Reg
Posts: 2787
Joined: 5/26/2000 From: NSW, Australia Status: offline
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Downloading fonts is a valid solution that I have seen used but you must remember that this is a software component installation that some people may not have the ability or the inclination to do so (for either personal or technical reasons). Most people would only be interested in reading your document and would not bother to edit it. I would put it to you that you would be limiting your audience with this approach.
You must remember that M$ Word also has an annoying habit of reformatting a document if the recipient's machine has different default settings (usually in their normal.dot file) or has a different printer installed. (When you are working with a 450 page document (which I have done), annoying is not the description I would use!! )
The 'P' in PDF stands for PORTABLE document format which means that any file can be viewed across different platforms provided a viewer is available. Acrobat readers exist for Unix and Macintosh as well as for the PC. (This standardization is what the e-book format is also attempting to achieve but it looks like it isn't quite there yet - but give it time!!). The standardised format also allows other 3rd party tools to be developed (xpdf for Unix/Linux, Ghostscript for Unix/Linux/PC to name a few).
I convert documents to PDF format when I am sending them to anyone when I am not sure of their viewing software, one in particular who uses a Mac and another who runs Linux.
There have been complaints about the size of PDF files but if you put 20Mbytes of jpeg graphics (which are already compressed as much as they can) into a single PDF file, then that file is going to be over 20MBytes in size (stands to reason). The only thing you can do is increase the compression of the graphics which will affect their clarity (the SPWaW Manual suffers from this). No matter what format you use, you will suffer the same problem but the size may be spread across multiple files in formats such as HTML. PDF uses a compressed format so 'text only' files are quite small.
PDF also has a lot of features that may or may be fully utilised which means it can be an overkill in some situations. The ability to put multiple pages and graphics in a single file is handy for distribution. The ability to print exactly what you see on any platform can hardly be considered a drawback. The ability to rotate pages is handy for landscape diagrams. Multiple PDF files can be linked together with hyperlinks in a manner similar to HTML pages. The ability to view these documents on a web browser with an adobe plugin can be very useful if you want to publish your document. The feature that I like best is the ability to SEARCH the document (or multiple PDF documents if you set up an index) for text. A HTML document requires a search engine to be installed on the web server (not useful if you downloaded the files). PDF being a vector format, zooms in very closely without getting 'jagged' (bitmap graphics are the exception to this as they stay at their created resolution). Don't forget that the reader is freely redistributable. If your recipient doesn't have a copy, you can sent him one (M$ takes a dim view of you doing that with Word).
On the whole I think one of the viewer formats is worth the extra effort (consider the disk space required for M$ Word) and PDF is my choice as it is the one I am most familiar with. I'm sure Robber will assure you that e-book is just as good but maybe not as standard. The format is up to you but consider your potential audience before you choose.
Hope I haven't confused you too much, Reg.
[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: Reg ]
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Cheers, Reg. (One day I will learn to spell - or check before posting....) Uh oh, Firefox has a spell checker!! What excuse can I use now!!!
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