21

I have the code below which is a perfect solution to what I need, which would essentially be embedding any of JPG, GIF, PNG or PDF files in my webpages. It works perfectly in PC browsers, but a critical requirement for the pages is to have them compatible in mobile browsers due to its target users.

<iframe src="uploads/test1.pdf" width="auto" height="auto"> </iframe>

Although image files work fine, PDF files are opened separately in the mobile browser and not embedded inline in the web page. What would be an alternative solution or implementation to this?

Lane
  • 366
  • 1
  • 2
  • 11

8 Answers8

9

You can use PDFJs library. Using just JS you can render pdf files. Please , check here : https://mozilla.github.io/pdf.js/

James Daily
  • 587
  • 6
  • 21
ivash
  • 103
  • 6
  • 2
    Loads one page at a time... How can we show entire file in small section of a page?? – Gathole Jul 14 '17 at 10:10
  • Also stumbled upon this, any news here concerning embedding the entire file? – Photon Jun 07 '19 at 13:42
  • 1
    This is not an option sometimes. In my case, using PDFJS was a bottle neck because it gave me the Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) issue, which I resolved by using a simple iframe and source solution, but now I am left with a trade off, argh! – Roberto Becerra Dec 22 '19 at 14:30
  • just FYI, you might have an issue if you use fonts other than English - it will start writing gibberish etc ... – Ricky Levi Aug 07 '22 at 08:06
7

Here is my solution to this problem.

<object data="mypdf.pdf" type="application/pdf" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="600px" style="padding: 20px;">
    <embed src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CRFdbp6uBDE-YKJFaqRm4uy9Z4wgMS7H/preview?usp=sharing" width="100%" height="600px"/> 
</object>

Explanation:
<object> tag has a feature that when it is unable to load item, it loads the content inside itself i.e tag. Since object tag cannot load on mobile view, therefore on mobile devices, embed tag will become active.

Q) Why can't we directly use tag for all cases?

You can actually, but since the embed tag is loading file from drive, it does not gives any user controls for the pdf that we see with object tag (zoom, page no., etc.). So our code will give the user pdf view controls atleast in the desktop mode instead of not giving any controls at all.

Q) Direct drive links don't work....so why this solution?

In the above google drive URL, view is changed to preview. drive.google.com/file/d/1CRFdbp6uBDE-YKJFaqRm4uy9Z4wgMS7H/view?usp=sharing becomes, drive.google.com/file/d/1CRFdbp6uBDE-YKJFaqRm4uy9Z4wgMS7H/preview?usp=sharing

So, we can make direct drive links work with this little modification

heethjain21
  • 130
  • 1
  • 9
6

One simple option is that the the object element provides a fallback, so you can do:

<object data='some.pdf'>
    <p>Oops! Your browser doesn't support PDFs!</p>
    <p><a href="some.pdf">Download Instead</a></p>
</object>

Then, when the mobile browser can't get the item, it'll just show this and you'll be all set, kinda.

Batajus
  • 5,831
  • 3
  • 25
  • 38
mlissner
  • 17,359
  • 18
  • 106
  • 169
4

Google Docs viewer offers a feature, that lets you embed PDF files and PowerPoint presentations on a web page.

<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/papers/google.pdf&embedded=true" style="width:100%; height:650px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>

replace the URL(http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/papers/google.pdf) with your own address, It's worked for me but it takes more time to load on

src:http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/09/embeddable-google-document-viewer.html?utm_source=pocket_mylist

Kuhan
  • 495
  • 7
  • 17
0

The only way I have found, which allows you to embed pdf is using Google drive, then select the menu button once you have opened your file, and select get embed code, you can only use a Google drive or Google docs reference. And you must also turn public sharing on otherwise others won't be able to view it without permission.

Treyarder
  • 1
  • 1
0

Using Adobe PDF Embed API solved my problem. Adobe PDF Embed API

Sahil Hadke
  • 17
  • 2
-1

I ran into the same issue. As a new developer, I wasn't aware that mobile browsers have issues embedding PDF files in iframes. I am now... lol

I racked my resources trying to get this to work when it dawned on me that mobile browsers do not have an issue displaying PNG files in a new window. So, in my infinite wisdom, I opened the PDF files in Gimp 2.0 then exported them as PNG files. And then I created buttons for the user to click and now it opens the graphic instead of trying to embed the PDF. Looks like this:

<input class="AG" id="UnityBtn" type="button" value="Unity" onclick="location.href='../Meeting_Info/Unity.png'"  />

I don't know if this is possible for you, but it worked beautifully for me.

Nisse Engström
  • 4,738
  • 23
  • 27
  • 42
Mike
  • 1
-3

Use an object tag with a iframe tag inside your object tags.

The object data can be a pdf or png file by changing the type and can use any link you want stored wherever, however the I frame is the one which will be loaded for mobiles which has to be a link from Google drive or Google docs you also need to allow the files to be shared public otherwise others won't be able to view them.

I would share the code but this site has some rubbish rules about code and won't let me share them so I'll leave you to Google how object and iframe tags work by viewing better sites that actually wants the help from developers.

Have fun guys!

Treyarder
  • 1
  • 1
  • What problem do you have with sharing code? Yo can embed code to your answer like other answers here did. – learn2day Jun 11 '20 at 14:45