PDFs and bookmarking.

[Man-thing]

Publishing a PDF that doesn't include bookmarks is so 2002.

That said, I can't see how anyone would publish a PDF and not include bookmarks. It just strikes me as a sign of a lazy amateur.

Phil, you are such a lazy amateur!!!!!

I don't the point of bookmarks in pdfs less than 100 pages and more then 30 unless they don't have a table of contents. Pdfs under 30 pages, I think are fine with no though of bookmarks at all.

 

[jgbrowning]

My personal opinion is that for smaller works, say under 10 pages you can get by without bookmarks, but even then it might be better if you have more than 5 pages to start bookmarking.

joe b.

 

[Psion]

I think a more interesting question might be "would you be willing to pay a little more for a bookmarked PDF?" That is, do people recognize that it takes a bit of effort to keep the bookmarks accurate during development and would they be willing to pay, say a 5% higher price?

If you have acrobat full, adding bookmarks is a relatively trivial task compared to all the other writing and editing tasks that go into making a competant gaming product. Nobody says you have to do them up front and "maintain" them.

(After I got Acro full at work, I added bookmarks to the above mentioned product myself.)

 

[ssampier]

yes, of course. Answering that question is sort of like answering, "Do you like free bread with your meal?" Why the heck not!

That said, I love the bookmarks in the relatively short E.N. Publishing PDF Mechamancy. It's a great book.

 

[Yair]

Bookmarks are essential in large pdfs. For example, I was very irrated at the lack of bookmarks in the Infernum book I downloaded. They're not necessary for small pdfs, but that's not what you were asking...

 

[Bagpuss]

It's really annoying to purchase a PDF and find it lacks bookmarks, and usually that company doesn't see my business again.

 

[Sledge]

I agree. The pdfs I have that are without bookmarks are just plain aggravating at times. I wish there was an easy way to tell about bookmarks before buying.

 

[blargney the second]

I *love* bookmarks. PDFs are super annoying without them. Good categorization is like gravy unto mashed potatoes.

I also love that you are asking this question.
-blarg

 

[philreed]

My personal opinion is that for smaller works, say under 10 pages you can get by without bookmarks, but even then it might be better if you have more than 5 pages to start bookmarking.

It may be excessive but I bookmark PDFs that are as short as 5 or 6 pages. I just think it makes using the PDF easier on everyone.

 

[jgbrowning]

It may be excessive but I bookmark PDFs that are as short as 5 or 6 pages. I just think it makes using the PDF easier on everyone.

I think at these levels it really depends on the subject matter. If you have say a dozen magical items, you could bookmark each item easily, but if you're given a single detailed locations, bookmarks probably wouldn't be necessary.

I guess it's a "if there's many different things in there" bookmark it vrs. a "if there only one biggish thing in there" don't bookmark it for me.

joe b.