Why PDF vs .doc?

[Gruns]

Simple question that I imagine has a simple answer...
Why are PDFs used instead of .docs? Filesize? Is it just the easier layout capabilites? The more universal reader?
I'd like to start putting some modules out on the net, but can't afford to drop $300 on Acrobat.
Just wondering.
Thanks!
Gruns

 

[dagger]

Well I prefer things in PDF because it pretty much alleviates all formatting issues you have between different users. So many different versions of Word, plus font issues as well. Don't have to worry about the folks having the same fonts as you.

Also, Acrobat does not try and spell check every time you open up a doc.

Being able to view the pdf across multiple platforms with little headache is nice (Linux, MAC, Window, etc...).

Also Acrobat Reader is free and has no trouble opening really old PDFs. Though sometimes, you need the newest version to read the newest PDFs. So if you create a new PDF on Acrobat Professional 7.0, and the user only has Reader 4.0 they might have to download the newest reader to view it. No biggie.

Another thing that some authors like, is the ability to really lock down a PDF with passwords, so folks can't alter (or copy and paste I guess) it.



I think you can upload a DOC at the Adobe site and it will automatically spit out a PDF for you (for free). Also there is a few free programs that will convert things to PDF for you.

 

[frankthedm]

Universal reader is the biggie. I think .PDF gained following in the era of Microsoft Word and Microsoft [never]Works

The document WILL show up as the maker intended without mucking the layout up based on user magins and settings.

.Docs are close enough to HTML to be represented with HTML

 

[Henrix]

Most people prefer pdfs because they are system independant and does not allow changes to be made in the document by those who access it.
It also allows consistent layout, which is more than Word .doc or HTML can boast of.

There are, however, several ways to make pdfs without buying acrobat.
In this thread on the Forge there are a few links.

 

[Turjan]

Simple question that I imagine has a simple answer...
Why are PDFs used instead of .docs? Filesize? Is it just the easier layout capabilites? The more universal reader?
I'd like to start putting some modules out on the net, but can't afford to drop $300 on Acrobat.
Just wondering.
Thanks!
Gruns

Okay, the reason has been taken care of in the last answers (it's an platform-independent, universal reader). Do you want to publish modules with lots of nice features, or do you just want to get out some simple text adventures with inbound graphics? In the latter case, just take the pdf export function of some free writing progams, like Openoffice.

 

[Nifft]

OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) has a "save to PDF" function in its newer versions. It's a decent word processor, and the free PDF thing could help you a lot.

Cheers, -- N

Edit: D'oh! Beaten to the punch.

Er, I'll add value by stating also that .DOC files are bad, because they can spread macro virii & stuff.

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

On my PC I use a program called CutePDF Writer. It works like a charm and it's free.

Check it out... http://www.cutepdf.com

 

[francisca]

Also Acrobat Reader is free and has no trouble opening really old PDFs.

That's not totally true. There are a lot of documents produced with Acrobat 3.x and 4.x that do not display properly with acroreader 6 and 7. These are mostly OCR documents, produced by a handful of OCR products, and I'm guessing they probably didn't implement the acrobat protocol completely. Not necessarily adobe's fault, but people should be aware that there are issues.

A solution to this problem is to go get a cheap/free pdf producer, install acroread v4, and print the document from the old reader with the new pdf producer, setting it for Acrobat 5 output. YMMV, but it worked for me.

Er, I'll add value by stating also that .DOC files are bad, because they can spread macro virii & stuff.

Probably the best answer yet.

 

[HellHound]

The main reason that PDF is the defacto standard is standardized viewing AND printing capability. If you print a doc file and I print a doc file, they won't look the same.

And there are still a lot of people who don't have MSWord, or who use other wordprocessors.

 

[der_kluge]

If you really didn't want to create a pdf, you could create an rtf. It's a bit more portable, but still not quite as universal as pdf.