Last updated on 25 September 2022
PDF Stamping is a brilliant method to prevent your customers from sharing digital downloads with others. Of course, it only works on PDF files, but you can learn more about preventing customers from sharing other types of digital downloads here.
If you want to learn more about selling PDFs, check out our tutorial on how to sell PDFs on Shopify.
Below is a video showing a PDF that is stamped and locked so the customer cannot remove their personal details. Preventing them from sharing the PDF with others because their identity is attached.
Troubleshooting
If you have set up PDF Stamping but are running into issues, please check our PDF Stamp troubleshooting guide.
Which plan do I need for this feature?
You will need the Starter plan to use a single PDF Stamping template.
You will need the Scale plan or above to create unlimited PDF Stamping templates.
Limitation of 100MB to use PDF Stamping
Please note that there is a maximum file size of 100MB to use PDF Stamping. If you want to compress your PDFs, you can do this here on Adobe’s PDF Compression page.
It will be able to compress your PDF to less than 100MB while maintaining the quality. Adobe invented PDFs, so this service is the best you can get.
If you did compress your PDF, you can use the ‘Replace asset‘ button to replace the PDF. This will replace the current PDF, so you don’t need to do anything else. You will be asked if you want to inform customers of an updated file, but that’s up to you to say Yes or No.
How to add PDF Stamping to an individual PDF
Ensure you have the Downloadable Digital Assets app installed on your Shopify store.
It’s really easy to get set up with PDF stamping. All you need to do is:
1. Go to your PDF asset
Upload the PDF if you haven’t already
I am assuming that you have already uploaded your PDF. If you haven’t, you can do this by:
- Go to the ‘Assets‘ page
- Click on the ‘Upload new asset‘ button
- Then upload your PDF
Find the PDF Stamp setting on the asset page
On the PDF asset page, you will see an option for ‘PDF Stamping‘. You can either use the default template, or you can create your own, depending on the plan you’re on.
2. Edit or create a PDF template
It’s possible to edit your PDF templates by clicking on the link in ‘Edit your PDF templates here‘.
Now click on “Edit” on a template you would like to customise or click “CREATE NEW TEMPLATE” if you want to create one.
Here you can customise all of your settings. You can even lock the PDF so that your customers cannot remove their personal details. This prevents the customer from wanting to share the PDF files with others.
3. Apply the template to your PDF
Once you have created your template, go back to your PDF asset.
Here you can choose the template you want, then you can click the ‘Update‘ button to save.
4. Test PDF stamping with a test order
Place a test order on Shopify and see if the stamp applies to the PDF.
If it doesn’t, please go to our PDF troubleshooting guide to see if you have set it up correctly.
How to set a global PDF template for all PDFs
You can do this by:
- Go to “Settings” in Downloadable Digital Assets
- Go to “Edit PDF templates“
- Customise a template. For example, we are going to use the “Default” template
- In the PDF templates box in the red box below, choose the template that you want to set as the global template for all PDFs
- Choose the relevant setting that suits you
- Click “Save“
