Save PDF files using JavaScript

Nutrient Web SDK includes support for client-side PDF saving using JavaScript (without a server). Edited or newly created PDFs can be saved to an ArrayBuffer, to a remote server, or to local storage.

Quick start

Export any open PDF to an ArrayBuffer with a single API call:

// Get the PDF as an `ArrayBuffer`.
const buffer = await instance.exportPDF();

Download to local file

Trigger a browser download from the exported buffer:

// Export and download the PDF.
const buffer = await instance.exportPDF();
const blob = new Blob([buffer], { type: "application/pdf" });
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

const a = document.createElement("a");
a.href = url;
a.download = "document.pdf";
document.body.appendChild(a);
a.click();

URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
document.body.removeChild(a);

Send to a server

Post the exported PDF to your backend:

const buffer = await instance.exportPDF();

await fetch("/api/documents", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/pdf" },
  body: buffer,
});

Add a download button to the toolbar

Combine saving with UI customization:

let instance;

const downloadButton = {
  type: "custom",
  id: "download-pdf",
  icon: "/icons/download.svg",
  title: "Download",
  onPress: async () => {
    const buffer = await instance.exportPDF();
    const blob = new Blob([buffer], { type: "application/pdf" });
    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

    const a = document.createElement("a");
    a.href = url;
    a.download = "document.pdf";
    a.click();

    URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
  },
};

const toolbarItems = NutrientViewer.defaultToolbarItems;
toolbarItems.push(downloadButton);

instance = await NutrientViewer.load({
  container: "#viewer",
  document: "/path/to/document.pdf",
  toolbarItems,
});

Nutrient SDKs are trusted by world’s most popular applications, including Autodesk, Disney, UBS, Dropbox, IBM, and Lufthansa. Nutrient’s powerful solutions enable seamless integration of PDF editing features into your applications, delivering reliability and efficiency to world-class enterprises.

Key capabilities

• Local storage or remote URL — Save PDF files to any location
• Incremental save — Improve performance when saving large PDFs
• Auto save — Automatically save edits to the file
• Client-side — Save PDFs directly in the browser (no server needed)
• Headless — Edited or newly created files can be saved without a UI
• Extendable — Add annotation, signing, editing, forms, and more

Guides for saving a document

Save a document to local storage
How to save a document to local storage

Save a document to an ArrayBuffer
How to save a document to an ArrayBuffer

Save a document to a remote server
How to save a document to a remote server

Save a document to Document Engine
How to save a document to Document Engine

Incremental saving
How to append changes to the end of a PDF, instead of rewriting

Auto-save
How to configure the way changes are automatically saved

Save as
How to save a document as a new file

Detect unsaved changes
How to check for unsaved changes and register state change listeners