Poll: PDF Product Feature

[2WS-Steve]

Hola all,

I'm just trying to get a general feel for how those who purchase PDF products typically print the product out. Do you print one-sided or double-sided copies? This matters for layout (for instance, I print out copies I purchase one-sided and it would be better if all pages were effectively "right-side" pages).

I'm not including other options in the poll since I think focused questions work better for this sort of issue. Feel free to post other comments or preferences regarding pdf products though as well. For instance, I'd rather not have border art in a pdf and am more reticent about printing products out that have border art. Also, I don't print out all the pdf products I purchase but if it's under 50 pages or so and and an interesting read then I'll go ahead.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Aitch Eye]

I generally print them out double-sided, the thickness gets unwieldy otherwise. I don't like reading out of binders so I usually use a non-punch report cover while reading them or for rules I might need on occasion, and file them away the rest of the time.

I also prefer there not be border art through the whole document, though it would be a good way of marking the start of new chapters and etc. (I feel this way about printed products as well.) Color borders are particularly hateful, and converting to greyscale slows the system horribly if I print more than one page at a time.

I'd be happier if publishers avoided halftone backgrounds as well.

 

[enrious]

I generally print out two sided as well - mainly to keep the bulk down, plus with as many as I print out it saves on paper costs.

I second the notion of getting rid of borders, except perhaps at the beginning of a chapter. If you do put in a border, however, please don't do it in color for the same reasons mentioned above.

Plus, something I've noticed with a few PDFs (The Enchidrion (sp) of Mystic Music, The compiled pdf of the Creature Catalog, and Greek Gods to name a few) seem to print out in color even if I select B&W printing (I use a Tektronix Phaser 8760 to print). I don't have the problem on some pdfs, but it seems there's something in some that force color.

Weird.

 

[BButler]

I'm with you on the border art--it slows the printing down, and drinks up the ink.

I prefer that the interior of the document be black and white or grayscale, but color covers and maps are worth the ink.

If its a pdf that I use a lot, I have it spiral bound at the local kinkos. It just costs a few bucks, and it gives the document a pretty professional look.

 

[2WS-Steve]

Looks like the thread has dropped off the main board but I can thank those responded and get a free bump at the same time.

Anyway, thanks to all those who voted and/or posted. I originally thought that the majority of people would be like me and print out one-sided so seeing a 50/50 split (even with the small sample size) cured me of that.

Aitch: Yah on the half-tone backgrounds. I typically like them in products from the FLGS though.

BButler: I'm a real sucker; when I like the book I just wait around for some publisher to send out a print version of it and buy that too.

 

[Torque]

For those of you who have objected to borders, is it just the solid, colorful, BoEM style ones, or would you object to a line drawing as well? The reason that I ask is that I had been planning to use a border of pipes, gears and other technological items drawn in line art to save ink in Steam-Trains and Sorcery. However, if people don't want even that much, I will reduce it to only chapter headings.

 

[smetzger]

I also print on both sides and don't like the borders. Mostly because the borders use my ink up. I don't like B&W borders either.

Actually, I don't print something out unless I am sure I am going to use it at the table. So, if you could figure a way to view a full page at 1024x768 resolution that would be great. Maybe landscape.

*:> Scott

 

[Matafuego]

I always print them one sided and most of the time when I am done with them at the gaming table y use it again as scratch paper.

 

[Aitch Eye]

For those of you who have objected to borders, is it just the solid, colorful, BoEM style ones, or would you object to a line drawing as well?

The problem is, as I print them out, it keeps going through my head that "Those are really using up a lot of ink..." again and again, as each page comes out of the machine, like the steady beat of wardrums coming out of the depths. And most complaints about the ink use of PDFs have always seemed exagerated to me.

There's also the issue that inkjet paper is thicker than the paper in published books, so the document gets bulkier. (Not that filling every bit of space with text will always be good for readability.)

If nothing else, it would be nice if borders were only along one edge -- maybe the inside one if it's designed for double sided printing, as it's using up the extra space for the binding gutter. But they still draw your eye away from the visual cues in the text (like bullets, indentations, subheadings) when you scan through it for particular pieces of information.