Multiple Users

PSPDFKit Server has been deprecated and replaced by PSPDFKit Document Engine. All PSPDFKit Server and PSPDFKit for Web Server-Backed licenses will work as before and be supported until 15 May 2024 (we will contact you about license migration). To start using Document Engine, refer to the migration guide. With Document Engine, you’ll have access to robust new capabilities (read the blog for more information).

If you need multiple people to annotate independent copies of the same document, you don’t need to upload the document multiple times. Instead, you can assign a different layer to each person. PSPDFKit Server will maintain a completely different set of annotations for each layer, thereby saving storage space.

1. Your service provides your web application with JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) used for authentication. There are two different users: Both use the same document, but each of them uses a distinct Instant layer.

2. Each user creates an annotation in their own layer. Annotations in different layers are completely separate, and annotations in one layer can’t be seen in any other layer. This approach can be used to separate annotations created by distinct users or by different document perspectives, e.g. marking up important information in the document and reviewing it.

3. Each viewer instance only receives annotations created in its own layer, thereby maintaining the separation of content between users.

4. A single document can have as many layers as you need. PSPDFKit will efficiently use the same underlying asset, generating layer-specific PDF files only when needed (e.g. if you want to download the PDF for a user’s layer).