PDF magazine

Turn your PDF into a magazine

Upload a PDF and share it as an online magazine: flat-lay spreads around a centre spine, pages that turn like the printed issue, readable in any browser - and tracked page by page.

Drop your PDF here

or click anywhere in the tray to browse

PDF only · max 20MB

Free · no account needed to start · pick the magazine viewer on the next step

A page-turn worthy of print

Spreads lie flat around a centre spine shadow, artwork edge to edge - and the leaf turns in real 3D. Drag it across, flick to commit, or tap the page edge: the same physics engine as our flipbook, dressed as an open issue.

Zoom, fullscreen, thumbnails

Read close with the zoom buttons, Ctrl/Cmd+scroll, or a pinch - up to 3x, with panning. Go fullscreen (yes, on iPhone too), and jump anywhere from page thumbnails or a table of contents built from your PDF outline.

Reads the way you published it

Right-to-left reading for Arabic, Hebrew, and Japanese titles, a cover that opens alone or paired like a calendar, your page-turn speed, and an optional page-flip sound - you set the house rules.

See who read the issue

A magazine link is a FileDroppr link: page-by-page reading time, a read-through funnel, and returning readers - without storing a single reader IP address.

What is a PDF magazine viewer?

A PDF magazine viewer presents a PDF as facing-page spreads - the way magazines, lookbooks, catalogues, zines, and annual reports are actually designed. Instead of scrolling a flat file, the reader sees the open issue: left and right pages side by side around a centre spine, artwork running edge to edge, and a leaf that turns when they drag it.

FileDroppr works as an online magazine maker for a PDF you already have: no re-layout, no export plugin, no reader app. Upload the print file, pick the magazine viewer, and the link opens in any browser. And an issue is a lasting thing - the link lives as long as you choose, indefinitely on Pro.

How to make a digital magazine from a PDF

  1. Upload your PDF. Drop it in the uploader above - no account needed to try it - and FileDroppr hosts it as a shareable link.
  2. Choose the magazine view. Set the viewer mode to Magazine and the file renders as two-page spreads with a real page-turn. All four viewer modes are free on every plan.
  3. Set the reading rules (Basic and up). Page-turn speed, an optional page-flip sound, right-to-left reading, and whether the cover opens alone or paired - tuned against a live preview.
  4. Share or embed it. Send the link, drop in the QR code, or copy the embed snippet to put the magazine on your own website.
  5. Read the readership. Your report shows page-by-page reading time, a read-through funnel, and returning readers - which spreads held attention, and where the issue was put down.

Magazine or flipbook - which one?

Both modes share the same 3D page-turn - drag, flick, or tap - so the choice is about dress. Magazine mode is the flat-lay: spreads sit flush around a centre spine shadow and the artwork runs edge to edge, the presentation for anything designed as facing pages. The flipbook viewer is the book: it adds backgrounds, your logo, and page cosmetics - shadow depth, rounded corners, stacked paper edges - plus a one-page/two-page layout toggle.

A fair rule of thumb: if the design is the hero, choose magazine; if the object should feel like a bound book in your brand, choose flipbook. Either way it is the same tracked link, and you can switch modes at any time without re-uploading.

Phones get a real reading, not a shrunken spread

A two-page spread crushed onto a phone screen helps nobody. Below phone width the magazine switches to single-page reading automatically - one page at a time, full width, with the same drag, flick, and tap page turns. No settings, no second file, no "best viewed on desktop" apology.

The link is the same everywhere: a reader who opens your issue on the train gets a phone-shaped magazine, and the readership report records their pages just the same.

Make the issue carry your name

On Basic, the viewer takes your branding: a background colour, gradient, or image behind the spreads, your logo linked back to your site, and the reading behaviour - turn speed, sound, reading direction - set the way you want it.

On Pro, the pages themselves become interactive: draw hotspots that open a link, jump to another page, or play video and audio inside the issue - every tap counted in your readership report - and serve the whole thing from your own domain.

PDF magazine questions.

How do I turn a PDF into a digital magazine?

Upload the PDF to FileDroppr - no account needed to try it - and set the viewer mode to Magazine. Share the link and readers get an online magazine with two-page spreads and a real page-turn, in any browser, nothing to install.

Do the pages actually turn?

Yes. Drag a page and the leaf curls over the spread in 3D, flick to commit the turn, or tap the page edges - the same page-turn physics as the FileDroppr flipbook, presented as a flat-lay magazine.

Does the magazine work on phones?

Yes. On screens narrower than about 700px the magazine switches to single-page reading automatically, keeping the same drag, flick, and tap page turns - so phone readers get full-width pages instead of a shrunken spread.

Can readers zoom in and read fullscreen?

Yes. Zoom runs from 1x to 3x with panning - via the toolbar buttons, Ctrl/Cmd+scroll, or a pinch - and fullscreen works across devices, including iPhone. Page thumbnails and a table of contents from the PDF outline handle navigation.

Can I set right-to-left reading or keep the cover on its own?

Yes. Magazine mode honours your document settings: right-to-left reading for Arabic, Hebrew, and Japanese titles, a cover that opens alone or paired, page-turn speed, and an optional page-flip sound. These controls start on the Basic plan.

Is the magazine viewer free?

Yes - all four viewer modes, magazine included, are available on every plan, including Free. Customisation (turn speed, sound, reading direction, cover pairing) starts on Basic; interactive hotspots and advanced branding are Pro.

What's the difference between magazine mode and the flipbook?

They share the same page-turn. Magazine is the flat-lay presentation - spreads flush around a centre spine shadow, artwork edge to edge - while the flipbook adds book styling: backgrounds, page shadow and rounded corners, stacked paper edges, and a one-page/two-page layout toggle.

Publish your PDF as a magazine.

Upload the issue, pick the magazine viewer, and share a link that turns like print - and tells you which spreads were read.

See plans

Related: PDF flipbook maker · PDF story mode · portfolios & lookbooks · PDF read tracking