Why PDF Is Not An Ebook Format17 February 2003 A recent issue of Writers Digest had a column on self publishing that struck me as a little strange. The article advised authors to release their books in as many different media as possible, advice with which I whole-heartedly agree. It also gave detailed instructions on how to create the "ebook" version by converting the text to PDF. That's just plain wrong. Misinformation like this is part of why ebooks have been so slow to catch on with the masses. Granted, it's not as if the media needs help getting confused. Several "ebook" publishers publish in PDF, thoroughly muddying the waters. Just for the record, let's get it straight right here and now. PDF is NOT an ebook format. What is it, if not an ebook format? It's an electronic transmission format for paper documents. PDF files may be binary computer files, but they're meant to be read on paper, not phosphor. Anyone who's tried to read a letter-sized paper formatted in portrait orientation PDF file on a landscape oriented, lower resolution than paper monitor will fully understand what I mean. PDF is horrible at "disappearing" and letting the reader escape into a book. Why do people use PDF for ebooks? Mostly because it's easy and they can assume that just about everyone has a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader (which even comes in PalmOS and Pocket PC versions). Adobe's reader is even required by the United States federal government to print out your own copies of tax forms. If everyone can be assumed to have Acrobat Reader, why not use it? This is lazy thinking that puts the convenience of the author/publisher far ahead of the convenience of the reader. And since the reader is the one that ultimately cuts the paychecks, I'm not so sure that's wise. Even the new "reflowable" PDF isn't as good as even basic HTML at adjusting to different display requirements. PDF is one of the reasons ebooks have been so slow to catch on with the majority of the reading public; readers that have tried reading PDF files on screen have concluded that ebooks are hard to read. What can we do to fix this? The first thing is to call a moratorium on PDF "ebooks." PDF files designed for a fixed 8.5x11" paper layout simply aren't suitable for reading on screen, and we need to stop pretending that they are. Curling up on the couch with an ebook on a handheld can be just as satisfying as doing the same with a paperback, but only if the ebook is readable. Next we as authors need to start pushing "real" ebook formats, ebook formats that provide the features we want and features the customers need. What are those formats? Fictionwise.com carries just about all of them. Of the "secured" formats, those with enough protection to convince paper publishers to take a chance on ebooks, Palm Reader, Microsoft Reader and MobiPocket work well, with varying balances between security and inconvenience to the user. Palm Reader is probably the best of the bunch, as it provides decent encryption while using a key - the credit card number used to purchase the book - that a user can use on any device he or she owns, but is unlikely to share widely. Microsoft Reader offers a lot of features designed to mimic as closely as possible the experience of reading a paper book, and it's DRM3 "Inscribed" level of security isn't much more intrusive than Palm Reader's. MobiPocket's secure format is on par with Microsoft Reader's DRM5 in that it requires that the hardware ID of the reading device be registered and the ebook keyed to only open on that hardware. This is something of a pain in the ass, but it does work and after the book is opened, it's still far more readable than PDF. For those with a more "open" mindset - like Baen Books and O'Reilly Publishing, who have discovered that releasing books in unprotected formats tends to increase paper book sales - there are better-than-PDF options as well. µBook, recently reviewed in this column, gives readers a great "just like paper" reading experience with ASCII text, HTML, RTF, PalmDoc and unprotected MobiPocket files on either a laptop (think Tablet PC) or Pocket PC. PalmDoc and unprotected MobiPocket are also great choices for PalmOS devices, as well as Plucker, an open-source format for "wrapping" HTML and images into a single file. Any of these are better choices than PDF for on-screen reading, and it's up to us to provide the best reading experience we can for our customers. Try out some of these formats and decide what works best for you and your work, then start publishing in them. Jeff Kirvin
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