PDF Vs. Print [Slight Rant]

[Darrin Drader]

PDF was developed originally to get files from graphic development houses to the printer without any changes. It's major competitor in this field is Quark Express format. Selling PDF's is a relatively new concept. And don't tell me that keeping everything the way you intended isn't crucial when you are sending it to the printer to have thousands of copies made for sell.

This doesn't even address the issue of copyprotecting your stuff. Depending on how you have the security set, you can give someone full access to copy whatever they want, access to print only, or access to only view the material. You can also password protect the document, making it impossible to modify it, or even open it. If you release material to RTF or HTML, you have none of these options.

Granted, where there's a will there's way. If the whole file is locked, someone can still take a screen shot and then run OCR software, but this turns into a lot of work. Someone can also print out the document, scan it, and use OCR software as well, but we're talking about more work than the typicaly copyright violator is willing to go to.

 

[shivamuffin]

PDF's are a welcome addition to the market. The thing I like most about them, is the ability to cut and paste between various files and create your own reference material...Without the hassle of photo copying and or rewriting the material.

 

[Kesh]

Thanks Sigil. You summed that up much better than I would've.