Save as PDF Add-on

Here are the official Pdfcrowd browser plugins:


Overview

The Save as PDF add-on lets you save web pages to PDF in one click.

You can use the add-on for free, you don't need a Pdfcrowd account. However, if you are a power user and want to customize PDFs beyond the defaults you might consider obtaining the Pdfcrowd Browser License.

Usage

Open the web page you want to convert to PDF in the browser and click the Pdfcrowd toolbar icon. The icon starts animating which indicates that the conversion is in process. If the conversion succeeds, the resulting PDF is downloaded to your computer.

The Save as PDF toolbar icon is updated after each conversion:

  • The red dot indicates that the default settings were used for the conversion because you are not logged in at the Pdfcrowd web site or your Pdfcrowd Browser License is not active.
  • The red rectangle indicates an error. Hover your mouse over the icon and the tooltip will contain the error message.

Customize your PDFs

  1. Sign up for the Pdfcrowd Browser License
  2. Edit the conversion form options
  3. Click the Save Settings button
  4. Navigate to the web page you want to convert and click the Save as PDF icon in the browser toolbar.

You must stay logged in at pdfcrowd.com or your custom settings won't take effect.

Limitations

Pdfcrowd does not support:
  • Password protected web pages
  • Frameset web pages
  • Flash

Please note that PDF is not created on your computer but on Pdfcrowd servers. When you click the Save as PDF icon, the add-on sends the web page address to the Pdfcrowd service. The service downloads and converts the web page to PDF but it does not know about your local settings, cookies, or other installed add-ons so the created PDF might look different to what you see in your browser.

For instance converting a password protected web page (e.g. your web mailbox) will typically result into a PDF that contains a login page.

How it works

Converting a web page to PDF involves the following steps:

  1. You navigate to a web page you want to convert, let's say www.example.com.
  2. You click the Save as PDF toolbar icon. The add-on sends the address of the web page to the Pdfcrowd service.
  3. Pdfcrowd sends a request to www.example.com.
  4. Pdfcrowd downloads the contents of www.example.com.
  5. Pdfcrowd creates PDF.
  6. If you have an active Pdfcrowd Browser License your custom settings are used. Otherwise the defaults are used.
  7. The created PDF is sent back to your browser.

Save As PDF explained