PDF files are the standard format when sharing documents, and it's piece of cake to run into why. They open on all operating systems, they can be password-protected, copy-and-edit-restricted, and you can even prevent others from printing them out.

PDF files aren't affected by viruses, so you tin can pretty much e'er open them with confidence. A PDF file opens nigh instantly, you lot tin easily embed videos, too equally pictures, sound files, and other media. Take that, Microsoft Give-and-take!

Every bit with any other type of file, a PDF is only as good as your ability to share information technology with others. Here are our top picks for the best free PDF hosting out there.

PDF Hosting for Beginners: The Run-Down

Many websites are now able to host PDFs online. The PDF file remains open inside of a widget; you lot can whorl through it right in your browser. From Supreme Courtroom rulings to America'due south favorite recipe for chocolate block, you're likely to find all kinds of PDFs after a quick Google search.

Other tools enable you lot to hands catechumen other files to the PDF format. For example, if y'all take a PowerPoint presentation, you tin export information technology equally a PDF to share. Yous might even stop upward with amend-looking slides in the procedure.

Which PDF-hosting sites are the best? Which one should you be using? Read on to see some that you might already know and employ, along with a few new ones, as well.

1. Scribd

We'll start off with perhaps the about well-known fashion to host a PDF online. Scribd is now positioning itself as a monthly subscription service for eBooks and audiobooks—in fact, y'all tin can't fifty-fifty crack in without forfeiting your credit card information first.

Thankfully, you're still able to search Scribd's archives without paying. If you lot use the search function with a documents-only filter enabled, you'll see many PDFs hosted here. Y'all tin can search within these documents, share them on social media, rate them, and even download them for yourself in some cases.

Scribd Features

  • Documents can be public or private.
  • Yous tin upload multiple files at one time.
  • You tin upload revisions smoothly.
  • You lot can upload cloud-based files from Google Docs, Facebook, and Gmail, as well.
  • You tin fix reader permissions and decide if your content can be copy and pasted from the site, if people can go out comments and reviews on your piece of work, and fifty-fifty whether or not your PDF is available to download.
  • If your document is in some other format, you can convert information technology to PDF.
  • You can embed a PDF file (Either yours or someone else's) on your website.
  • Scribd makes your content readable on iPhone, iPad, Android, and other mobile devices.

ii. Google Bulldoze

Google Drive is admittedly fantastic, and one actually cool feature is the power to upload documents and and then re-download them every bit a PDF file.

Google Drive tin can help yous publish your PDF documents publicly, which can and so be shared to a wider audience. You can besides embed the file on your website; access can be revoked at any fourth dimension.

Google Drive Features

  • Convert multiple formats into a PDF file.
  • Publish your documents to the public.
  • Revoke access at whatever time.
  • Embed a PDF file on your website or blog.
  • Edit the original file and see the published file updated automatically.
  • Control who can edit the PDF file.

iii. Box

Box is so underrated, probably due to its well-known rivals, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive. If you can find it in your heart to give Box a shot, however, yous might be pleasantly surprised. Ane of these features is the power to embed PDF files inside of a widget, simply like these other options.

Box Features

  • Cull your own custom URL for the widget.
  • Customize the await of the widget's size and colour.
  • Protect the shared link with a password.
  • Set a appointment for the link to elapse.
  • Enable or disable download permission for your documents.

4. Beamium

Beamium offers a drag-and-driblet interface; uploading PDF files is quick and easy. It works as a great virtual alternative to PowerPoint. You upload your slides every bit a unmarried PDF file and are then given a unique presentation lawmaking. You lot can transport this URL to everyone that yous would like to share your PDF presentations with.

Attendees then become to the Beamium site, enter the lawmaking, and come across what you lot've uploaded in real-time every bit you nowadays it. You shuffle from slide to slide from home, and your invited viewers watch right forth, just similar a existent PDF presentation. Y'all can even activate a small-scale, digital laser pointer, higher professor-mode.

Beamium Features

  • Simple and appealing service.
  • Your files stay hosted on the Beamium site for 14 days if you register for an account.
  • Browser-based, cross-platform, and no software to download.
  • Presentations are displayed in full-screen.

5. Publitas

If you're looking for a stable fashion to monetize your publication, a Dutch visitor called Publitas aims to serve. It's a site that volition host your PDF publications and allow customers to buy them through an online checkout organization. You can likewise upload PDFs that are costless to read and download also.

In that location are dissimilar pricing tiers—a free plan, and four paid plans. The gratis plan is extremely generous, though, so you lot may never need to upgrade.

Publitas Features

  • Extremely intuitive to use.
  • Touch-optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
  • You tin add links to other parts of the publication, likewise as additional media.

six. Flipsnack

Flipsnack is a service that lets you create an online flip volume out of your PDF. You can edit the pages of your file with an incredibly various suite of design tools every bit well.

If you need a template, y'all'll exist covered here. Their interface gives yous many layers to piece of work with; designing an interactive e-com catalog, for example, is super easy. Yous tin can create clickable buttons, prototype pop-ups, and even conditional discounts.

Flipsnack Features

  • A Wix-like design studio lets you build each layout from scratch.
  • Pages can be rearranged and redesigned afterward existence uploaded.
  • Easy-to-customize templates.
  • Built-in image editor.
  • Media integration—audio, video, hyperlinks, and even forms.

7. Slides

Slides is yet another site for creating slide presentations from uploaded PDF documents. Each page will get a slide. You lot can then add text, more than images, tables, graphs, and other media.

Each file uploaded is public, unless yous pay for the Pro plan. A small luxury, but, in some cases, well-worth the premium.

Slides Features

  • No demand to download anything. Everything is washed in-browser.
  • Optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
  • Slides can exist embedded on the web.
  • You lot can download slides to view offline.
  • Presentations can be remote-controlled by a affect-enabled device.

Host a PDF Online for Your Adjacent Large Presentation

Putting on the show of a lifetime doesn't have to be a hurting. These services make sharing PDFs online easy and convenient. Some of them even rival PowerPoint in their ability to create a live presentation out of your PDF.

In our digital globe of remote offices and classrooms, the ability to share PDFs finer is unquestionable. If you're working on a budget, any of the higher up will help you get your files where they need to go, totally free.

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Emma Garofalo (379 Articles Published)

I acquire for a living.

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