Operational Modes

PSPDFKit for Web can be operated in two possible modes:

  1. Standalone — A JavaScript library where document rendering and processing happens in the browser

  2. Server-Backed — Document rendering and processing happens in Document Engine

Regardless of the operational mode being used, your frontend code will be identical, with some exceptions (such as initialization and opening files).

Standalone

PSPDFKit for Web Standalone uses our JavaScript library for rendering and editing documents directly in the browser. It’s powered by WebAssembly technology, and it doesn’t require a server, plugins, or internet access.

A serverless solution has the following advantages:

  • Get up and running faster — No servers need to be deployed or maintained.

  • Lower infrastructure costs — Rendering and processing are offloaded to the client.

  • Security and privacy — Documents don’t need to be transferred across a network.

Server-Backed

PSPDFKit for Web Server-Backed utilizes Document Engine as its backend, which is packaged as a Docker container.

Web Server-Backed has the following advantages:

  • Faster performance — Leveraging both client-side viewing and server-side rendering, it ensures swift performance, enhancing user interactions. This results in a lighter end user experience by shifting operations from the browser to the backend.

  • Seamless syncing — Annotations and form field values synchronize across servers and sessions without additional configuration, streamlining collaborative workflows.

  • Security and privacy — Designed with privacy and security in mind, it offers a resilient infrastructure to protect sensitive data.

  • High-performance capabilities — Developers can harness advanced features like OCR (web) and Instant Collaboration (web, mobile), empowering real-time collaborative document management.

  • Scalability — Its scalable architecture caters to evolving needs, providing a reliable foundation for projects of all sizes.

  • Headless processing — Supports headless document processing, enabling automated tasks such as batch conversion and manipulation without the need for a graphical user interface, thus enhancing efficiency and integration capabilities.

Comparing Operational Modes

Deployment Standalone Server-Backed
Deployment options On your infrastructure On your infrastructure or managed by PSPDFKit
Backend Static Document Engine
Deployment method Any Container
Framework Standalone Server-Backed
Angular ✓ ✓
ASP.NET ✓ ✓
Blazor ✓ ✓
Electron ✓
HTML5 ✓ ✓
jQuery ✓ ✓
Next.js ✓ ✓
Nuxt.js ✓ ✓
Progressive Web Apps ✓ ✓
React ✓ ✓
Ruby on Rails ✓ ✓
Svelte ✓ ✓
TypeScript ✓ ✓
Vue ✓ ✓
Integrations Standalone Server-Backed
SharePoint Online ✓ Coming soon
SharePoint On-Premises ✓ Coming soon
Microsoft Teams ✓ Coming soon
Microsoft OneDrive ✓ Coming soon
Salesforce ✓ Coming soon
PDF Support Standalone Server-Backed
PDF ✓ ✓
PDF/A 1, 2, 3, 4 ✓ ✓
XFDF ✓ ✓
Instant JSON ✓ ✓
Office Document Support Standalone Server-Backed
DOCX, DOC, DOTX, DOCM ✓ ✓
PPTX, PPT, PPTM, PPSX ✓ ✓
XLSX, XLS, XLSM ✓ ✓
RTF ✓
ODT ✓
HTML Support Standalone Server-Backed
HTML ✓
Image Support Standalone Server-Backed
PNG ✓ ✓
JPEG, JPG ✓ ✓
TIFF, TIF ✓ ✓
HEIC ✓
GIF ✓
WEBP ✓
SVG ✓
TGA ✓
EPS ✓
Performance Standalone Server-Backed
Initial load time Fast Fastest
Document rendering Client-side Server-side
Document processing Client-side Server-side
Document streaming ✓
Functionality Standalone Server-Backed
Viewer ✓ ✓
Annotations ✓ ✓
Forms ✓ ✓
Signatures ✓ ✓
Editor ✓ ✓
PDF generation ✓ ✓✓
Conversion ✓ ✓
Extraction ✓ ✓
Redaction ✓ ✓
OCR ✓
Document security ✓ ✓✓
Search ✓ ✓
Bookmarks ✓ ✓
Events and notifications ✓ ✓
Print ✓ ✓
User authentication Not built-in Built-in
Annotation and Form Synchronization Standalone Server-Backed
Sync annotations and form data to a server Not built-in Built-in
Conflict resolution for concurrent editing Not built-in Built-in*
Customizable permissions Not built-in Built-in
Incremental sync (annotation diff) Not built-in Built-in

* Via PSPDFKit Instant (a component for Document Engine)

Learn more about Document Engine.