The Death of PDF Publishing (A Rant)

[TheAuldGrump]

I search mine with the free reader all the time. It is the little pair of binoculars. I have been doing this for years.

Many PDFs also have bookmarks.

The Auld Grump

 

[philreed]

Until PDFs can be useful (ie. searchable), then they will be second class. I do not want to spend time reading on the PC.

I don't need to tell you that you can search PDFs with the free Acrobat, others already have.

What was the last PDF that you bought?

 

[johnsemlak]

Eh....doesn't really matter to me. I no longer buy them. I was buying PDFs for a while, but now I no longer see the point. I do not have a full version of Acrobat, so the files are not searchable.

Thus, I have to spend additional money printing the files and finding a binder for them. The binders do not really fit on a bookshelf and I never use them, so why spend the money?

The only good PDF I have is Tournaments, Fairs and Taverns.

Until PDFs can be useful (ie. searchable), then they will be second class. I do not want to spend time reading on the PC.

PDFs not searchable with Acrobat Reader?

The free versions of Acrobat Reader (Reader is always free, actually) certainly can search, use bookmarks, etc.

PDFs are not for everyone but I certainly find them handy. I have a Bookmarked PDF of the SRD on my laptop. I now use that at games instead of the PHB; it's much faster to find what I need using it. IF I need a spell, I simply click Bookmarks, Magic, Spells, and choose the spell. Alternatively, I can simply click 'Seach' and type in the spell name, and presto.

Now, PDFs vary in quality as to how well they are bookmarked, or even searchable. Unfortunately, some professionally (?) made PDFs don't have any bookmarks. Many Scanned ESDs sold as PDFs are not OCRed and you can't seach those.

You cannot edit a PDF with Reader; you need to upgrade for that. So you can't add bookmarks, or pages for example.

 

[JoeGKushner]

One of the things keeping PDF's from being outstanding is that most of them are just books that you read on a computer.

Very few take advantage of the medium.

One PDF that I'm reading is the SRD on PDF and it has things like pop up references. VERY COOL. Something that makes it more than just another SRD tool.

 

[philreed]

One of the things keeping PDF's from being outstanding is that most of them are just books that you read on a computer.

Very few take advantage of the medium.

One PDF that I'm reading is the SRD on PDF and it has things like pop up references. VERY COOL. Something that makes it more than just another SRD tool.

In my experience, people actually don't want all of the bells & whistles that a PDF can hold. Also, sales will not increase enough to make it worth the time and energy to work on all of the extra features.

Publishing -- whether print or PDF -- is a balancing act between effort and return. For example, while I could spend two weeks putting together a graphically beautiful PDF it just wouldn't be worth the time.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I understand that. Profit has to be made or no further books can be made.

But even if you look at another aspect, printed products becoming PDF, most publishers who go the route of PDF usually just take the book and throw it into PDF.

That is also not using PDF to it's full strengths or even the market.

I'll be curious to see how the chopped up version of Denizens of Avandu goes. It's a step in the direction I think PDF books need to go.

Imagine you see Occult Lore by Atlas Games but only want the section on dreaming. You're probably not going to buy the book.

 

[philreed]

I'll be curious to see how the chopped up version of Denizens of Avandu goes. It's a step in the direction I think PDF books need to go.

We went this route with Planar Factions. So far, only 3 of the singles have sold. People just want the entire collection.

 

[Belen]

I don't need to tell you that you can search PDFs with the free Acrobat, others already have.

What was the last PDF that you bought?

Beyond Countless Doorways.

I did print out the book, but never took the time to read it. I did not read it be the time the print version appeared, so I bought the print and used it, then I recycled the wasted paper.

I am aware of bookmarks in a PDF, but I have never been able to search for specific words etc.

In any event, while I have a significant budget for RPG books, I spend most of my money through my friend's FLGS now and I buy print. There are so many print books that I want that I see no need to buy any PDFs. The only PDFs I am considering are the StoryART Games stuff because it is interesting and I want to help them make enough to print their books.

 

[hexgrid]

I understand that. Profit has to be made or no further books can be made.

But even if you look at another aspect, printed products becoming PDF, most publishers who go the route of PDF usually just take the book and throw it into PDF.

That is also not using PDF to it's full strengths or even the market.

I thought the whole point of the .pdf format was that it lets you view something on screen exactly the way it will look printed out, regardless of your platform.

Given that, I rarely attempt to read .pdf's on my computer, instead printing them out before hand. Forcing an electronic document to emulate an 8.5x11 piece of paper leads to awkward on-screen results. (I think HTML is a much better format for on screen reading)

 

[JoeGKushner]

I thought the whole point of the .pdf format was that it lets you view something on screen exactly the way it will look printed out, regardless of your platform.

Given that, I rarely attempt to read .pdf's on my computer, instead printing them out before hand. Forcing an electronic document to emulated an 8.5x11 piece of paper leads to awkward on-screen results. (I think HTML is a much better format for on screen reading)

Look at statement one.

Look at statement two.

Even if they are meant to be viewed onscreen as exactly as they're printed out, it's not the most effective way to use them.

I love Christopher Shy's art and in those PDF's I have with it in there, I got good paper and printed it out. Even with different formats and a 19 inch monitor, I hate reading it off the screen.