Know how far they actually read.
“Opened” is the least useful thing a document can tell you. Share it as a link and you get read depth per reader, the page everyone stops on, and the one they keep going back to.
You cannot track a file you have already handed over. An attachment is a copy on someone else’s machine — it stops reporting the moment it is delivered.
Everything below works because the pages are served rather than sent.
What you can actually see
Six signals, in rough order of how much they are worth.
Read depth, per reader
How far each person actually got — page 4 of 38, or all the way to the end. The number that separates a reader from an opener.
Where they stopped
Drop-off across every page. There is usually one cliff, and it is usually a page you could fix.
What they went back to
The most re-read page. Going back is deliberate — it is often the fastest read on what a document is really being used for.
Time on each page
Useful as a comparison between pages in one document. We will not pretend it measures attention — a tab left open counts.
Where the traffic came from
Add UTM parameters to a share link and reads show up under a named campaign, so you can tell the newsletter from the pitch.
Names, only if you ask
A link tells you a document was read, not who read it. An email gate or a paywall gives you a name — because they gave you one.
This is the reader doing the counting
Flip through it. Every page turn below is the same event a document of yours would record.
What document tracking cannot do
Worth reading before you buy anything on this subject — ours included.
It cannot tell you who someone is
Not without asking. Any page promising anonymous visitor identification on a public link is describing something that either does not work or should worry you. If you need names, gate the document and accept that a gate costs you readers.
It cannot follow a download
The moment someone downloads a file and opens it on a train, tracking stops. That is the real argument for sharing a link instead of an attachment — an attachment stops reporting the instant it is delivered.
It is not retroactive, and not forever
There is no history for a PDF that has been emailed around for six months. And reader events are kept for three months — the trade that makes per-page tracking fast and free of per-document cost. A quarterly review fits; a year-on-year comparison does not.
Document tracking FAQ
What is document tracking?
Document tracking records what happens after you send something — whether it was opened, how far the reader got, which pages they returned to and how long they stayed. It only works when the document is shared as a link rather than as an email attachment, because a file that has been delivered cannot report back.
Can you track a PDF you send by email?
Not once it is an attachment. A PDF in an inbox is a copy on someone else’s machine and reports nothing. To track it you have to share it as a link instead, so the pages are served rather than sent — then opens, read depth and drop-off can all be recorded.
Can you tell who opened a document?
Only if they tell you. A public link records that a document was read and how far, not the identity of the reader. Putting an email gate in front of the document, or selling access to it, gives you a name because the reader supplied one. Any tool claiming to name anonymous readers of a public link is overpromising.
How is this different from sales-enablement document tracking?
Sales-enablement tools track documents as part of a CRM pipeline, priced per seat for a sales team. Living Page is a way to publish documents as readable links, with per-page analytics included — better suited to agencies, freelancers and studios sending client work than to a sales floor running a deal desk.
How long is tracking data kept?
Three months. Read events go into an analytics engine built for high-volume time-series data with a rolling retention window, which is what keeps per-page tracking quick and free of per-document cost. Anything you need beyond that should be exported or captured in a report while it is live.
Does document tracking work on embedded documents?
Yes. A document embedded on your own website reports the same read depth and per-page detail as one opened at its share link, so an embed on a landing page is measurable in the same way.
Tracking sits alongside per-client workspaces and document payments. See the full feature set or pricing.