How do I download PDF when the website doesn't allow it?
php - How to make PDF file downloadable in HTML link? - Stack Overflow
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How can I download any PDF from any website?
How do I download a PDF that cannot be downloaded?
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This is a common issue but few people know there's a simple HTML 5 solution:
<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download="newfilename">Download the pdf</a>
Where newfilename is the suggested filename for the user to save the file. Or it will default to the filename on the serverside if you leave it empty, like this:
<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download>Download the pdf</a>
Compatibility: I tested this on Firefox 21 and Iron, both worked fine. It might not work on HTML5-incompatible or outdated browsers. The only browser I tested that didn't force download is IE...
Check compatibility here: http://caniuse.com/#feat=download
Instead of linking to the .PDF file, instead do something like
<a href="pdf_server.php?file=pdffilename">Download my eBook</a>
which outputs a custom header, opens the PDF (binary safe) and prints the data to the user's browser, then they can choose to save the PDF despite their browser settings. The pdf_server.php should look like this:
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
$file = $_GET["file"] .".pdf";
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=" . urlencode($file));
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Type: application/download");
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($file));
flush(); // this doesn't really matter.
$fp = fopen($file, "r");
while (!feof($fp))
{
echo fread($fp, 65536);
flush(); // this is essential for large downloads
}
fclose($fp);
PS: and obviously run some sanity checks on the "file" variable to prevent people from stealing your files such as don't accept file extensions, deny slashes, add .pdf to the value