Frequently Asked Questions
Answers about selling digital files on Shopify with Imprint: file types and size limits, PDF watermarking, licence stamps, leak tracing, email delivery, refunds and languages.
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Here are the answers to the most common questions we get from merchants.
Files & Storage
What types of files can I sell?
Almost any digital file! We support PDFs and other documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), eBooks (EPUB, MOBI), images, design files (PSD, AI, Figma, Sketch), ZIP and other archives, videos (MP4, MOV), audio (MP3, WAV), fonts and 3D models.
If your file type isn't accepted, put it in a ZIP archive and upload that instead.
Is there a file size limit?
Imprint is built on enterprise-grade cloud storage, and your files upload straight from your browser to it, so large videos and archives are no problem.
How big a single file can be depends on your plan:
- Free: up to 100 MB per file.
- Basic: up to 1 GB per file.
- Premium: no file size limit.
Your total storage also depends on your plan (500 MB on Free, 5 GB on Basic, unlimited on Premium). See Pricing & Plans.
Can I sell multiple files in one product?
On the Free plan, only one file is allowed per product. When using the Basic plan or higher you can attach as many files as you need to a single product. When a customer buys the product, they will receive a list of download links for every file you attached.
Security & Watermarking
How does PDF watermarking work?
When a customer clicks "Download," our system intercepts the request and stamps their personal details (like Email or Order Number) onto the PDF pages in real-time before streaming it to their browser. For most files this only takes a moment, so there's practically no waiting time for the customer.
Can I put the watermark on the first page only?
Yes. Turn on First page only under Settings → Watermark. Only page 1 gets the visible stamp, and the rest of the pages stay untouched.
If you use tracing marks (Premium), their invisible marks still go on every page, even with First page only on.
In earlier versions, the stamp went on every page even with First page only turned on. This is fixed now: only the first page is stamped. See the Changelog.
Can the watermark show how many copies were bought?
Yes, on the Basic and Premium plans. Add {quantity} and {copies} to your watermark text: Licensed to {name} for {quantity} {copies} stamps "Licensed to John Doe for 12 copies", or "1 copy" for a single copy.
{copies} is written in the language of your Shopify admin. Stores in Greek, Hungarian and Japanese get the English word, because the stamp's font can't draw those words. See Licence Stamping.
Can a product have its own watermark text?
Yes, on the Premium plan. Open the product and fill in its Watermark text section. For example, your licensed sheet music can carry a licence text while your ebooks keep the text from Settings → Watermark. It can also choose between one line and several. The position, size, color and the other settings still come from Settings → Watermark. See A Product's Own Watermark Text.
Does the watermark show the company name on B2B orders?
On the Premium plan, yes. On a Shopify B2B order, {company} stamps the name of the company that placed the order. On Basic, and on orders that aren't B2B, {company} is the company from the order's address.
On every plan, B2B orders show a B2B badge and the company's name on the order page. See Company Names on B2B Orders.
Does watermarking work on videos or images?
Currently, our "Stamping Engine" only supports PDF files. The same goes for copy codes in the file and tracing marks.
For other file types (Videos, ZIPs, etc.), we still provide secure, expiring download links, but we cannot visually stamp the content itself.
Can customers share their download links?
Customers can forward their links. These controls limit how a forwarded link can be used:
- Unique Links: Every link is unique to that specific order.
- Download Limits: With a limit of 5, the link stops working after 5 downloads in total, including any made by the buyer.
- Download Log: On the Basic plan or higher, every download is listed on the order page with its time, country and device, so you can spot a link that's being passed around. See Copy Tracking.
- Restrict Downloads: If you suspect sharing, you can block an order's links with one click from its order page.
Leak Protection
Can I find out who leaked my PDF?
Yes. On the Premium plan, upload the copy you found on the Leak tracing page. Imprint looks for the codes and customer details your downloads carry, and tells you whose download it was and how sure the match is. The file you upload is deleted as soon as it has been analyzed.
It works best when tracing marks were on when the copy was downloaded, because they hide the download's copy code inside the PDF. With the QR code turned on, even a copy that was printed, scanned or turned into screenshots can be traced, as long as the QR code is still readable. Learn more about leak tracing
On the Basic plan, if you can see a copy code or licence code in the file (for example in the visible stamp), type it into Find Order by Code on the Orders page to open the order it came from. See Copy Tracking.
What's the difference between a copy code and the customer's email?
Both can lead you back to the order, but a copy code is better at it:
- It points to one download, not just a customer. A customer who bought from you twice, or downloaded a file three times, has one email but a different copy code for each download.
