diff --git a/examples/learning/helloworld64.html b/examples/learning/helloworld64.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..06333aada
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/learning/helloworld64.html
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+  <meta charset="UTF-8">
+  <title>'Hello, world!' base64 example</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+
+<h1>'Hello, world!' example</h1>
+
+<canvas id="the-canvas" style="border:1px  solid black"></canvas>
+
+<!-- for legacy browsers we need to use compatibility.js -->
+<script src="../../web/compatibility.js"></script>
+
+<script src="../../build/pdf.js"></script>
+
+<script id="script">
+  // atob() is used to convert base64 encoded PDF to binary-like data.
+  // (See also https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WindowBase64/
+  // Base64_encoding_and_decoding.)
+  var pdfData = atob(
+    'JVBERi0xLjcKCjEgMCBvYmogICUgZW50cnkgcG9pbnQKPDwKICAvVHlwZSAvQ2F0YWxvZwog' +
+    'IC9QYWdlcyAyIDAgUgo+PgplbmRvYmoKCjIgMCBvYmoKPDwKICAvVHlwZSAvUGFnZXMKICAv' +
+    'TWVkaWFCb3ggWyAwIDAgMjAwIDIwMCBdCiAgL0NvdW50IDEKICAvS2lkcyBbIDMgMCBSIF0K' +
+    'Pj4KZW5kb2JqCgozIDAgb2JqCjw8CiAgL1R5cGUgL1BhZ2UKICAvUGFyZW50IDIgMCBSCiAg' +
+    'L1Jlc291cmNlcyA8PAogICAgL0ZvbnQgPDwKICAgICAgL0YxIDQgMCBSIAogICAgPj4KICA+' +
+    'PgogIC9Db250ZW50cyA1IDAgUgo+PgplbmRvYmoKCjQgMCBvYmoKPDwKICAvVHlwZSAvRm9u' +
+    'dAogIC9TdWJ0eXBlIC9UeXBlMQogIC9CYXNlRm9udCAvVGltZXMtUm9tYW4KPj4KZW5kb2Jq' +
+    'Cgo1IDAgb2JqICAlIHBhZ2UgY29udGVudAo8PAogIC9MZW5ndGggNDQKPj4Kc3RyZWFtCkJU' +
+    'CjcwIDUwIFRECi9GMSAxMiBUZgooSGVsbG8sIHdvcmxkISkgVGoKRVQKZW5kc3RyZWFtCmVu' +
+    'ZG9iagoKeHJlZgowIDYKMDAwMDAwMDAwMCA2NTUzNSBmIAowMDAwMDAwMDEwIDAwMDAwIG4g' +
+    'CjAwMDAwMDAwNzkgMDAwMDAgbiAKMDAwMDAwMDE3MyAwMDAwMCBuIAowMDAwMDAwMzAxIDAw' +
+    'MDAwIG4gCjAwMDAwMDAzODAgMDAwMDAgbiAKdHJhaWxlcgo8PAogIC9TaXplIDYKICAvUm9v' +
+    'dCAxIDAgUgo+PgpzdGFydHhyZWYKNDkyCiUlRU9G');
+
+  // Disable workers to avoid yet another cross-origin issue (workers need
+  // the URL of the script to be loaded, and dynamically loading a cross-origin
+  // script does not work).
+  //
+  // PDFJS.disableWorker = true;
+
+  // In cases when the pdf.worker.js is located at the different folder than the
+  // pdf.js's one, or the pdf.js is executed via eval(), the workerSrc property
+  // shall be specified.
+  //
+  // PDFJS.workerSrc = '../../build/pdf.worker.js';
+
+  // Opening PDF by passing its binary data as a string. It is still preferable
+  // to use Uint8Array, but string or array-like structure will work too.
+  PDFJS.getDocument({data: pdfData}).then(function getPdfHelloWorld(pdf) {
+    // Fetch the first page.
+    pdf.getPage(1).then(function getPageHelloWorld(page) {
+      var scale = 1.5;
+      var viewport = page.getViewport(scale);
+
+      // Prepare canvas using PDF page dimensions.
+      var canvas = document.getElementById('the-canvas');
+      var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
+      canvas.height = viewport.height;
+      canvas.width = viewport.width;
+
+      // Render PDF page into canvas context.
+      var renderContext = {
+        canvasContext: context,
+        viewport: viewport
+      };
+      page.render(renderContext);
+    });
+  });
+</script>
+
+<hr>
+<h2>JavaScript code:</h2>
+<pre id="code"></pre>
+<script>
+  document.getElementById('code').textContent =
+    document.getElementById('script').text;
+</script>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/src/display/api.js b/src/display/api.js
index 1ec0b71bd..185f10c55 100644
--- a/src/display/api.js
+++ b/src/display/api.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
            StatTimer, globalScope, MessageHandler, info, FontLoader, Util, warn,
            Promise, PasswordResponses, PasswordException, InvalidPDFException,
            MissingPDFException, UnknownErrorException, FontFaceObject,
-           loadJpegStream, createScratchCanvas, CanvasGraphics,
+           loadJpegStream, createScratchCanvas, CanvasGraphics, stringToBytes,
            UnexpectedResponseException */
 
 'use strict';
@@ -162,7 +162,9 @@ PDFJS.maxCanvasPixels = (PDFJS.maxCanvasPixels === undefined ?
  *
  * @typedef {Object} DocumentInitParameters
  * @property {string}     url   - The URL of the PDF.
- * @property {TypedArray} data  - A typed array with PDF data.
+ * @property {TypedArray|Array|string} data - Binary PDF data. Use typed arrays
+ *   (Uint8Array) to improve the memory usage. If PDF data is BASE64-encoded,
+ *   use atob() to convert it to a binary string first.
  * @property {Object}     httpHeaders - Basic authentication headers.
  * @property {boolean}    withCredentials - Indicates whether or not cross-site
  *   Access-Control requests should be made using credentials such as cookies
@@ -249,14 +251,27 @@ PDFJS.getDocument = function getDocument(src,
     source = src;
   }
 
-  // copy/use all keys as is except 'url' -- full path is required
   var params = {};
   for (var key in source) {
     if (key === 'url' && typeof window !== 'undefined') {
+      // The full path is required in the 'url' field.
       params[key] = combineUrl(window.location.href, source[key]);
       continue;
     } else if (key === 'range') {
       continue;
+    } else if (key === 'data' && !(source[key] instanceof Uint8Array)) {
+      // Converting string or array-like data to Uint8Array.
+      var pdfBytes = source[key];
+      if (typeof pdfBytes === 'string') {
+        params[key] = stringToBytes(pdfBytes);
+      } else if (typeof pdfBytes === 'object' && pdfBytes !== null &&
+                 !isNaN(pdfBytes.length)) {
+        params[key] = new Uint8Array(pdfBytes);
+      } else {
+        error('Invalid PDF binary data: either typed array, string or ' +
+              'array-like object is expected in the data property.');
+      }
+      continue;
     }
     params[key] = source[key];
   }
