Sharing a document with a link

Instead of attaching a PDF to every email, you can publish a document to its own web link. Anyone with the link can read the document in their browser and download it as a PDF, with no account needed. The link stays the same when you update the document, so it's safe to put in emails, on your website, in your catalog, or on a printed QR code.

Publishing a link

1. Open the document and go to Step 3: Review & Export.
2. Wait until the top bar says All changes saved. A link shows your last saved version.
3. In the Share link panel, click Publish link. It takes a few seconds while DataSheets Pro prepares the PDF.
4. Click Copy to copy the link, or Open ↗ to see what your customers will see.

The link looks like datasheetspro.com/s/…/your-document-name. The page shows your document exactly as it appears in the preview, page for page, with a Download PDF button at the top. It works on phones too.

Updating what the link shows

A link shows the version you published, not your work in progress, so customers never see half-finished edits. When you save changes after publishing, the Share panel says so. Click Update link to publish the new version. The link itself doesn't change.

Keeping it up to date automatically

Rather not update links by hand? On Starter and up, turn on Keep this link up to date automatically in the Share panel.

• Your saved changes, including edits to the document's brand kit, publish about 5 minutes after you stop editing, so a burst of edits publishes once. A long editing session still publishes at least every 30 minutes.
• While an update is waiting, the Share panel says it will publish within a few minutes of a time. Click Update link if you'd rather not wait; that also cancels the waiting automatic update.
• Turning the switch on while the link is out of date publishes it at the next update, within about 5 minutes.
• If an automatic update fails three times in a row, the switch turns itself off and the Share panel says why. It also turns off if your plan no longer includes automatic updates.

Updating every link at once

Changed a brand kit, or edited several documents? The Documents page lists every shared link that shows an older version, including links whose PDF still has the Free watermark after you upgrade. Click Update all to republish them one after another; keep the page open until it finishes. If you have more links live than your plan allows (after a downgrade, say), the button isn't offered: unpublish the extra links first, or upgrade.

Taking a link down

• Unpublish takes the page down straight away. The link is kept, so if you publish again later, the same link (and any QR code printed with it) works again.
• Reset link gives the document a brand-new link. The old link, and any QR code printed with it, stops working for good. Use this if a link was shared somewhere it shouldn't have been.
• Moving a document to Trash also takes its page down, within the hour. Restoring it brings the page back. To take a page down immediately, Unpublish it first.

Using the link in a QR code

On Pro and above, the Share panel shows a QR code for the link once it's published:

• Add to document puts the QR code on your document, pointing at this link. Then click Update link so the published page and PDF include it.
• Download PNG or Download SVG saves the code as an image for packaging, labels, signs or slides. Use SVG for print: it stays sharp at any size.

Because the link never changes when you update the document, a printed code always opens the latest published version, and scans are counted separately in the Share panel. For placement, size and caption options, see Adding a QR code.

Links in your catalog export

When you export your catalog, each product's row includes a Data sheet URL and a PDF URL for its published document, ready to paste into your online store, distributor portal or price list.

Seeing who's viewing

On Starter and up, the Share panel shows how many times the link was viewed in the last 30 days; on Pro and up it adds visitors, PDF downloads and QR scans. For every link at once, open Analytics in the sidebar. Your own team's visits aren't counted, and counting sets no cookies. See Share link analytics.

Tracked links for each recipient

On Team and Enterprise, you can give each customer their own link and see when that person opens it. See Tracked links for each recipient.

Plans and the DataSheets Pro badge

• Free includes 1 published link, and the shared page shows a small "Made with DataSheets Pro" badge. Its PDF carries the Free-plan watermark.
• Starter and above include unlimited links, with no badge and no watermark.

If you cancel or your subscription lapses, links you've already published keep working, so nothing you've sent to customers breaks. They show the badge, the PDF carries the watermark, and you can't update them or publish new ones beyond the Free allowance until you resubscribe.

Search engines

Shared pages are never listed in Google or other search engines, on any plan. They're for the people you send the link to. Link previews still work, so a link pasted into email, Slack, Teams or LinkedIn shows the product name (and its image, if it has one).