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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Michael Morris" data-source="post: 654409" data-attributes="member: 87">First, There are many things that can affect the size of a PDF file.  One of the largest is whether or not the fonts are embedded.  If the PDF file embeds the font then yes, I can see an RTF file come out smaller, but not by much.  Trust me, RTF files are very piggish on memory - that's why the format never caught on.Second, HTML is not a very portable format at all, especially if the pages are driven by some sort of server-side control such as PHP (the method used on this server) or ASP.  Without a server side control you can't see those pages as you intend without the server - which is a problem I face editting my webpages - I don't know **exactly** what they look like before I publish them.  Even then, files can change from browser to browser.  WotC's main page uses a browser detection call to bring up one of 10 templates to determine their front page!!If you stick to HTML without any graphics at all you could - in theory - build an HTML file for printing.  But HTML has no page breaks or true column controls (columns are done in HTML through the use of tables and layers).  It would be a royal head-ache to get a file produced that could print out properly on ONE computer - but it probably won't print out right on any other system - anything from browser changes to user settings could throw the whole thing off.  In short HTML is not meant for printing, nor was it ever.PDF.  Portable Document Format.  This is the only format that the publisher can control every aspect of what the file will look like to the user.  Whether you realize it or not Rav, this is a very important aspect of a professional presentation.  Only PDF can guarantee that a page doesn't end with having only one sentance on it and nothing else but white space.  Only PDF can reliably encode fonts in a document.  Only PDF can preserve document appearance regardless of whether or not it is viewed on Windows (any version), Mac, Unix, Linux, and even some PDA's.PDF is a print format Rav.  It wasn't originally designed for on screen viewing, though Adobe has included some features in the later versions of PDF that add web features such as links.  I have yet to see a d20 PDF that uses some of these features.Now that's my careful explanation.  I will close by saying that a lot of the problems faced with using formats other than PDF for the preparation of documents cannot be fully appreciated until you try it yourself.  And by your suggestions Rav I can deduce that you have no such experience or you would realize the inherent problems in what you suggested.</blockquote>

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