You have finally got the last detail of your PDF perfected; now you are ready to put it on a PDF hosting site and share it with the world.
(Oh wait, is it PDF publishing?)
There are a number of PDF platforms out there that caters to sharing PDF publications online. These PDF platforms often offers browsing experience tailored for PDFs, thus superior to general file sharing sites like Google Drive and Dropbox.
But when it comes to PDF hosting vs PDF publishing, they could be confusing and make you wonder:
Are they the same? Which PDF platform is for me?
A PDF hosting platform hosts and stores your PDF file, so you can share the file as it is with your audience. Typically a PDF hosting service acts as an infrastructure that ensures the PDF remains online and reachable with reasonable speed.
However, you will not be able to further control other areas of the online PDF like the PDF browsing experience, audience engagement etc.
PDF hosting service is a great tool to share your PDF when your PDF is an ad hoc document that may be used for an one-time purpose.
PDF hosting platforms are for general purpose document like resume, promotional poster and flyer.
It is great for most individuals (like students, job seekers) and small businesses that do not rely on PDF as a communication material for long term basis.
Tiiny Host is a simple hosting platform that lets you host PDF, HTML files, images and other types of file. When you upload your PDF files to Tiiny Host, your audience can access it with a free tiiny.site URL like mypdf.tiiny.site
Tiiny Host has a free plan that support 1 active project.
If you already have a website - whether it is built using Shopify, Wordpress or any other site builders; chances are you can just upload your PDF file directly into the same storage spaces available in these website.
In most cases, there wouldn't be any extra fee. However, the PDF URL tends to be long and sometimes gibberish.
A PDF publishing platform doesn't just let you share your PDF online, they also provide additional tools for a more customized browsing experience. This could mean additional interactivity, more control over PDF visuals and even a built-in customer reach ability.
You should consider using a PDF publishing platform when you have a portfolio of PDFs of the same theme that you wish to share with your audience.
Marketers, content creators and content publishers commonly use PDF publishing platforms to share their works with more control over the PDF experience and audience engagement.
Titlegram is a PDF publishing platform that lets you create branded browsing experience. Your audience can view the PDF from a title.is URL like mybrand.title.is/catalog
Designed to improve audience engagement, you can easily add dynamic CTA campaigns, and embed video and other third party media alongside your PDF file with Titlegram.
Titlegram starts at $19 / month.
Issuu is the most popular online flipbook maker software.
Typically used by publishers, Issuu turns PDF uploaded on to their platform into a flipbook experience which you can share as a URL or embed in your own website.
Issuu comes with a free plan for those who are just starting out.
Scribd is an online digital document library, where Scribd users can upload PDF files and documents to Scribd so it can be discovered by other Scribd users. A simpler way to look at it is it is "Youtube for documents", where readers go on Scribd to discover non-stop stream of publications and literature recommended to them.
Uploading to Scribd is free; but your audience needs to have a $9.99 / month plan to download your PDFs.
While similar in nature, PDF hosting and PDF publishing services serve different needs.
Creating a PDF that capture attention is hard especially in this era, the right platform could help you amplify your reach and hit your goal faster.
On the other hand, it is possible to use both concurrently for different PDF materials, if they fulfil your criteria and goals. However, it is good to always start with one.