D&D 5E D&D Basic PDF - 3 MB (They're released!)

[Tormyr]

Wow, 3MB only? Now that's a pleasant surprise.
Was hoping for it to be no bigger than 50MB or higher, after purchasing the BECMI Rules Encyclopedia PDF...

Yeah, that is fairly good compression, and it is on par with the playtest files in terms of MB/page. If that is the case, I imagine that it will not contain pictures.

 

[Shadimar]

Yeah, that is fairly good compression, and it is on par with the playtest files in terms of MB/page. If that is the case, I imagine that it will not contain pictures.

Yes Mike Mearls has already stated that there will be no "pretty-ing" up of the Basic PDF till the end of the year when it contains all the relevant information after all the Core books have been released.

 

[Yora]

If you do it well, you can get a 200 page pdf with page backgrounds and all pictures under 10 MB. Not sure how it works exactly, but everything above 20 MB means the person who converted the file wasn't doing a good job.

 

[Henry]

If you do it well, you can get a 200 page pdf with page backgrounds and all pictures under 10 MB. Not sure how it works exactly, but everything above 20 MB means the person who converted the file wasn't doing a good job.

The biggest trick is in both image compression and quality. Most PDFs don't need huge dpi resolution quality for its images if you're only meant for on screen or printing for legibility only. It's only when you're creating something for a printing shop or similar that the images get unwieldy, or when producers put in things like backgrounds or watermarking on every page. paizo learned a similar lesson about three or four years ago, and for their major releases have both "full" and "lite" versions for download.

 

[Morrus]

The biggest trick is in both image compression and quality. Most PDFs don't need huge dpi resolution quality for its images if you're only meant for on screen or printing for legibility only. It's only when you're creating something for a printing shop or similar that the images get unwieldy, or when producers put in things like backgrounds or watermarking on every page. paizo learned a similar lesson about three or four years ago, and for their major releases have both "full" and "lite" versions for download.

Yeah. Hi-res print files can be enormous. Art takes up a lot of file space at 300 DPI.

 

[Viking Bastard]

There's also a huge difference between scanning something in and converting it, and exporting it straight from InDesign (or whatever layout program they use).

 

[Morrus]

We really are desperate for things to talk about while we wait for the file, aren't we?

 

[Prism]

What is your favourite compression algorithm? I have a soft spot for JPEG2000

 

[Baumi]

Oh yes!

I hope that there is a bit of Art in there, first impressions (even if it's Beta) are very important!

P.S.: The "Oh yes" was ment as Reply to Morrus. Jpeg 2000 sucks!

 

[Ramaster]

We really are desperate for things to talk about while we wait for the file, aren't we?

If the fighter subclass is renamed Champion then I'm out of this f$#?* edition!

Say, does anybody know the average height of half-lings? Anything over 4 ft is a deal breaker for me too!!1!