20 April 2010

PDF is POD

If I’m going to create something I expect you’ll read on your computer or an e-book device, I’ll probably choose HTML. (Or perhaps something like ePub, but that’s just HTML inside another package.) I’m not going to choose PDF. The best use of PDF is for things meant to be printed.

Hardly anybody—even people who enjoy reading on our computers—enjoys reading PDFs on a computer.

When you download a PDF, that is most likely a hint from the creator that they expect you to print it. PDF is print-on-demand. That’s why it’s the format used to submit manuscripts to Lulu.

If you find that you are reading or wanting to read a lot of PDFs, you should do one of two things...if not both:

  1. Buy the best printer you can afford
  2. Find a good print shop

One of the great things about the iPad, by the way, is that it is the best way to read PDFs short of printing them. (I recommend the Good Reader app.) So, a third option is to buy an iPad.☺Yet, there are still advantages & disadvantages to print vs. iPad, so I’m not selling my printer or my saddle-stitch stapler anytime soon.

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