Synchronizing Annotations across Users, Devices, and Sessions

PSPDFKit for Web supports three approaches for synchronizing annotations to your server, and across multiple users, devices, or sessions:

1. PSPDFKit for Web Server-Backed without Instant synchronization

2. PSPDFKit for Web Server-Backed with Instant synchronization

3. Building your own solution using our APIs

All three approaches are deployed on your infrastructure and can be integrated with our web SDK. For integrating with our mobile or desktop SDKs, Instant synchronization and custom-built solutions are supported.

Web Server-Backed without Instant Sync

PSPDFKit for Web Server-Backed uses Document Engine as its backend. Document Engine is our prebuilt solution for synchronizing documents and annotations to your server and across sessions, and for managing authentication. It’s delivered as a Docker container that can be deployed on your infrastructure.

Our web, mobile, and desktop SDKs connect your app to Document Engine, while your backend uses the server’s JSON-based API to manage documents and annotations.

Web Server-Backed without Instant synchronization is best used in scenarios where multiple users will not be working on the same document concurrently. If there will be multiple concurrent users, then you should use Instant synchronization because it has built-in conflict resolution.

Learn more about Document Engine.

Web Server-Backed with Instant Sync

PSPDFKit Instant is our prebuilt solution for synchronizing annotations across multiple concurrent users, devices, or sessions. It’s a licensable component that’s included as part of Document Engine.

Try for Free Launch Demo

Instant consists of three parts: the Document Engine backend that synchronizes documents and annotations and manages authentication; the PSPDFKit Instant component that handles conflict resolution, version tracking, diffing, and merging; and the web, mobile, and desktop SDKs that integrate into your app.

Learn more about PSPDFKit Instant.

Building Your Own Solution

PSPDFKit web, mobile, and desktop SDKs have easy-to-use APIs for importing/exporting annotations and forms data as part of a robust synchronization solution.

Before starting, take a quick look at the following guides:

• Storing annotation data

• Conflict resolution

• Instant JSON overview

• Event listeners

ℹ Info: When building your own solution, our technical support team will gladly help with questions specific to using our SDK. However, due to the complexity of building your own synchronization solution, support is limited to PSPDFKit technology.