How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

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Ernie

How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Ernie »

How do I put a PDF on the web that is only viewable if someone has a link to it?
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Neto

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Neto »

Ernie wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:04 pm How do I put a PDF on the web that is only viewable if someone has a link to it?
If you have something like Adobe Acrobat, I'm pretty sure that you can set the security so that it only opens with a password. HOWEVER, those passwords can be removed by opening the PDF in a browser. So I suspect it is something different that you are after.
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mike

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by mike »

Ernie wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:04 pm How do I put a PDF on the web that is only viewable if someone has a link to it?
You can share files via Google Drive that are only visible to someone with the link.
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PeterG

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by PeterG »

mike wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 2:15 pm
Ernie wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:04 pm How do I put a PDF on the web that is only viewable if someone has a link to it?
You can share files via Google Drive that are only visible to someone with the link.
You can also do with Dropbox.
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Josh

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Josh »

Ernie wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:04 pm How do I put a PDF on the web that is only viewable if someone has a link to it?
Technically, every PDF on the web is this way.

If someone shares the link with someone else, do you want that person to be able to see it too?
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Ernie

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Ernie »

I don't want the text in a PDF or the PDF itself to show up on a Google search.
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electro-wiz

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by electro-wiz »

Use a robots.txt file
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Josh

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Josh »

Ernie wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:03 pm I don't want the text in a PDF or the PDF itself to show up on a Google search.
In theory, a robots.txt file can prevent Google from indexing this, but won’t prevent anyone else from sharing and possibly indexing the link.

One thing you can do is periodically rename the file.
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Ernie

Re: How to make a PDF non-viewable except with a link...

Post by Ernie »

I'm not particularly concerned if others share the link to a PDF. I'm not worried about that as few people will share this link online or post it online.

But I don't want to make a PDF available online, and then google certain words in the PDF, only to have my PDF show up as one of the first items in a Google search.

I will try Google Drive.
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