How to make a PDF open fast on a website (fast web view)

To make a PDF on your website show its first page sooner, linearize it: open Optimize PDF for fast web view, drop the file in, and download the new copy once the panel confirms it passed the check. Then replace the file on your site with that copy.

Linearizing is also called "fast web view". It reorders the data inside the PDF; it does not change how any page looks.

Steps

1. Open Optimize PDF for fast web view and drop the PDF onto the box, or click to choose it. It is optimized on your device straight away.
2. Read the Fast web view check in the panel. It says whether your file already had fast web view, and confirms the new copy passed the check.
3. Drag the divider across the preview to compare page one of the Original and the Fast web view copy. They should look identical.
4. Press Download PDF and upload the new copy to your website or app in place of the original.

What linearizing changes

An ordinary PDF keeps its table of contents for reader programs at the very end of the file. A browser opening it from a link has to wait for the last byte before it knows where page one is. On a 30 MB catalogue over a phone connection, that wait is the whole download.

A linearized PDF is rewritten so that everything page one needs, plus a map of the rest, sits at the front. The viewer can draw the first page while the rest is still arriving, and jump to a later page by fetching just that part. That last trick needs the web server to send files in parts, which most servers do.

When it helps, and when it does not

Make it smaller and fast

Linearizing can make a file slightly bigger, because the map is added. For the quickest result on a website, do both, in this order:

1. Run the file through Compress PDF to shrink its photos.
2. Optimize the compressed copy here.

Doing it the other way round loses the fast web view layout, because compressing rewrites the file.

How the result is checked

After the new copy is written, it is read back and tested: it must be correctly linearized and have every page of the original. If either test fails, you get an error instead of a file, so a broken copy never reaches your downloads. The pages, text, images, links and bookmarks are the same as before.

Some desktop PDF readers show this property under Document Properties as "Fast Web View: Yes", which is a second way to confirm it.

Troubleshooting

The file will not open in the tool. It may be damaged. Try Repair PDF first, then optimize the repaired copy.

It asks for a password. Enter the one you know; it is checked on your device. The new copy has no password, so add one again with Protect PDF if needed. Bear in mind that a password stops a browser from showing the PDF until someone types it.

The page still loads slowly. Check the size of the file. A 40 MB PDF arrives slowly whatever its layout; compress it, and consider whether every page needs to be in one file.

Questions

What does linearize PDF mean?

It means rewriting the PDF so that the first page and a map of the file come first. A browser can then show page one before the whole file has downloaded.

Does it change how my PDF looks?

No. Only the order of the data inside the file changes.

Will the file get smaller?

Not by much, and it can grow slightly. Compress first if size matters.

Does optimizing upload the file?

No. It is optimized inside your browser and never leaves your device.