF Ink embed shortcode with its defaults might be just fine for your purpose. But it isn’t too hard to customize using PHP. SDK parameters are filtered by PDF […]

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Adding Watermarks to PDFs with Layers

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PDFs with layers are a powerful tool with various applications, from architectural designs to GIS to sewing patterns. The ability to manipulate these PDF files without compromising their functionality is crucial for user experience, professional standards, and design integrity. PDF Ink with the SetaPDF-Stamper addon stands out by ensuring that layer, form and table-of-content functionality are preserved while adding watermarks and passwords to files. This makes PDF Ink the ideal choice for anyone who distributes on PDFs with advanced features.

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Bridging the Gap between PHP 5.3 and 8.2

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This week I got finally got involved with maintaining the languishing TCPDF library on Github. Long overdue. Embarrassingly long overdue, since I’ve based one of my businesses on this open source gem for nearly ten years now. The author, Nicola Asuni, has been working for many years on a successor to TCPDF, but it is stalled… likely due to the usual reasons: life and cash. I can relate. I’ve been sitting on a huge WP plugin project for two years now, desperately trying to move it forward while life happens and I’m forced to prioritize support for my paying customers. A couple years ago an eager young programmer, William Desportes, […]

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Shortcode for stamping Woo product variation

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Here is some PHP code for WordPress/WooCommerce which will make PDF Ink recognize TWO custom shortcodes in any watermark content: [VARIATION_DESC] and [VARIATION_NAME]. These translate to variation description and variation name, both aspects of a WooCommerce variable product. This code (everything above the dashed line) should get added anywhere in your functions.php file. If unsure where to put it, add it at the end of the file. You could also add the snippet using the WordPress plugin called “CODE SNIPPETS” (front and back end). This snippet development was sponsored by customer Michael. Thanks Michael! For reference (maybe for people migrating from WaterWoo to PDF Ink) here is a snippet which […]

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Comparing the Best PDF Watermarkers for WooCommerce

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When choosing between WooCommerce PDF Watermark and PDF Ink for watermarking and passwording PDFs, both plugins offer essential features but differ significantly. PDF Ink provides greater flexibility with customizable watermarks, allowing HTML tags, custom fonts, and multiple watermark locations. It supports advanced encryption options like AES and offers robust file management, including recycling previously watermarked PDFs. In contrast, WooCommerce PDF Watermark has limitations, such as fewer customization options and higher pricing. Read the full comparison!

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Invisible Watermarks and Other Ways to Protect Your PDFs

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PDFs are a fantastic way to share documents – they preserve formatting, are widely compatible, and can even be compressed for easy transmission. But what if that PDF contains confidential, sensitive or monetized information? The Portable Document Format (PDF) offers some security, which when stacked can be quite effective. These include: Invisible Watermarks: A Non-Visual Deterrent A watermark (also called a stamp) is usually a semi-transparent image or text stamped onto the background of each page in a document. The watermark can be your company logo, a confidential notice, or even a name or # copies authorized, or a copyright notice. While watermarks can’t completely prevent copying, they do make […]

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Unique Stamp/Password For Each WooCommerce Product PDF

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A customer wrote with a neato request last month. If one WooCommerce product had several PDFs, and wasn’t a variable product, how could each PDF in the list be watermarked differently from the others? There is no setting for that inside PDF Ink because WooCommerce hasn’t exactly made that function easily possible, and also because it somehow hadn’t been requested until last month. That’s sort of amazing considering how long the plugin has been around! Anyway, it was a good request and so we added a filter hook called ‘pdfink_woo_filter_settings‘. (This hook replaces the ‘wwpdf_filter_settings_array’ in WaterWoo PDF Premium, with identical arguments.) Filtering Settings Because WooCommerce — unlike Easy Digital […]

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Accessible PDF Stamping

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Creating accessible PDFs is essential for ensuring that all users, including those with disabilities, can effectively interact with your documents. Unfortunately, many PDF manipulation plugins can inadvertently strip away accessibility features, leading to frustration for both creators and users. Unlike traditional libraries that may lose important features during processing, the SetaPDF library from SetaSign offers a robust solution by parsing PDF objects directly, allowing for on-the-fly error correction and preserving accessibility.

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How to get a WordPress Media (attachment) ID

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There are several ways to go about getting the attachment ID (of the ‘attachment’ WordPress post type, stored in the wp_posts WPDB (WordPress Database) table. Here are some of them: From the Media Library: Navigate to Dashboard -> Media. Here you will see your WordPress uploads (Media), either in grid view or list view. They’re both fine, it’s just a preference thing. Instructions for both are below. You can click the small icons to change the Media view from list to grid or vice versa. List View If in List view, navigate to the item by scrolling or using the search bar at the top right. Then hover over the […]

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Different Stamp on First Page

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Brought to you by a longtime user, Jake, is the following snippet, which allows for a different stamp on the first page than all other pages. This is a function for users of TCPDF. PDF Ink loops through each PDF page with TCPDF to apply watermarks. What this PHP code says is that if inside this loop, and we are on the first page (the page indicated as “start_page” in PDF Ink settings), apply the special stamp. For all other pages, business as usual (maybe a different stamp. The code needs to be cut and pasted into your WordPress child theme functions.php file, or maybe using the Code Snippets plugin […]

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PDF Watermark Feature Requests

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Lately several customers have been reporting that the official WooCommerce “PDF Watermark for WooCommerce” plugin is broken, and they’re relieved to have found us. It’s a shame it broke for whatever reason. We are glad to have you here! Taking another look at the PDF Watermark for WooCommerce feature list and the two promised “coming soon” features they’ve had posted for over 5 years gets us wondering, though: why people pay more for less plugin features? And what is in a WordPress plugin name? Feature Comparisons Below follows a brief list of PDF watermarking plugin features where the two plugins differ vastly; our plugin blowing the competition out of the… […]

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