Embedding a PDF file
PDF files may also be embedded in a web page like an image. The standards-compliant markup for embedding a PDF is:
<object type="application/pdf" data="directions.pdf" width="450
" height="600
"> </object>
Browsers that use the Netscape plug-in architecture may require the nonstandard embed
element to display the PDF inline. The href
attribute is added so multipage PDF files will open in the reader if the image is clicked. (In Internet Explorer, multipage PDFs are accessible inline using the embedded Acrobat Reader controls for paging through the file.)
It is common for web authors to combine object
and embed
elements to cover all the bases like this:
<object type="application/pdf" data="directions.pdf" width="450"
height="600
">
<embed src="directions.pdf" width="450" height="400" href="directions.
pdf">
<noembed><a href="directions.pdf">Link to documentation (PDF)</a></
noembed>
</embed>
</object>
Warning
Be aware that embed
is a nonstandard element that will prevent an (X)HTML document from validating. We are moving toward a standards-compliant Web in which the object
element alone will be sufficient, but for the time being, the embed
element is still being used to ensure cross-browser support of embedded media.
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