# Place a document (PDF) in a scene

At the end, a scene shows the pages of a PDF from your media library: one page, all chosen pages in turn, or two pages side by side. Notices, flyers, menus, and plans reach the displays this way without a detour through an image editor.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** Anyone who designs a scene.
> **Prerequisite:** the permission to edit this scene and a PDF in the media library.
> **Where in the portal:** **Scenes** › open a scene › **Insert and settings** bar › **Media**

## Steps

1. In the bar, open the **Media** area. Under **All** or **Documents**, your PDF files sit next to images and videos.
2. Click the PDF. It appears as a **Document** widget in the **Page** template, upright like a sheet of paper, centered on the stage.
3. Open the settings window with the gear icon **Settings**. Under **File**, the PDF appears with its page count, and **Other file** lets you choose a different one.
4. Under **Pages**, all pages appear as thumbnails. Without your selection, the widget shows all pages except blank ones, such as blank back pages. A click on a page removes it or adds it. **All except blank** restores the default.
5. Under **Show**, choose how the pages appear, and under **Appearance** the surface behind the pages. **Apply** writes everything into the scene.

## The settings

| Field | Choice | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Show** | **One page**, **In sequence**, **Two side by side** | One page stays still. In sequence cycles through the chosen pages, and fine lines at the bottom edge show the current position. Two side by side shows double pages on the surface, and “Pages 2–3 of 6” appears at the bottom right. |
| **Change every** | **5 s**, **10 s**, **20 s**, **30 s** | How long a page stays. All displays with the same scene show the same page at the same time. |
| **Fit page** | **Whole page**, **Fill width** | The whole page fits into the frame, or it fills the frame's width, aligned to the top. What overhangs at the bottom is then not visible. |
| **Surface** | **Dark**, **Light**, **Transparent** | The surface around the pages. Transparent lets the scene's background show through. |
| **Corners** | **Rounded**, **Sharp** | The corners of the widget. |

## Templates

| Template | Size | What for |
|---|---|---|
| **Page** | 600 × 848, portrait | One page in full, like a notice. |
| **Double page** | 1280 × 720, landscape | Two pages side by side on the surface. |
| **Full screen** | 1920 × 1080, landscape | The page on the surface, filling the whole display. |

If the frame is too narrow for two pages, the widget shows one page. The settings window says so below the preview.

## What happens to a PDF

When you upload, the platform prepares each page as an image, the first 50 pages of a document. The displays receive these page images, not the PDF file: every device shows the same pages the same way, even without a network, from its local storage. While the pages are being prepared, the editor says “The pages are prepared during upload”, and at the display the surface stays still.

If the PDF comes from a place such as OneDrive and you change it there, the media library picks up the new version, and all scenes with this document show the new pages ([Places: OneDrive folders in the media library](/docs/content/onedrive-places)). If you chose pages and the new version has a different page count, the scene reports “Document page count changed” under **Integrity issues**. Then choose the pages again.

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | Why | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| The widget stays empty, and the editor says “No document chosen yet” | The widget has no file. | Choose a PDF in the settings under **File**. |
| The editor says “The pages of this document are not ready yet” | The pages are still being prepared, or processing failed. | Wait a moment. If the PDF shows **Error** in the media library, the file is damaged or protected with a password: save it again without a password and upload it. |
| Pages are missing at the end | The document has more than 50 pages. | Save the pages you want as a separate PDF and upload it. |

## Related

- [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/docs/content/place-widgets)
- [Configure widgets: template, preview, and fields](/docs/content/configure-widgets)
- [File types, sizes, and storage](/docs/content/file-types-and-storage)