- It keeps customer details off the page. A stamp containing only a code like
IMP-7K3QZ9M2PXPdoesn't display the customer's name or email. You can still link it to their order in Imprint. - It keeps working after a customer's data is erased. If a customer asks Shopify to delete their personal data, their name and email are removed from Imprint too, but the copy code still traces a leaked file to that order.
- It handles common misreads. Upper or lower case, spaces and look-alike characters (like
Oand0) don't matter. A built-in check helps catch typing errors in copy codes.
You can stamp both, too. See Copy Tracking.
Will tracing marks change how my PDF looks?
The hidden marks are designed to be unobtrusive: faint text in each page's margin and entries in the document properties. Preview your PDF to check the result on your layout.
The only visible part is the optional QR code: a square of about 1 cm in a corner of every page, on a small white square that covers whatever is underneath it. It's off unless you turn it on, and the settings page shows a preview so you can pick the corner that suits your layout. See Tracing Marks.
How do I get a leaked copy taken down?
On the Premium plan, open the leak tracing result or the order page and click Draft a takedown notice. Imprint drafts a DMCA notice (for US-based sites and most large platforms) or an EU Digital Services Act notice from the details you enter. The notice is always written in English and never includes your customer's details. You then send it to the website yourself. See Takedown Notices.
Delivery & Email
Do I need to manually send files to customers?
No. Imprint is fully automated. As soon as an order is marked as Paid in Shopify, we instantly email the links to the customer.
Does Imprint mark my orders as fulfilled?
Yes. Once the download links have been delivered, Imprint marks the order's digital items as fulfilled in Shopify. Physical items in the same order are left for you to fulfill. You can turn this off under Settings → Orders. See Order Settings.
Can I use my own email address to send the links?
Yes! If you are on the Basic Plan or higher, you can connect your own SMTP server (Gmail, Outlook, Zoho, etc.). This allows emails to come from [email protected] instead of our default address. See Email Settings.
What happens if a customer loses their email?
You have three options:
- Go to the Orders page in Imprint and click Resend Email.
- If you have enabled the Checkout Extension, customers can download their files again from the Order Status page, which they reach from their order confirmation email or by logging in to their account.
- If the link expired, you can click Extend Expiry on the order page.
An order shows as Failed. What should I do?
Failed means Imprint couldn't deliver the download email, for example because your own email server refused it. Open the order to see the error message, fix the cause (the Email Settings button in the banner takes you there), then click Retry. See Managing Orders.
Can I show download links on the Thank You / Order Status page?
On Basic and Premium, enable the Checkout Extension to show a "Your Downloads" box on Shopify's Thank you and Order status pages. Customers can return to the order page while their links remain active. The same expiry dates and download limits apply. See Display links on checkout.
Languages
Which languages does Imprint support?
Imprint is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Greek, Hungarian, Polish and Turkish.
- The app follows the language of your Shopify admin.
- Your customers get their download email, the checkout downloads and any download messages (like an expired link) in the language they shopped in. If Imprint doesn't support that language, they get the language of your Shopify admin, or English.
Takedown notices are the exception: they're always written in English. In a licence stamp, the word that {copies} stamps follows the language of your Shopify admin, not the customer's.
Refunds & Management
What happens if I refund or cancel an order?
Imprint syncs with Shopify automatically.
- Full Refund: All download links for that order are immediately disabled.
- Partial Refund: The links of the refunded products are disabled, whatever quantity you refund. The rest remain active.
- Cancellation: All of the order's downloads are restricted.
What happens to a licence after a partial refund?
A refund that includes a product disables that product's links on the order, even if you refund only some of the copies. If a school bought 30 copies and you refund 2, it can no longer download the file. Imprint never lowers the quantity on the stamp.
A refund that includes none of the order's items leaves the links working. If the link is already disabled, create a new order for the copies the buyer kept, and Imprint sends new links for it. See Refunds and Licences.
Can I edit a product after I've sold it?
Yes. If you update a file (e.g., upload "Version 2.0" of an eBook), all customers will get the new file. Previous customers will download the new file if they follow their link again. If you changed the number of files, you need to resend the emails so that the users get all the links.
Takedown Notices
Draft a DMCA or EU Digital Services Act notice that asks a website to remove leaked copies of your work, right from a leak lookup or an order page.
Pricing & Plans
Imprint Files pricing: a free plan with PDF watermarking, Basic at $8.99 and Premium at $18.99 a month, a 14-day trial and 2 months free on annual billing.