How do you use pdf's

[Dagda]

I primarily use them for reference during planning a session, which means I need them available at work and at home. I copy and paste needed info into notes or DM's Familiar (the reference software I run during the game). I have printed a couple out in their entirity, but most I will only print a section I need for game.

I find I don't reference the pdf during a game as I'm trying to keep things moving and stopping to load and search a pdf is more time than I want to spend at the gaming table.

 

[Umbran]

I don't have a laptop for use at the gaming table, and I doubt I'd use it for such if I had it. I am not a fan of reading long documents at a desktop monitor. So, I take pdfs somewhere to have them printed.

 

[Zaarastara]

I download all of my PDFs at home and burn them to a CD that I take to school. My school charges a mandatory technology fee at registration, so I easily justify to myself that printing out a hundred or so pages every day is okay. The schools laser printers are faster than my Canon I650. 

Now, I do bring in a ream of recycled paper each time and donate it to the computer lab. Print a hundred pages, donate 500. Not a bad trade, I tell myself.

I have 13 large three-ring binders holding all of my PDFs that I have printed. I use them for game preparation and in-game use. I also copy and paste portions to make my own Feat books or Skill Books. Yes, I am a tinkering sort of fellow.

I just checked my "Supplement Folder" and I have 243 gaming PDFs. Is that excessive, average, or below average?

 

[Eben]

Hm, there seems to be a lot of printing gonig on. Understandable, I don't think it's convenient to read books from a computer as well, especially since you cant take them where you want (on the train frex.) But it's not really an innovative use of the medium if you ask me. I think I'll be sticking to print products untill I can find a way to use these things without having to print them all of the time.

The advantage pdf has over print products, that I can see:
1. price
2. storage space

If I have to count my time and the printing cost, I believe I'm better of buying the print product in the first place. I'm not even thinking about the environmental cost of printing the whole document and regularely printing parts of it, as most seem to do. And if I have to store the info in bulky ugly binders, I'm also better of with a nice print product.

Thanks for the info so far, I'm just hoping somebody will show me where the real innovation lies.

 

[trancejeremy]

I usually just print out the important stuff. Like classes or monsters I want to use. In some cases, I copy the text to notepad and print that, to save ink (which really should be called "black gold", it's much closer to the price of real gold than oil is)

 

[dren]

pdfs are burned to a CD, then used on a laptop. It's great, I have all the documents I need without carrying around a lot of books. I usually only have to bring my DM Screen, laptop, Campaign Binder, and dice. The online SRD is used extensively to quickly look up for prices, resolve the few game debates we have.

 

[Bagpuss]

I use to print out the whole document at work but I've find they just take up shelf space so now I only print what I need. I intend to get a laptop and transfer them via a memory stick to it (so DRM would be no use).

 

[RCanning]

I but PDFs over print products for several reasons.

1) I can print it into wire binding, which is better for running from.

2) I can write all over the printout, and use highligters, etc; so I can make notes on what the players use, and what things I modify etc. I can do this because I know I can print it again if I want to.

3) It is far cheaper to download and print than it is to purchase print product, simply because of the shipping costs to AU.

How do I use the PDFs?

Well, as stated above, I always print and bind a copy for my use. However, I also keep a CD of all the PDFs I have purchased. The reason I do this is because I do all my writing on a memory stick, and I travel to friends and family a lot. If I am working on something, I can plug my memory stick in, open my files (always txt) and keep working. If I want to refer to something I pull out the PDF CD and open them up.

DRM kills most of this; bad DRM... stole a biscuit.

Richard Canning

 

[Thanee]

I think it's great pdf is a means of getting oop products.

Yep, the free AD&D stuff from the wizards site is very cool, especially the FR stuff!

But how do you use them around the gaming table? Without having to print them out obviously.

I only browse them on my computer to get some background information.

If anything would be needed, I would print that part out. Hasn't happened yet.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Zimri]

I am likely the kind of gamer they are targetting with DRM and like schemes. I am on a budget as is most of the group I game with, we don't want our gaming to suffer but we also don't want to run out and pay $40 to $60 canadian for the newest hardcover book we will end up not using.

Mostly I browse them on my computer and use them as jumping off points for new feats etcetera, or to decide if I want to buy a $40 to $60 dollar hardcover. If the book has more than a couple pages people will use we come up with a way to buy it if it doesn't we usually just don't bother. On rare occasions though I will copy and paste to mspaint a particular feat or two, or print off a page or two in adobe.

You wanna know what happens if the file is protected ? a pdf password hacking program is used that then allows me to do whatever I want with the pdf. I have only had to do this once on a character sheet I DLed because I wanted to type, not write in, my information.

But yeah I am likely the kind who they are trying to stop and they won't succeed.

My characters may be LG but I am of a more CN bias