rpghost
First Post
(No April Fools jokes here - I promise)
We have several new initiatives lined up at RPGNow. Besides all the recent enhancements we've made for in our software for Vendors, we're also going to be releasing a regular ePublisher eZine. A magazine geared to help publisher with issues related to PDF creation and sales as well as help with marketing their products under the new PDF marketplace. Speaking of eZines our Downloader Monthly is now HTML based (for easy linking) and the new issue was just released at RPGNow. http://www.rpgnow.com/ezine.php
RPGNow is also now pursuing Out of Print books from well known publishers. We are offering services to help them get their books online with minimal efforts. http://www.RPGNow.com/oop.php
Another initiative we are undertaking is a new ePublisher series book. The "ePublisher PDF Creator" book will help publishers with the creation of PDFs, tricks and tips to make better PDFs, and reviews of some of the popular software involved. Below is our tenitave table of contents, we welcome your input on subjects to cover or tips you want to share!
ePublisher - PDF Creator
=====================
Introduction
- Who are the writers?
- What is a PDF?
- Why PDF? (Benefits) and Why publish in PDF format (vs. HTML, RTF, etc)
- Plug for ePublishers Guide
- Legality issues involving PDFs (There aren't many but font embedding and clipart issues are important)
Planning
- Screen and/or Printer design
- - pros & cons of each
- - different print sizes (USA vs. UK, for instance)
- Portrait vs Landscape
- PDF on the small screen (PDFs displayed on PDAs and Pocket PCs)
- Color or Black and White
- initial DPI
- - Examples of page size in kb for different resolutions and graphics
- budget (shoe string tips)
- - free fonts
- - public domain sources of clip art
- - second print rights art
- fonts (free/pay)
- - Use of shareware and "free except in commercial works" fonts
- colorful borders / no borders (How many combinations should you support?)
- Notes about US Letter vs A4 paper sizes/using non-standard paper sizes
(especially in screen only PDFs)
- POD? Plan ahead...
- with / without artwork -- art / clipart / style sheets
- - Cover art (Color?)
- - Clipart
- - DPI of artwork
- - density (quantity) of art
- Deciding to go forward or not
Layout (with side bar boxes for each reviewed product's tips / notes )
- Style (Making choices about layout that will be consistent between products in your product lines)
- - 1 column, 2 columns, 2.5 columns and 3 columns
- - Margins, gutters, font size, line spacing, justified vs unjustified, hyphenation,
- using borders and bleed
- - vs. inkjet cartridges, extra memory used per page
- repeating art (page numbers)
- dynamic kerning around art
- master form
- importing charts & graphics
- table of contents (links)
-- pro/con for the three types of ToCs
- glossary
- an Index (with links)
- Placement of legal/license text
Advanced Functions
- Managing bookmarks
- Using thumbnails
- Automated TOC
- Glossary
- Hot text
- inline notes
- text locking/security
- sounds / music
- using PDF to create something better then a book (see tech test)
- Forms
- JavaScript
- library indexing (generating a separate index file spanning the contents of multiple PDF files)
- removing illustrations for print (using forms)
- adding attachments
- adding comments
Optimization
- settings
- dithering
- embedding fonts
- choosing final dpi
- graphic file formats
- acceptable file sizes
- using distiller
- embedding fonts
- PDF error checkers
- optimization for screen reading vs optimization for printing vs optimization for publishing
- Color Sync (a Mac function that allows you to downsize PDFs by only imbedding the synchronized colors used in the PDF)
Distribution / Packing / Advertising
- Naming conventions
- - product numbering conventions
- - Filenames
- - Subdirectory use
- Readme / license includes
- Zip
- indicating page count/zip files size/etc in ads.
(IOW what exactly are you selling?)
- Useful tips for thumbnails
- setting up a pdf for offset printing or POD
- - art & cover resolution
- - back cover and spine
- - cover labeling (price, model, etc)
- - bar codes (importance and creation)
Tips and FAQ
- pitfalls of producing acrobat indexes
Product Reviews
- Layout (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in
layout programs)
- - Indesign
- - quark express
- - Pagemaker
- - word/office (not offset printer friendly)
- Distilling (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in distiller programs)
- - Acrobat Pro
- - pdf995
- - JAWS PDF Creator
- - Ghostscript
- - Click to Convert
- Image Programs (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in image programs)
- - Photoshop
- - Illustrator
- - Corel Draw
- Alternative Operating Systems
- - Mac (and typical programs used there)
- - Linux/Unix (etc)
PDF in Reverse
- Extracting information from a PDF
- Dealing with your own PDF security
References & Links
- Pointers to books on PDF making, reference material on adobe.com, etc.
Glossary
- terms used by layout people
Enclosed documents
- layout samples from various publishers
- readme samples from pubs, etc.
