Reading PDFs on tablets

Nathal

Explorer
I love my tablets and tech in general. I have an Ipad, an LG G Pad and a Nexus 7. And yet, I don't really like reading PDFs on them, or using them during a game with the way those are layout. Causal reading is a different matter. Anyway, I'd like to see more RPG books put together more like apps. Until then I think I still prefer flipping through the dead tree versions. Anybody else have thoughts on that?
 

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Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
For game books, I prefer dead tree versions. But, I do a whole lot of my fiction pleasure reading on a 7" Nook tablet.

Physical game books usually have a page printed to be akin to a 12" viewing area. That's way too big to be easy to read if you squeeze it down to a 7" or 8" screen as you have on your tablets. No wonder you don't like the results!
 

Janx

Hero
Like Umbran says. PDFs are fixed format documents that are basically meant to be viewed at full size. So on a PC screen or printed out.

Thus, they suck on tablets.

The problem really is that nobody's releasing RPGs with eBook versions (ex. the ePub standard). eBook formatted books are more like simple HTML pages. The content lays out according to your screen. Thus, if you have a small/narrow screen or change the font size to be larger, it word wraps in the right places.

The downside to eBooks is those formats are largely for text, not graphics or tables. So nobody's published an RPG in eBook format, and if they did, somebody would likely whine about how the PDF version looks better.
 


Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
Well, you might like it, but not for me. I don't actually want to use the tech at the table, and I find that I learn more quickly, with greater recall, and faster lookup of those things I don't recall, with a physical book.
 

fba827

Adventurer
Well, you might like it, but not for me. I don't actually want to use the tech at the table, and I find that I learn more quickly, with greater recall, and faster lookup of those things I don't recall, with a physical book.

My thoughts and feelings exactly.
 

tinyaltar

First Post
Totally agree with the comments on eBooks! I wish more books would publish in this format. It may not be pretty all the time, but the hyperlinks and reference capabilities are helpful at the table.
 

Hand of Evil

Hero
Epic
Love my iPad but PDFs just don't work well on the screen, have to think Adobe will have to come up with a format for e-books, they might have and people just don't think about converting into the format.
 

Alan Shutko

Explorer
I've found I prefer to read PDFs on a full-size retina iPad compared to a computer.. The page size is almost close enough to full size, and the pixels are dense enough that it looks really good. But that's really best for linear reading.

When running a game, I'm usually flicking back and forth between different pages. This is more difficult on a tablet. On a paper book, you just fan the pages quickly until you get in the neighborhood, and then you flick a couple more to get to the right page. I find paper is much better at finding things when I remember "Well, it was in about the middle, no before combat, there it is."

Digital could be better if you could search for things well... but we aren't really there yet. I find it much easier to use search on SRD-based games, because searching an SRD is much easier than searching an undifferentiated PDF. You have one place you're trying to get to as fast as possible.

On the other hand, I find prepping much easier with PDFs than paper. When I'm prepping, I'm much more likely to ask questions like "Where are all the places Duke Rufus is mentioned?" I have the time when prepping to read all the results and synthesize a motivation, or reaction or plot. I don't have that time when playing, and that's when I just want a quick rules answer.

For me, the best route has been to have both paper and digital versions of stuff, so I can use the right versions in the right times.
 

Alan Shutko

Explorer
have to think Adobe will have to come up with a format for e-books, they might have and people just don't think about converting into the format.

FWIW, InDesign does support outputting ePUB, which just about any ebook reader will accept. It takes a bit more thought upfront when setting up your project, but I don't think it's that bad. And most gaming releases are using InDesign for layout, except for really low-budget ones. I think, though, most publishers are daunted by having so support multiple formats (since everyone has a PDF reader, but many PCs don't have an ePUB reader). And it's really easy to release a PDF on dtrpg or the like, but how do you do multiple formats?

I'd love to hear the opinions of publishers on this.
 

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