User experience is everything. It can make or break any website. Good user experience will make your website more appealing, it will provide more value to users and give them easy access to relevant information. Good user experience will, more often than not, increase engagement on your website, improve conversion rates and boost brand awareness.
Two of the many factors that affect user experience are navigation and organization, which are, oftentimes, mutually inclusive. Good organization leads to better navigation, it’s as simple as that.
For websites that offer lots of documents, like catalogs, manuals, brochures, menus and other similar ones, organization and navigation may become problematic. Offering this much information in a way that users will find easy to access can prove difficult. The best way to do it in an organized fashion is to offer a PDF gallery with the ability to download files and read them offline.
To help you in this task, you can choose to use a PDF gallery plugin or an app. These tools give you an easy way to add PDF files to your website, thereby improving user experience and engaging your audience. In most cases, all you have to do is upload your files and let the application do the rest. A really good PDF gallery plugin, however, will offer many more features.
In this article, we’ll discuss PDF gallery apps and highlight five of the most popular PDF gallery apps for you to consider.
Discover Other Great Apps and Plugins for Your Website, Like the Image Hotspot Apps
What are PDF Galleries?
A PDF gallery is a simple, organized and easy-to-access gallery of PDF files. PDF galleries can be added to any page, they can be of different layouts, colors and sizes.
PDF galleries offer a visually appealing way to add PDF files to your website. They can offer the ability to view the PDF without leaving the website, or they can offer the option to download the file to view it later, offline.
With a PDF gallery on your website, you can enhance your visitors’ experience, increase conversions and increase trust in your brand.
To add a PDF gallery to your website, you will require a PDF gallery plugin. PDF gallery plugins will enable you to customize your PDF gallery, and offer additional features, like the ability to download the PDF file, mobile-friendliness, various layouts and more.
What Are PDF Galleries Used for?
Ultimately, the goal of all PDF files is to offer information. The purpose of this information, however, may vary, and as such, PDF galleries can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Let’s look at some of them.
To Offer Valuable Information
Ensuring that your website offers sufficient information about everything you have to offer is one of the best and easiest ways to increase trust in your brand, provide good user experience and increase conversions. Some types of PDF documents that offer this sort of information include:
- Menus
- Manuals
- Brochures
- Support documents
- Technical specifications
For E-Commerce & Promotional Purposes
For certain products, it makes sense to display a “preview” in PDF format. Some products that can benefit from a PDF preview include:
- Articles
- Journals
- Whitepapers
- Photo albums
- Books and e-books
Many customers feel more confident purchasing reading materials online when they can take a sneak peek inside. Adding a PDF gallery plugin to your website is an easy way to give people this preview.
Examples of PDF Galleries
There are many ways to design a PDF gallery for your website. Here are a couple of examples of effective PDF gallery designs.
PDF Gallery — List Format
In this example, PDFs are organized in a list. There is a thumbnail for each available document, and clicking on the title will open the PDF in a new browser window.
PDF Gallery — Grid Format
Here, available PDFs are listed in a grid. Just like the list format, clicking on the title will open the document in a new window.
Top 5 PDF Gallery Apps & Plugins
After learning the benefits of a PDF gallery plugin, you may have decided to find one for your own website. Below, we’ll highlight five of the best PDF gallery apps, and the platforms theyy work on.
1. Common Ninja’s PDF Gallery App
If you’re looking for a PDF gallery plugin that will work on ANY website, site builder, or e-commerce platform, then check out Common Ninja’s PDF Gallery App. Some of this plugin’s supported platforms include:
- Wix
- Shopify
- Weebly
- Elementor
- WordPress
- Squarespace
Common Ninja’s app gives you an attractive, easily customizable way to display one or more PDF files anywhere on your website. It offers multiple options for gallery, list, and grid layouts, with a variety of color schemes and styles. All of these customization possibilities allow you to select the design that works best for your site.