- Technology Test from Minion
- Spreadsheet form from BTRC
We have several new initiatives lined up at RPGNow. Besides all the recent enhancements we've made for in our software for Vendors, we're also going to be releasing a regular ePublisher eZine. A magazine geared to help publisher with issues related to PDF creation and sales as well as help with marketing their products under the new PDF marketplace. Speaking of eZines our Downloader Monthly is now HTML based (for easy linking) and the new issue was just released at RPGNow. http://www.rpgnow.com/ezine.php
RPGNow is also now pursuing Out of Print books from well known publishers. We are offering services to help them get their books online with minimal efforts. http://www.RPGNow.com/oop.php
Another initiative we are undertaking is a new ePublisher series book. The "ePublisher PDF Creator" book will help publishers with the creation of PDFs, tricks and tips to make better PDFs, and reviews of some of the popular software involved. Below is our tenitave table of contents, we welcome your input on subjects to cover or tips you want to share!
ePublisher - PDF Creator
=====================
Introduction
- Who are the writers?
- What is a PDF?
- Why PDF? (Benefits) and Why publish in PDF format (vs. HTML, RTF, etc)
- Plug for ePublishers Guide
- Legality issues involving PDFs (There aren't many but font embedding and clipart issues are important)
Planning
- Screen and/or Printer design
- - pros & cons of each
- - different print sizes (USA vs. UK, for instance)
- Portrait vs Landscape
- PDF on the small screen (PDFs displayed on PDAs and Pocket PCs)
- Color or Black and White
- initial DPI
- - Examples of page size in kb for different resolutions and graphics
- budget (shoe string tips)
- - free fonts
- - public domain sources of clip art
- - second print rights art
- fonts (free/pay)
- - Use of shareware and "free except in commercial works" fonts
- colorful borders / no borders (How many combinations should you support?)
- Notes about US Letter vs A4 paper sizes/using non-standard paper sizes
(especially in screen only PDFs)
- POD? Plan ahead...
- with / without artwork -- art / clipart / style sheets
- - Cover art (Color?)
- - Clipart
- - DPI of artwork
- - density (quantity) of art
- Deciding to go forward or not
Layout (with side bar boxes for each reviewed product's tips / notes )
- Style (Making choices about layout that will be consistent between products in your product lines)
- - 1 column, 2 columns, 2.5 columns and 3 columns
- - Margins, gutters, font size, line spacing, justified vs unjustified, hyphenation,
- using borders and bleed
- - vs. inkjet cartridges, extra memory used per page
- repeating art (page numbers)
- dynamic kerning around art
- master form
- importing charts & graphics
- table of contents (links)
-- pro/con for the three types of ToCs
- glossary
- an Index (with links)
- Placement of legal/license text
Advanced Functions
- Managing bookmarks
- Using thumbnails
- Automated TOC
- Glossary
- Hot text
- inline notes
- text locking/security
- sounds / music
- using PDF to create something better then a book (see tech test)
- Forms
- JavaScript
- library indexing (generating a separate index file spanning the contents of multiple PDF files)
- removing illustrations for print (using forms)
- adding attachments
- adding comments
Optimization
- settings
- dithering
- embedding fonts
- choosing final dpi
- graphic file formats
- acceptable file sizes
- using distiller
- embedding fonts
- PDF error checkers
- optimization for screen reading vs optimization for printing vs optimization for publishing
- Color Sync (a Mac function that allows you to downsize PDFs by only imbedding the synchronized colors used in the PDF)
Distribution / Packing / Advertising
- Naming conventions
- - product numbering conventions
- - Filenames
- - Subdirectory use
- Readme / license includes
- Zip
- indicating page count/zip files size/etc in ads.
(IOW what exactly are you selling?)
- Useful tips for thumbnails
- setting up a pdf for offset printing or POD
- - art & cover resolution
- - back cover and spine
- - cover labeling (price, model, etc)
- - bar codes (importance and creation)
Tips and FAQ
- pitfalls of producing acrobat indexes
Product Reviews
- Layout (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in
layout programs)
- - Indesign
- - quark express
- - Pagemaker
- - word/office (not offset printer friendly)
- Distilling (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in distiller programs)
- - Acrobat Pro
- - pdf995
- - JAWS PDF Creator
- - Ghostscript
- - Click to Convert
- Image Programs (Starts with a bullet list of typical functions to look for in image programs)
- - Photoshop
- - Illustrator
- - Corel Draw
- Alternative Operating Systems
- - Mac (and typical programs used there)
- - Linux/Unix (etc)
PDF in Reverse
- Extracting information from a PDF
- Dealing with your own PDF security
References & Links
- Pointers to books on PDF making, reference material on adobe.com, etc.
Glossary
- terms used by layout people
Enclosed documents
- layout samples from various publishers
- readme samples from pubs, etc.
- Technology Test from Minion
- Spreadsheet form from BTRC
