Description
Visitors often try to upload a scanned PDF or a phone photo that is larger than your form allows, and give up when they see “file too big”. PDFkind fixes that without changing your forms.
Open the PDFkind screen, check the size limit (PDFkind reads it from your Contact Form 7 or WPForms forms) and click Turn on. When a visitor picks a file over that limit, a small PDFkind window reduces it in their browser, then your form receives the smaller file as if the visitor had picked it.
What it reduces
- PDF files, including scanned documents
- JPG, PNG and WebP images
- iPhone HEIC photos, which are turned into JPG so forms that only accept JPG take them
Other files (Word, ZIP and so on) and files already under the limit go through untouched, with no window.
Works with your forms
Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Formidable Forms, WooCommerce product upload fields and most other forms that use a normal file field, including drag-and-drop areas.
Private by design
Files are processed in the visitor’s browser with JavaScript. They are never sent to PDFkind or to any other server. Your server only receives the final file, through your form, as before. The plugin stores nothing except its settings.
If anything goes wrong, the form still works
If the PDFkind window can’t open (a strict Content Security Policy, a blocked network, an old browser), the original file goes through within a few seconds and your form shows its usual message.
Free PDF tools on your pages
The plugin also lets you place any of the 128 free PDFkind tools on a page: merge, split, compress, convert, sign, edit, OCR and more. Add the “PDFkind tool” block, search for a tool, and see it live in the editor. In a classic editor or page builder, use the shortcode:
[pdfkind tool="merge-pdf"]
Embedded tools show no ads.
External services
This plugin connects to PDFkind (https://pdfkind.com), a free service that reduces files in the browser. The plugin is a connector for that service and does nothing without it.
- What is loaded: the script https://pdfkind.com/embed.js, on the pages where the upload helper is active (after you save the settings with it switched on) and on pages that show a PDFkind tool block or shortcode. When a visitor picks an oversized file, the script opens a small window from pdfkind.com; embedded tools are also shown in a window from pdfkind.com.
- What is sent: no files and no form data. The files are processed inside the visitor’s browser. As with any web request, the visitor’s browser sends its IP address, user agent and the address of the page to pdfkind.com when it loads the script or a window.
- Terms of use: https://pdfkind.com/terms
- Privacy policy: https://pdfkind.com/privacy
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- PDFkind tool Place a free PDFkind tool on the page: merge, compress, convert, sign PDFs and more. Files stay in the visitor's browser.
Installation
- Install the plugin from Plugins > Add New Plugin and activate it.
- Open PDFkind in the admin menu. PDFkind suggests the limit it finds in your Contact Form 7 or WPForms forms.
- Click Turn on. The PDFkind screen lists the pages where it is now active, and its “Try it” box shows the result on one of your files.
FAQ
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Are the files uploaded to PDFkind?
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No. Files are read and reduced in the visitor’s browser. Nothing is sent to pdfkind.com, and PDFkind never sees the files.
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Does it compress files on my server or in the Media Library?
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No. It works in the visitor’s browser, before the file reaches your form. It does not change files already on your site.
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Which form plugins are supported?
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Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Formidable Forms and WooCommerce file fields are tested. Any form that uses a standard file field should work. If your form is on a page that isn’t detected, set “Where” to “Every page” under PDFkind > More options.
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What happens if a file can’t be reduced enough?
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The window says so, and the original file goes through so your form can show its own error.
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What if the visitor closes the window?
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The original file goes through unchanged.
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Will it slow down my site?
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The script is small, loads after the page with
defer, and by default only on pages with a form. The reduction itself runs only when a visitor picks an oversized file. -
Does it work with caching and optimisation plugins?
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Yes. It was tested with WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache and Autoptimize. If an optimiser combines scripts, exclude
pdfkind.com/embed.js. -
Can the tools and the window use my site’s colours?
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Yes. Under PDFkind > More options, pick a colour from your theme’s palette or any colour. Each “PDFkind tool” block can also have its own colour, and the shortcode takes
color="#0057b8". PDFkind keeps text readable on any colour. -
Can I set the language of the window?
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By default it follows your site language. You can pick one of 16 languages under PDFkind > More options.
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Does the plugin add a link to my site?
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Only if you switch on “Credit line” under PDFkind > More options. It is off by default.
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How can I check it works before a visitor tries?
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Use the “Try it” box on the PDFkind screen: pick a large PDF or photo and see the size your form will receive. Nothing is uploaded.
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How do I put a PDF tool on a page?
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Add the “PDFkind tool” block and pick a tool from the searchable list, or use
[pdfkind tool="compress-pdf"]. Options:lang="fr",height="700"andcolor="#0057b8". All tool IDs are listed at pdfkind.com/developers/tools.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“PDFkind: Reduce Upload File Size” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “PDFkind: Reduce Upload File Size” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First release: upload helper for PDF, JPG, PNG, WebP and HEIC files with one-click setup, limit detection from Contact Form 7 and WPForms, a Try it box, your theme’s colours for the window and the tools, the “PDFkind tool” block with a searchable tool picker and live preview, and the
[pdfkind]shortcode.