It's not really possible to prevent the download of PDFs as a document from a link inside of Storyline, although this IS a question I get asked frequently, and it is a GOOD question.
The reason why this is, is mostly due to technical reasons - Adobe itself sets up a download when it creates links to PDFs, so I am guessing this probably part of the PDF as an actual file standard.
That said, it is possible (in theory) to work around this by taking screen captures of the PDF document's content and then placing them inside of Storyline Slides, using the Navigation Buttons as a way for the user to access the content within the course itself.
By extension, I am guessing it MIGHT be possible to link to these slides from the Resources Menu, but don't quote me on that - I've never done this and probably wouldn't even try.
Why not try, you ask?
Because if anyone REALLY wanted to obtain this document's content and capture it, they could easily reverse-engineer this process and capture each of the content graphics one-at-a-time using screenshots, load them into the full version of Acrobat, edit them into Pages, and then SAVE them all as a fully functional PDF document without any content or editing restrictions (albeit, with graphics, which would limit things somewhat, as opposed to the original text, but this could likely be captured using OCR anyway).
The reference link below quotes an Adobe Employee, who emphatically states that preventing PDF document downloads is not possible, and why:
Hi Tye! You can try uploading your PDF on a web server and use the object URL to add your PDF as a Multimedia > Embed block. This way, your learners can view PDF within your Rise course without having to download them. I hope this helps!
My apologies - the concepts and ideas I posted in my first reply were oriented towards Storyline and not Rise.
That said, you COULD try using what I suggested above by using a Storylineblock in your Rise project, but if that doesn't work, you could also try these other solutions, listed below:
Solution 1:
The following HTML5code will embed a PDF without any toolbars and hide the print/download icons:
3 Replies
Tye:
It's not really possible to prevent the download of PDFs as a document from a link inside of Storyline, although this IS a question I get asked frequently, and it is a GOOD question.
The reason why this is, is mostly due to technical reasons - Adobe itself sets up a download when it creates links to PDFs, so I am guessing this probably part of the PDF as an actual file standard.
That said, it is possible (in theory) to work around this by taking screen captures of the PDF document's content and then placing them inside of Storyline Slides, using the Navigation Buttons as a way for the user to access the content within the course itself.
By extension, I am guessing it MIGHT be possible to link to these slides from the Resources Menu, but don't quote me on that - I've never done this and probably wouldn't even try.
Why not try, you ask?
Because if anyone REALLY wanted to obtain this document's content and capture it, they could easily reverse-engineer this process and capture each of the content graphics one-at-a-time using screenshots, load them into the full version of Acrobat, edit them into Pages, and then SAVE them all as a fully functional PDF document without any content or editing restrictions (albeit, with graphics, which would limit things somewhat, as opposed to the original text, but this could likely be captured using OCR anyway).
The reference link below quotes an Adobe Employee, who emphatically states that preventing PDF document downloads is not possible, and why:
From Adobe (the company) itself:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/how-do-i-prevent-download-or-sharing-of-a-pdf-file/td-p/10590950?page=1
Hope this helps!
-Mark (eLearning Developer) - Ottawa, Canada
Hi Tye! You can try uploading your PDF on a web server and use the object URL to add your PDF as a Multimedia > Embed block. This way, your learners can view PDF within your Rise course without having to download them. I hope this helps!
Hi Tye:
My apologies - the concepts and ideas I posted in my first reply were oriented towards Storyline and not Rise.
That said, you COULD try using what I suggested above by using a Storyline block in your Rise project, but if that doesn't work, you could also try these other solutions, listed below:
Solution 1:
The following HTML5 code will embed a PDF without any toolbars and hide the print/download icons:
<embed src="{URL_TO_PDF.PDF}#toolbar=0&navpanes=0&scrollbar=0" width="425" height="425">
Solution 2:
Using Google Drive:
Right-click on PDF, and go to Share option (image below)
Then go to Advanced option in left bottom portion:
Tick both checkboxes. Copy the embed link that appears and paste it into your document link's src, (IE: Solution 1, above)
No download will occur, and the Save Drive option is not allowed via this method.
Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
-Mark