PDF Vs. Print [Slight Rant]

[Darrin Drader]

OK, so I'm not in the PDF market anymore myself, so I'm strictly speaking out of frustration here. Not frustration as in the kind you have because a business venture failed (because it didn't and there are still people from that venture plugging away at it) but frustration caused by a general attitude that doesn't make any sense to me. Whenever I see a print Vs. PDF topic come up, there's always someone that makes the statement that they prefer print (and are willing to pay good money for it) because they don't like reading PDF's. Well, here's a big shocker, PDF's aren't intended to be read on your computer screen! If they were they would use fonts that are more friendly to the eyes on computer screens, and there is a difference. You're supposed to print them out (or at least the parts you want to use)! Then you bind, them, and use them like any other book.

Sure you can argue the cost of printing/binding, but that doesn't address the issue that once printed and bound, there is essentially no difference between the PDF and a printed copy except for the type of binding. When it comes to the cost, even after these expenses are added in, it is still cheaper (depending on the binding you use, much cheaper). This brings up another issue. Most people prefer perfect binding. I actually do myself. The fact is that when you're gaming, you need a book that will stay opened to a page so you can reference it as you go. Spiral binding does this far better than perfect binding. With the amount of money you save by buying a PDF and the convenience of a spiral bind, how is this not the ideal format? The only issue is whether or not your work lets you print out large jobs on the company laser printer.

Now you can argue that the companies producing them are smaller with fewer, less professional staff, and you may have a point there, but I've seem some extremely good stuff produced by these small publishers - Check out RPG Objects, and hmm, Malhavoc Press. In this regard its kind of a mixed bag, but at least you don't have to pay much to take a sample.

Sorry for the rant. I just hate it when people sumarily dismiss a perfectly viable printing option for reasons that aren't logical.

 

[Eternalknight]

Here here. As someone about to venture into the pdf market, we are taking great pains to make them as print-friendly as popular.

 

[MadScientist]

Well It seems to me that in general .pdf books are only a couple of dollars less than their print counterparts. I just find that the cost and effort of printing and binding the .pdf's just not worth the few dollars saved. Especially when the .pdf files have alot of color. It's especially annoying when they waste alot of color ink on borders and silly backgrounds......

I do occasionally buy them anyway, but given the choice I would almost always prefer to spend a few more bucks and get a "real" print book. I think I would like .pdf's more if most of them were (a) designed to be more printer friendly and (b) if they took greater advantage of the .pdf format with high-lightable text, linked TOC's and indexes and the like.

I also print them on my own printer so there is a real cost to me in terms of ink and paper.

 

[jgbrowning]

Sorry for the rant. I just hate it when people sumarily dismiss a perfectly viable printing option for reasons that aren't logical.

Not to be a jerk here but if a person likes or doesn't like something that doesn't mean that opinion is illogical. A purchasing decision is often based more upon a perceived want/need than logic.

That aside, i understand your frustration. Anytime someone tries to do something new, there is resistance.

joe b.

 

[Utrecht]

Re: Re: PDF Vs. Print [Slight Rant]

That aside, i understand your frustration. Anytime someone tries to do something new, there is resistance.

joe b.

Actually, I do not necessarily think that it is resistance. You are completely disregarding the convienince factor assosciated with Print products vs. PDFs. This is not even going into the "thud" factor assosciated with print. A professionally bound print book just "feels" nicer than a PDF book - PDFs in a lot of ways feel like my job......

Thus, as one who is able to spend slightly more for convienince I dislike PDFs - they are simply more effort than the percieved amount saved. However, I can understand that if I was completely cost conscious, PDFs would be very viable option - they are just not for me.

 

[nopantsyet]

The only issue is whether or not your work lets you print out large jobs on the company laser printer.

That's a big thing right there. Not everyone has unfettered access to printing and binding equipment, much less on their company's dime. If you go to a print shop, pay computer time and printing costs to laser print then bind, it is absolutely *not* an inexpensive option.

And as convenient as spiral binding might be on a table, cardstock covers do not last as long as even quality soft covers and spiral bindings are hell on anything else around them, including other spiral bindings. Not to mention that the quality and durability of the paper and ink are subpar. You can double your printing costs and get better paper, but unless you triple it for archival quality paper, the toner will still smudge given the opportunity to absorb oils from your hand. Anyone who had any college courses with copy-shop texts knows firsthand how poorly this compares to even a softcover binding.

Not that I think it's a bad idea, I have considered doing it myself, considering that a mediocre binding is better than none. But the economics of it are just not good. Take Elements of Magic. At 98 pages, you're looking at ~$7 for printing plus another $3 for computer time, then ~$6 for binding. So you're spending $16 for the on top of the $8 you paid for the PDF and you're up to $24, which is $0.95 less that I just paid for Traps & Treachery II, a 168-page hardcover.

So I'll stick to my guns. The best handbound book will never compare to a decent published product in quality or economy.

But I will continue to buy PDFs because there's alot of good material out there. And I'll hope more companies do what Malhavoc and Natural 20 have done in having companies with the resources handle the publication.

 

[V_Shane]

For myself, I think I have canabalised every book and module I ahve had into a 3 ring binder. I like loose leaf, as referencing is much easier in a crowded table setting to pull out the pages you need only for the game your running (including the original MM I & 2 took a box knife to and took out all the pages and made them 3 ring binder format). Pages eventually got damaged from pop spills etc, thenI was able to photocopy them and replace them easly. PDF to me is ideal for reference books and usable art. I don't miss lugging 50 lbs of books to games or even moving with them.
I am very utilitarian that way, it must be modular!

 

[Michael Morris]

Uhm...

If this rant was triggered by the poll I'm currently running then I'd like to point out that the question was

"Would you buy a print product that had previously been online for free."

I didn't say anything about PDF. Indeed, the materials I'm thinking of putting into a book to see if I can get it printed are currently in webpages that aren't that condusive to print out anyway - not without wasting a lot of paper.

 

[Apok]

Why I Prefer Print over PDF:

1) The difference in cost between a PDF and it's printed counterpart is, to me, negligable. Yes, I know it's basically double the cost but I'm not gonna quibble over $8.

2) I'm lazy and I don't want to go through the trouble of printing the thing (which takes forever) and binding it myself. I'd much rather hop down to my FLGS (a 5 minute drive, if that) and buy it off the shelf.

3) Ink cartridges are expensive. For the price of one cartridge, I could go and buy a 128 (or higher) page hardcover book.

Yes, I know I could take it to Kinko's, but considering the ammount of money I would spend getting it printed & bound, I may as well buy the print version.

Now, I will admit that there are certain products out there only available in PDF format that are well worth it. The Enchiridion of Mystic Music springs to mind almost immediately. I also admit that if I actually owned a laptop I would be more inclined to buy PDF's. Why carry around all that extra book weight when you don't have to, right?

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

I have actually found an inexpensive way to print PDFs (I like it anyway). I use an inkjet refill kit on my small computer printer and buy ink in bulk. At $11 a bottle, each bottle can refill the cartridge about 7 times (a lot cheaper than paying $30 for a cartridge)

I also wait until Office Depot has sales on computer paper. I recently got 5 reams (each ream has 500 sheets) for $10.

I too prefer loose leaf to binding. I actually found an old file cabinet (somebody had a "free" sign on it) on the street corner. I print out the PDF, stick it in a folder, and file it way. Very convenient.