You can change the colors, fonts, and size of the PDF viewer you create. You can even use custom CSS to reflect your brand’s vision!
Common Ninja’s app gives users the option to print or download PDF files, as well as open them in View Mode. It even comes with integrated user analytics so you can see exactly how users are viewing and using your PDFs.
After you’re done creating your PDF viewer, all you have to do is copy a single line of code and paste it into your site. If you make any changes later on in the editor, they will automatically be reflected on your website.
Common Ninja’s PDF Gallery app is free to use. It works on all browsers, there’s no coding required, and it’s mobile-friendly.
Supported Platform/s: All websites, site builders and e-commerce platforms
Pricing: Free
2. Shopify PDF Uploader/Viewer
If you host your site with Shopify, the Shopify PDF Uploader/Viewer might be the right plugin for you. This app allows you to display PDFs on your storefront, product pages, or any other pages you’d like.
PDFs uploaded through here can either be opened as a layover or embedded into your site. If you choose a layover, the PDF will only open when the user clicks a link. If it’s embedded in your site, it will be constantly visible.
PDF Uploader/Viewer is available for free on a seven-day trial basis. After that, you can choose from the Basic, Standard, and Unlimited paid plans.
Supported Platform/s: Shopify
Pricing: Free for seven days, then choose a Basic ($4.99/month), Standard ($8.99/month), or Unlimited ($15.99/month) plan
3. EmbedPress
EmbedPress is a WordPress PDF gallery plugin. In addition to PDFs, it also allows you to display multimedia content from over 100 different sources, including:
- Twitch
- YouTube
- Google Maps
- Google Drive
EmbedPress includes an option for “lazy loading.” This means that large PDFs and other content will only partially load to increase your site’s speed unless a user specifically navigates to them.
To use EmbedPress, all you need is the source URL for your content. Once it’s uploaded to your media library, you can embed it anywhere on your site.
Supported Platform/s: WordPress
Pricing: Individual plan ($29), Business plan ($79), or Lifetime Unlimited plan ($149)
4. Wix PDF Viewer
Wix PDF Viewer is a plugin that allows you to easily display PDF files directly on your Wix-hosted site.
When you use this plugin, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of design and layout options to match your brand the best. You have complete control over how the PDFs are used, and there’s even an option to make the links inside any PDF documents clickable or not.
The Wix PDF Viewer is user-friendly and responsive. It works on all different types of browsers, including mobile. Plus, it’s extremely budget-friendly — you can download it at no cost through the Wix App Market!
Supported Platform/s: Wix
Pricing: Free
5. PDF.js Viewer Shortcode
There’s no shortage of WordPress PDF gallery plugins, but PDf.js Viewer Shortcode is one of the best. This plugin uses Gutenberg blocks and shortcode to display PDFs on any page of your website.
It offers elegant themes that adapt to either dark or light mode, depending on what your visitors are using. Similar to those that use lazy loading, this plugin increases your website speed by only loading pages of large documents when the user clicks on them.
There are many user-friendly features that this plugin offers. You can even password-protect certain PDFs if you wish! Other features include:
- Zoom settings
- Search options
- A page navigation drawer
This is another plugin that’s available to download for free. However, it does not offer the same customization options as many paid PDF gallery plugins.
Supported Platform/s: WordPress
Pricing: Free
Offer, Promote and Share PDF Files for Better User Experience and Conversions
No matter where you host your website, there are plenty of PDF viewer plugins available. Before you choose the right application, you need to take two factors into consideration: supported platforms and pricing.
Some platforms are free to use, while others charge either a one-time or monthly fee. A few plugins offer a free basic package, with the option to upgrade for additional features.
Consider all the options listed above before you make a final decision. Choose something that works best for your needs, no matter what those are. However, if you’re looking for a PDF image gallery plugin that won’t cost a penny and will work across all platforms, Common Ninja’s PDF Gallery App is the best choice.
