How to Create a Gated Content Form (Lead Magnet) in Pixelesq
Quick Answer
Open your form in the form editor, switch on Gated Asset, pick a file from your asset library, and choose how the link is delivered: shown on the success screen or sent by email. Every clean submission gets a secure download link that expires after a number of days you set. Spam and suspect submissions never receive the file.
What You Need
A Pixelesq project with a page where the form will live
The file you want to give away (PDF is the usual choice for lead magnets)
A form with an email field if you want email delivery
Upload the file you want to gate
Go to Assets in your project sidebar and click upload. The library accepts images, audio, video, PDF, and text files. Drop in your checklist, whitepaper, template, or price sheet.
The gate can only deliver files that live in your asset library. Unsplash photos and platform icons have no storage key of their own and cannot be gated, so upload the actual file first.
[Screenshot: Assets page with the upload dialog open and the PDF in the library]
Create the form that collects the lead
Head to Forms, click create, and pick a mode. Manual starts you with an empty form you build yourself. Create with Pixel takes a form type and a short description, then generates the fields for you. There is also a Templates tab with ready-made starting points.
For a lead magnet, two fields carry the whole job: a name and an email. Add the email field even if you plan to show the download on screen. It is where the lead lands, and it is the address the link goes to if you switch to email delivery later.
New to the form builder? The contact form guide covers fields, validation, and layout in detail.
[Screenshot: Create a form dialog with the three modes and a form name filled in]
Switch on the gated asset
Open your form in the editor. In the settings panel, scroll past the email and autoresponder cards to Gated Asset and flip the switch.
The card description is the whole model in one line: a file download after a clean submission, delivered through a secure expiring link. The raw storage URL never reaches a visitor, and the download link stays out of your sitemap, robots.txt, and llms.txt.
[Screenshot: The Gated Asset card in the form editor with the switch turned on]
Pick the file and choose how it is delivered
With the switch on, four settings appear:
File to deliver: Click Pick from asset library and choose your file. Use the document filter in the picker to see PDFs and other non-image files.
Delivery: Show on success screen puts a download button in front of the visitor right after submitting. Email only sends the link to the submitted email address instead, which doubles as address verification: the visitor has to open a real inbox to get the file.
Button label: The text on the download button. Piping works here, so Your checklist is ready, {{full_name}} renders with the visitor's own answer.
Link expiry: How many days the link keeps working, from 1 to 30. The default is 7.
[Screenshot: Asset picker dialog showing the uploaded PDF under the document filter]
[Screenshot: Configured Gated Asset card with file, delivery mode, button label, and expiry]
Put the form on a page and publish
Open your landing page in the page editor, add a Form section (SimpleForm for a clean inline layout, FormInCard to pair the form with supporting copy), and select your form in the section settings. Publish the page.
Give the lead magnet its own landing page where you can: one headline, a few bullets on what is inside the file, and the form.
Test the flow and watch the leads come in
Submit a test on the live page. With on-screen delivery, the success screen shows your download button immediately. With email delivery, the link arrives in the inbox you entered.
Submissions land in your dashboard under Forms, in the Submissions tab of your form. Every submission is spam scored: suspect and quarantined rows never mint a download link and receive no email, and a link that was already issued stops working if you later mark that submission as spam.
[Screenshot: Success screen with the download button after a test submission]
Pro Tips
Use email delivery for list quality. Every download then belongs to a working inbox, and mistyped addresses filter themselves out.
Redirects win over the on-screen button. If the form has a redirect URL set, the visitor leaves before the success screen renders. Pair redirects with email delivery instead.
Keep the gate cheap. Two or three fields is plenty for a first-touch lead magnet. Ask for company size and budget in the follow-up conversation.
Quiz lead magnets compose. Turn on Scoring and visitors see their result and the download together, a strong pattern for assessments and audits.
Fresh links are one submission away. When a link expires, the visitor can simply submit the form again; each clean submission mints its own link.
Start with Pixel, then edit. Describe the form and let the AI draft the fields, then trim to the two or three you actually need.
Troubleshooting
The download button doesn't appear after submitting: Check that delivery is set to Show on success screen and that no redirect URL is set on the form; a redirect sends the visitor away before the success screen renders. Also confirm a file is still picked. An enabled gate with no file delivers nothing, and the editor warns about it.
The email with the link never arrives: Email delivery goes to the first email field on the form, so the form needs one. Then check the Submissions tab: if the row was quarantined as spam, the file is withheld by design.
The link stopped working: Links expire after the number of days you set, from 1 to 30. They also stop working if the submission is reclassified as spam. A fresh submission gets a fresh link.
My file isn't in the picker: The picker shows your asset library uploads only, and the image filter is the default view. Switch to the document filter to see PDFs, and upload the file on the Assets page first if it is missing.
FAQ
What file types can I deliver as a gated asset?
Anything your asset library accepts: images, audio, video, PDF, and text files. PDFs are the most common choice for lead magnets like checklists, whitepapers, and templates. Upload the file under Assets first, then pick it in the form's Gated Asset settings.
Do spam submissions get the file?
No. A download link is only created for clean submissions. Suspect and quarantined rows never receive a link or an email, and if you reclassify a submission as spam later, any link it was issued stops working.
How long do download links last?
You choose an expiry between 1 and 30 days, and the default is 7. After that the link dies. A visitor who needs the file again can resubmit the form, and each clean submission gets its own fresh link.
Can I show the file on screen and also email it?
Delivery is one mode at a time: a download button on the success screen, or a link sent by email. Email-only delivery doubles as address verification, because the visitor must open the inbox they submitted to get the file.
Can one form deliver different files?
A form carries one gated asset. For several lead magnets, duplicate the form and swap the file, or create one form per asset so each has its own submissions, analytics, and delivery settings.
