Every catalog can be shared three ways: as a PDF download, as an online catalog, or through a permanent PDF link. They can all show the same products, but they behave differently once you update the catalog, and that's the part worth understanding before you decide which one to send.
A PDF link stays tied to the exact file you generated. An online catalog keeps its address when you regenerate it. A permanent PDF link also keeps its address, but you choose which PDF sits behind it, and you decide when that changes.
| Link type | What your customer opens | What happens to the URL? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF download | One generated PDF | A new PDF gets a new URL. Old URLs keep working. | A price list, order sheet, or anything that must not change after you send it |
| Online catalog | An interactive, optionally shoppable online catalog | The URL stays the same when you regenerate the catalog. | Your website, social bios, QR codes, or newsletters |
| Permanent PDF link | The PDF you selected | The URL stays the same. You choose which PDF it points to, and when. | One reusable PDF address where you control exactly when it updates |
PDF download link
Every PDF you generate gets its own download link. Generate another PDF and you get a new link; the old one still opens the old file, so nothing you've already sent breaks.
Send this link when the version itself matters: an agreed price list for a retailer, a trade-show order sheet for a sales rep, a record of exactly what a customer received. New season, new PDF, and the old links to older PDFs still work exactly as before.
If you'd rather one link eventually point at a newer PDF, skip ahead to the permanent PDF link below.
Online catalog link
The online catalog isn't a PDF at all. It opens as a browser page that you can set to a carousel, a page-flipping flipbook, or one continuous scroll, under Generate Online Catalog.
Turn on Shoppable settings and buyers can add products and variants straight to the Shopify cart, or submit an order that Catalogly turns into a Shopify draft order for you to review. Which of the two happens depends on the shopping experience you pick.
This is the link to drop anywhere that's awkward to update later: a website menu, an Instagram bio, a QR code, an email template. Regenerating the catalog never changes its address.
One catch: Shopify data doesn't flow in on its own. Change a price or product in Shopify, run Sync & Refresh in Catalogly, check the result, then regenerate the online catalog. The link you already shared keeps working the whole time.
Permanent PDF link
The permanent PDF link and the online catalog link share one trait: neither address changes when you update. What's behind them is different. The online catalog link opens the browser catalog; the permanent PDF link opens whichever PDF you've told it to.
Open the Permanent PDF link tab, pick one of your generated PDFs, and click Publish. That PDF now opens at the permanent URL, and it keeps opening there until you publish something else.
When you're ready for a change, generate the new PDF first and check it looks right, since nothing goes live until you come back to this tab and click Publish again. Until then, the link keeps opening whatever you published last, even if you've renamed the catalog since.
The permanent PDF link is available on every Catalogly plan, including Free.
Tell us where you plan to share your catalog and how often it changes. Reply to any Catalogly email or write to cataloglyapp@gmail.com. We'll tell you which link fits.