Sharing & Collaboration

Share your PDF documents with team members and collaborate in real-time to create and review documents together.

Overview

The PDF Editor supports two sharing methods:

1. Member Sharing — Share directly with specific team members by email
2. Link Sharing — Generate a public link that anyone with the link can access

Both methods allow you to control whether recipients can view only or also edit the document.

Sharing with Team Members

Sharing by Email

1. Open your document in the PDF Editor
2. Click the Share button in the toolbar
3. In the sharing dialog, select "Share with Member"
4. Enter the email address of the team member
5. Choose permission level:
   • View Only — Recipient can view but cannot edit
   • Edit — Recipient can view and make changes
6. Click Send Invitation
7. The recipient receives an email invitation with access to the document

Permission Levels

View Only

• Recipients can open and view the document
• Recipients cannot make any changes
• Changes made by others appear in real-time
• Perfect for document review and approval

Edit

• Recipients can view and make edits
• Recipients can modify text, add images, and manage pages
• Edits are saved to the document
• Both users see changes in real-time (when document is refreshed)

Managing Shares

1. Click Share in the toolbar
2. In the dialog, see all people the document is shared with
3. For each person:
   • Change permission — Toggle between View and Edit
   • Remove access — Click the X to revoke sharing

Link Sharing

Creating a Share Link

1. Click Share in the toolbar
2. Select "Generate Link"
3. Choose permission level:
   • View Only — Link recipients cannot edit
   • Edit — Link recipients can edit the document
4. Click Generate Link
5. The system creates a unique, secure link
6. Copy the link and share it however you want (email, chat, etc.)

Using a Share Link

Recipients with the link:

1. Click or open the link in their browser
2. They're taken to the document if they're logged into Appfactory Studio
3. The permission level you set applies to them
4. They can view/edit based on their access level

Important Notes

• Link recipients must be logged in — The entire Appfactory Studio system requires authentication
• Anyone with the link can access — As long as they have an Appfactory account
• Link is permanent — The link remains valid until you revoke it

Revoking Link Access

1. Click Share in the toolbar
2. Find the link in the sharing list
3. Click Revoke to disable the link
4. Anyone using the link will lose access

Real-Time Collaboration

When multiple people have a document open:

Seeing Changes

• Auto-refresh — The document refreshes periodically to show others' changes
• Manual refresh — Press F5 or click Refresh to see latest changes immediately
• Change indicators — A status message shows when changes are being saved

Avoiding Conflicts

Sequential editing is recommended — While multiple people can work on the same document:

• Take turns editing different sections
• Refresh before starting major edits
• Communicate about who's editing what

No simultaneous element editing — The editor doesn't support true simultaneous editing of the same element. If two people edit the same text box:

• Last save wins
• The last person to save overwrites previous changes
• Use different pages or sections to avoid this

Version History

All changes to your document are automatically saved as versions. This allows you to:

• Review changes — See what was changed and when
• Track collaboration — Understand who made which changes
• Restore versions — Go back to any previous version

See Version History for detailed instructions.

Autosave and Synchronization

How Autosave Works

1. Every 15 seconds, the document automatically saves
2. You see a green indicator when save succeeds
3. A new version is created for each save
4. All versions are available in History

For Collaborators

When someone else is editing:

1. Their changes are automatically saved
2. Your document doesn't update automatically
3. Click Refresh to see their latest changes
4. You'll see the most current version of the document

Commenting and Feedback

While the PDF Editor doesn't have built-in comments, you can:

1. Use separate communication — Email or chat to discuss changes
2. Add text notes — Insert temporary text notes in the document
3. Use version history — Refer to specific versions in discussions

Collaboration Workflow

Typical Review Process

1. Creator opens the document and shares with reviewers
2. Creator sets permission to "View Only" for initial review
3. Reviewers examine the document and provide feedback
4. Creator makes changes based on feedback
5. Creator increases permission to "Edit" for final collaboration
6. Collaborators make final edits
7. Creator exports final PDF

Approval Workflow

1. Document creator shares with "View Only" permission
2. Approver reviews the document
3. Approver communicates approval via email or chat
4. Creator adds signature or date stamp to approve
5. Creator exports final PDF as official record

Collaborative Editing

1. Coordinator creates document and shares with team
2. Team members get "Edit" permission
3. Team assigns different pages/sections to each person
4. Each person edits their assigned section
5. Coordinator reviews completed work
6. Coordinator exports final document

Sharing Best Practices

Security

• Use View Only by default — Only grant Edit permission when necessary
• Revoke access when done — Remove people who no longer need the document
• Limited link sharing — Avoid sharing generated links publicly or unsecurely

Communication

• Notify recipients — Let people know you're sharing a document
• Explain the task — Describe what you need from them
• Set deadlines — Provide clear timelines for review/edits
• Follow up — Check in on progress as needed

Organization

• Use consistent naming — Make document names clear and descriptive
• Document purpose — Include purpose in the document name
• Archive old shares — Remove access when projects are complete

Collaboration Across Organizations

Current limitation — Sharing only works between members of the same Appfactory Studio account/organization. You cannot share with external users outside your organization.

Workaround — Export the document as a PDF and share the file directly.

Troubleshooting

Person didn't receive invitation

• Why — Email may be filtered or incorrect address used
• Solution — Resend invitation or verify email address is correct
• Alternative — Use link sharing instead

Changes aren't showing up

• Why — Document hasn't auto-refreshed yet
• Solution — Press F5 or click Refresh button
• Time — Changes appear within 1-2 minutes typically

Can't see Edit option

• Why — You have View Only permission for this document
• Solution — Ask the document owner to grant Edit permission
• Alternative — Request changes via email and have owner make edits

Person can't access the document

• Why — They might not be logged into Appfactory Studio
• Solution — Ensure they're logged in before trying to access
• Check — Verify the link is correct

Need to revoke access

• How — Click Share, find the person, click Remove access
• Immediate — Access is revoked immediately
• Notification — The person won't receive a notification but will lose access

Advanced Collaboration

Branching Workflow

For complex documents:

1. Create main document
2. Save version as reference
3. Share with different team for feedback
4. Incorporate feedback into main document
5. Maintain version history for tracking

Document Templates

1. Create a well-designed template document
2. Duplicate for each use
3. Share with team to fill in content
4. Collect completed versions
5. Merge into final document if needed

Sections and Ownership

While not officially enforced:

1. Assign pages — Tell each collaborator which pages to edit
2. Sequential workflow — One person at a time edits
3. Clear communication — Use email to coordinate
4. Version check — Review history before major changes

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
F5	Refresh document to see others' changes
Ctrl+S / Cmd+S	Manually save document
Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z	Undo changes

Next Steps

• Version History — Learn about document versions
• Page Management — Organize document structure
• FAQ & Troubleshooting — Get answers to common questions