ToPDF.org

URL to PDF FAQs

The ToPDF -- URL to PDF converter is capable of converting just about any URL that is not password protected or hidden from the general public. Of course for protected URLs we do have a solution here. In the video below you can see our step by step tutorial and beneath the video you will find some frequently asked questions.

FAQs

Q) Is javascript and CSS rendered?

A) The technology used to render webpages is capable of handling just about any javascript and CSS, but on very rare occasions you may come across a webpage that may not be fully rendered.

Q) Is Flash rendered?

A) Some flash is rendered but pages which use flash heavily will not be rendered 100%.

Q) Can you convert webpages that are written in a foreign language?

A) ToPDF.org is capable of rendering webpages in many different languages. English, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Russian, Spanish are just a few that come to mind.

Q) Why does my PDF show a login screen?

A) This is due to the webpage being password protected and ToPDF.org not having permission to view that content. Ensure that the webpage is available to the public. If really need to convert a webpage that requires login credentials, you may want to save the source code to a file and use our file to PDF converter instead, but be sure that all URLs use absolute paths. For more information this, read the help file on that page.

Q) Why does the webpage look different in my browser?

A) There are many, many reasons for this but here are a few common ones:

  • The way a webpage looks in one browser can differ from how it looks in another browser. For example, Internet Explorer may render a page a bit different from the way Firefox would. Same goes for Safari, Google Chrome etc. Same goes for the way ToPDF.org renders your URL.
  • Some sites have mobile versions of their site. If you are viewing the webpage on your phone or tablet, it will likely look different on those devices than it would in the PDF file.
  • Does the site use cookies? If it does, the content displayed for you may be different from the content that is displayed to us.
  • Where do you live? Many sites display content based on location. Weather sites for example do this all the time.
  • Are you converting static or dynamic content? Some sites change their content on every page load. If this is the case, what you see may be different from what we see.
  • Are you trying to convert a page that had data sent to it via a form? If this is the case, some data such as POST form data will be absent and therefore will not be seen in the PDF.

Q) When I choose render as Android or iOS, the width of the page remains the same, why?

A) You need to change the page size. Changing just the rendering method, doesn't change the actual width of the page if your page size is set on a size that is very wide. Same goes for a page that is too narrow. If the page size settings are set at a very narrow page width, your PDF will be narrow and the contents within the page will be squished together as well.

Q) Why is that the PDF shows a sign up box or join us on Facebook box etc.?

A) Some sites like to put up annoying welcome screens which you must click on to exit. Since our URL to PDF converter displays everything that is show on the page when you visit the page, those annoying welcome popups are captured as well. You might want to disable Javascript to see if those popups go away. Only problem with this... if the page relies heavily on Javascript, the PDF might end up completely empty or missing some content.

Q) Why do some PDFs show an error message such as truncated when they are viewed?

A) Short answer: Too much data on the page for the PDF program to render it properly. A solution to this is to use a smaller page size.

Long answer: When switching to a smaller page size more page are created within the PDF. Most programs render PDFs on a page by page basis. If one page contains too much data, the program fails to read the PDF but if the PDF contains the same amount of data split up into multiple pages, the program can read the data because it will read it one page at a time. This is mainly why we discourage using "browser size" as the page size. Which is fine in most cases if your computer or mobile device and program is entitled to enough memory but if it's using very little memory, you'll get an error message.

Bookmarklet

The ToPDF.org bookmarklet enables you to save webpages as PDFs directly from your browser. To use it, simply add the "Save Page as PDF" bookmarklet to your web browser and click on the newly added bookmarklet each time you visit a webpage that you'd like converted. Here are browser specific instructions:

Firefox

  • Make sure the Bookmarks Toolbar is visible. If it isn't, select "View" from the main menu and then "Toolbars" and then check "Bookmarks Toolbar".
  • Right click on the bookmarklet and select "Add to Favorites".
  • Drag the bookmarklet to the "Bookmarks Toolbar".

Google Chrome

  • Make sure the "Bookmarks Bar" is visible. If it isn't, right click on any part of the menu bar and check "Always show bookmarks bar".
  • Drag the bookmarklet to the Bookmarks Bar.

Internet Explorer

  • First make sure that your favorites bar is visible. If it isn't, add it by clicking on any part of the menu bar and check "Favorites Bar".
  • Right click on the bookmarklet and select "Add to Favorites".
  • Select the "Favorites Bar" folder in combo box and click the "Add" button.

Opera Browser

  • Make sure the "Personal Bar" is visible. If it isn't, select "View" from the main menu and then "Toolbars" and then check "Personal Bar".
  • Drag the bookmarklet to the Personal Bar.

Safari

  • Make sure the "Bookmarks Bar" is visible. If it isn't, select "View" from the main menu and select "Show Bookmarks Bar".
  • Drag the bookmarklet to the Bookmarks Bar.

Adding a link on your site

You can add a "Download as PDF" link on your site using the "Link Generator" form below:

Link Generator Form

  • Replace 'https://www.topdf.org/' with the URL that you would like generated to a PDF.
  • Replace 'Download as PDF' with your preferred anchor text.
  • Click the "Generate Link" button and copy and paste the code beneath the "Generate Link" button to your webpage.
  • URL:
  • Text:

Saving output preferences

Saving your preferences eliminates the hassles of having to select the page size, quality settings, margin values etc. each time you convert a URL. To save your preferences, complete the form and click the "Save Settings" button. If at a later time you need to revert to the default form settings, simply click on the "Reset Form Values" button.