I’m a small business owner selling digital products (e-books/PDFs) on Shopify, and I wanted to raise a request that I think would benefit many merchants like me.
Currently, the free Digital Downloads app only provides basic download links without any protection for PDF files. I’m looking for basic PDF protection features such as:
PDF stamping (adding buyer info like name/email)
Watermarking
Password protection
Basic DRM to prevent unauthorized sharing or printing
Right now, these features are only available via paid third-party apps ($10–50/month), which is a significant cost for small businesses just starting out. Competing platforms like Gumroad and Payhip include PDF stamping in their free plans, making this a competitive disadvantage for Shopify merchants.
I’d love to see these protections added to the free Digital Downloads app, at least basic features that help prevent piracy and allow small sellers to safely sell their digital products.
If you’re also interested in this, please upvote or comment—I think it could really make a difference for our community of digital product sellers.
For actual feature requests contact shopify support DIRECTLY for a support-advisor through the help site . help.shopify.com
Don’t wait around on some hope, use the actual tools with the features you need today.
Such “free” apps by a first party provider are always feature limited meant for GENERAL PURPOSE needs not specific user specific needs.
inb4: “but it’s simple feature”, if why can’t merchants just build it for themselves, or why aren’t there tons of free apps that do it for free etc.
This is a trap mentality and massive cliche.
Either those features actually help generate revenue or they don’t so aren’t needed.
requests for new features are a mistaken hope that someone else builds your business for you like magic.
Meanwhile spending money to make money is an actual plan.
For wanted features:
either post in the actual app forums apps and hope someone knows an exact unicorn fit
Search the app store and do the short listing work to find app with the least tradeoffs to get X-feature(s)
search for digital goods services with or without app integration, if no integration build it yourself
Or hire a developer like myself or others on the forums or in the partner directory to build custom apps for custom needs.
Hey, I completely get where you’re coming from — I’ve actually worked with a few digital product stores who ran into the same limitations with the free Digital Downloads app.
What I’ve done for them is integrate a light, secure setup using a mix of Shopify’s native tools + lightweight automation, so they could still get features like stamped buyer info and basic link protection without paying for heavy third-party apps.
It’s not an official feature (yet), but there are a couple of reliable workarounds that work smoothly if set up correctly.
If you’d like, I can walk you through how I’ve implemented it — it keeps the process affordable and still secure for digital sellers like us.
I understand the frustration with having to used paid apps for these features. The reason this is however is because watermarking / fraud protection etc requires quite a bit of work and servers to do the processing etc. Our product PDF Products Pro offers the features you require however these are on the paid plan. Please email me at admin@alvaapps.com and we can discuss an extended trial for you until your business takes off
