Viewer mode

Viewer mode is what someone sees when they open a Can view link or a view-only invite. It's read-only by design: they get the finished design to look at and download, without any of the tools to change it.

The View only state#

The design opens with a View only badge in the top bar. That badge is the visitor's cue that they're looking, not editing — nothing on the canvas can be moved, resized or changed. Clicks select nothing, and there's no way to accidentally nudge a layout you sent for review.

This is the same design you'd see in the editor, rendered exactly as you built it — including every Canvas in the document. The thumbnail strip lets you jump to any canvas. On a phone, tap the page counter to open the thumbnails.

What's hidden#

To keep the view clean, Popcorn Editor hides the editing chrome a viewer doesn't need:

• No editing toolbars above the canvas.
• No Properties panel on the right.
• No Assistant panel on the left.
• No guides, grids, rulers, bleed outlines, or safe-area outlines.

The result is the design front and center, not the workspace around it. A client or stakeholder sees your work the way it's meant to be seen, with no controls to distract from it.

What a viewer can do#

Read-only doesn't mean passive. A viewer can still:

Download availability follows the owner's setup, so a viewer can grab a copy when you've enabled it. That download opens the same Export dialog editors use — see The Export dialog for the formats it produces.

Tip: viewer mode is the right choice for client sign-off and anyone who just needs to see the design. If they need to make changes, send an edit invite instead.

Viewing and presenting your own designs#

If you have editing rights, use View in the top bar to open the same clean, read-only layout. Choose Edit to return to your workspace. Switching modes preserves your document and saved guide settings.

Choose Present to show one canvas at a time, starting with the active canvas. Use the Left and Right arrow keys, or click the left and right sides of the screen, to move through canvases in page order. Move the pointer near the top to reveal navigation, fullscreen, and exit controls, or near the bottom to reveal thumbnails. On touch screens, tap the center to show or hide controls.

Presentation controls disappear after a short pause. Keyboard focus keeps them visible. Press Escape or use Exit presentation to return to the previous mode. Cmd+. on Mac or Ctrl+. on Windows and Linux also toggles presentation.

The fullscreen button expands the presentation where the browser supports it. Leaving browser fullscreen keeps the presentation open in the window. Presentation uses static slides and is available to editors; shared view-only visitors use the thumbnail viewer.

Becoming an editor#

A view-only visitor isn't stuck. If you actually invited them to edit, the design opens with the prompt "You're invited to edit. Sign in to start editing." Signing in switches them out of viewer mode and into the full editor, with their changes attributed to their account.

Editing always requires signing in — that's how live collaboration keeps track of who did what. Walk through the invite flow in Inviting people by email.

When a link stops working#

If the owner reset the link or turned sharing off, viewer mode won't open at all. Instead the visitor sees "This link is no longer available." with the hint that it may have been turned off or expired, and to ask the owner for a new one.

That's expected — resetting or stopping a link is how you cut off access after the fact. See Managing a shared link for expiry, resetting a leaked link, and stopping sharing entirely.

Where to go next#

Now that you know what a viewer experiences, set up the link that gets them there in Share by link, or give named people their own access with Inviting people by email.