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I was actually thinking about this earlier. Why is pdf so hard to deal with? And why is around in the first place? I can imagine a future where html5/js combo i

by why-el 14y ago

I was actually thinking about this earlier. Why is pdf so hard to deal with? And why is around in the first place? I can imagine a future where html5/js combo is enough to convert a set of html pages to a nice offline-supported readable format. With that said, I usually just go to the print page of some links and read. You will be surprised how many sites inadvertently give the best reading experience through their printer page (NYT for example)

saraid216 14y ago
> And why is around in the first place? PDFs predate both CSS and the legion of webdevs we have available now. It's effectively vestigial. However, PDFs do allow for digital signing, which is not a feature webpages can have AFAIK.
danso 14y ago
I don't know if it's hard as I've never tried. But as I've tried a lot of ways to print websites as PDFs, through various third-party services, I'm assuming it's not at all straightforward... I think the "hard" part is properly paginating things? And I guess generating table of contents, inner-book-links, things that my blogging platform (Octopress) handles in a way that I've been used to as a Rails templater.
- peterarmstrong 14y ago
  We can import blogs and generate ebooks (PDF, EPUB and MOBI) at Leanpub. The idea is that you should self-publish as you write, and that starting with a blog is a great way to start. We generate a table of contents, support crosslinks, etc. It may be what you want...
- tonyedgecombe 14y ago
  There are a number of things that don't quite transfer like headers and footers, keeping blocks together and of course paper doesn't have scroll bars.
brlewis 14y ago
PDF exists because the format allows a UA to render any given page in a document without having to render the whole document. With PostScript you had to run the entire program to accurately know what would be on a particular page.
petercooper 14y ago
And why is around in the first place? I can imagine a future where html5/js combo is enough to convert a set of html pages to a nice offline-supported readable format. Same deal with MP3 vs other formats. PDF is a sort of gold standard in being able to precisely lay out text and know it'll render mostly right on most devices (even if the format/layout is wrong for those devices). HTML5 and EPUB are getting there but vary so much between different platforms that till now (and EPUB 3 is changing this) the quality of books in those formats has been hideous production wise. Compare the typical EPUB book against the typical PDF book in terms of whitespace, layout, fonts, and how the author and publisher intended it to look.

by why-el 14y ago

saraid216 14y ago

> And why is around in the first place? PDFs predate both CSS and the legion of webdevs we have available now. It's effectively vestigial. However, PDFs do allow for digital signing, which is not a feature webpages can have AFAIK.

danso 14y ago

I don't know if it's hard as I've never tried. But as I've tried a lot of ways to print websites as PDFs, through various third-party services, I'm assuming it's not at all straightforward... I think the "hard" part is properly paginating things? And I guess generating table of contents, inner-book-links, things that my blogging platform (Octopress) handles in a way that I've been used to as a Rails templater.

peterarmstrong 14y ago
We can import blogs and generate ebooks (PDF, EPUB and MOBI) at Leanpub. The idea is that you should self-publish as you write, and that starting with a blog is a great way to start. We generate a table of contents, support crosslinks, etc. It may be what you want...
tonyedgecombe 14y ago
There are a number of things that don't quite transfer like headers and footers, keeping blocks together and of course paper doesn't have scroll bars.

brlewis 14y ago

PDF exists because the format allows a UA to render any given page in a document without having to render the whole document. With PostScript you had to run the entire program to accurately know what would be on a particular page.

petercooper 14y ago

And why is around in the first place? I can imagine a future where html5/js combo is enough to convert a set of html pages to a nice offline-supported readable format. Same deal with MP3 vs other formats. PDF is a sort of gold standard in being able to precisely lay out text and know it'll render mostly right on most devices (even if the format/layout is wrong for those devices). HTML5 and EPUB are getting there but vary so much between different platforms that till now (and EPUB 3 is changing this) the quality of books in those formats has been hideous production wise. Compare the typical EPUB book against the typical PDF book in terms of whitespace, layout, fonts, and how the author and publisher intended it to look.