ILikePdf API & Embed Documentation

Quick Start

The simplest way to embed an ILikePdf tool is with an iframe. Add the ?embed=1 parameter to hide the header, sidebar, and footer.

<!-- Embed the Merge PDF tool -->
<iframe src="https://www.ilikepdf.tech/merge-pdf?embed=1"
        width="100%" height="600px"
        style="border:none;border-radius:8px"
        allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write"
        loading="lazy"></iframe>

Query Parameters

Customize the embedded tool with URL parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
embed	1	Enables minimal embed mode (hides chrome, removes margins)
autoRun	true	Auto-process the provided file (must also provide pdfUrl)
pdfUrl	string	Pre-load a PDF from a URL (must be same-origin or CORS-enabled)
lang	string	Language code (future use)

postMessage API

Communicate with the embedded tool using window.postMessage.

Commands (send to iframe)

iframe.contentWindow.postMessage({
  command: 'loadPdf',
  payload: { url: 'https://example.com/doc.pdf' }
}, 'https://www.ilikepdf.tech');

Command	Payload	Description
loadPdf	{ url: string }	Load a PDF from a URL
loadPdfBuffer	{ buffer: ArrayBuffer }	Load a PDF from an ArrayBuffer (transferable)
triggerAction	{}	Trigger the primary action (merge, split, compress, etc.)
download	{}	Trigger download of the result
reset	{}	Reset the tool to initial state

Events (listen from iframe)

window.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
  if (event.origin !== 'https://www.ilikepdf.tech') return;

  if (event.data.type === 'ready') {
    console.log('Tool loaded and ready');
  }

  if (event.data.type === 'result') {
    const { fileName, fileSize, mimeType } = event.data.payload;
    console.log(`Done: ${fileName} (${fileSize} bytes)`);
  }

  if (event.data.type === 'progress') {
    console.log(`Progress: ${event.data.payload.percent}%`);
  }

  if (event.data.type === 'error') {
    console.error('Error:', event.data.payload.message);
  }
});

Event Type	Payload	Description
ready	{ tool: string }	Fired when the tool finishes loading
progress	{ percent: number, message: string }	Fired during processing
result	{ fileName: string, fileSize: number, mimeType: string }	Fired when processing completes
error	{ message: string }	Fired when an error occurs

JavaScript SDK

For a more programmatic approach, load the ILikePdf SDK and use the ILikePdf.init() method.

Installation

<!-- Load from CDN -->
<script src="https://www.ilikepdf.tech/assets/js/embed.js"></script>

Basic usage

const instance = ILikePdf.init({
  target: '#pdf-tool',     // CSS selector or DOM element
  tool: 'merge-pdf',        // Tool slug (merge-pdf, split-pdf, compress-pdf, etc.)
  width: '100%',
  height: '600px',
});

// Or with result handling
const inst = ILikePdf.init({
  target: '#pdf-tool',
  tool: 'compress-pdf',
  onResult: (data) => {
    console.log(`Compressed: ${data.fileName}`);
  },
});

// Send commands to the tool
inst.postMessage({ command: 'loadPdf', payload: { url: '...' } });

// Remove the tool
inst.destroy();

Create a button

const btn = ILikePdf.createButton({
  text: 'Compress My PDF',
  tool: 'compress-pdf',
});
document.body.appendChild(btn);

SDK Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
target	string | Element	required	CSS selector or DOM element to mount the iframe
tool	string	merge-pdf	Tool slug
width	string	100%	iframe width
height	string	600px	iframe height
autoRun	boolean	false	Auto-process on load
pdfUrl	string	-	Pre-load a PDF URL
onResult	function	-	Callback when tool completes
onDone	function	-	Alias for onResult

Available Tools

All 48 tools can be embedded. Use the tool slug as the URL path:

Tool	Slug (URL path)
Merge PDFs	/merge-pdf
Compress PDF	/compress-pdf
Split PDF	/split-pdf
PDF to JPG	/pdf-to-jpg
Word to PDF	/word-to-pdf
Images to PDF	/images-to-pdf
Digital Signature	/digital-signature
Fill PDF Forms	/fill-pdf-form
... and 40+ more. See the full list.

Example: https://www.ilikepdf.tech/compress-pdf?embed=1

Rate Limits

There are no API rate limits. All processing happens client-side in the user's browser, so usage is limited only by the end user's device capabilities. We do not throttle or charge for any embed usage.

Privacy

When you embed ILikePdf tools, your users' files are processed entirely in their browser. No file data is sent to any server. See our Privacy Policy for details.