Is PDF Still the Most Efficient Publishing Format?

What is a PDF for?

Is the PDF format so familiar to us the right tool today at digital time?

For the most part, the PDF format has become a reflex. If one wishes to send a document which must not be modified by its addressee, it is sent in PDF format(Portable Document Format).

It must be said thatAdobe, like Microsoft with Word, has succeeded in mastering: Installing its default Acrobat software on each computer.

In fact, in the vast majority of cases, when one wishes to consult a online technical documentationWe find her... to PDF format.

Benefits... or disadvantages of PDF format?

The PDF is far from being the most efficient or comfortable reading format on screen..

This dean of text formats is fixed. It doesn't fit the screen formats (and the portrait screens have been a long time ago!). The dimensions of the document as it was created are those displayed on the playback medium used (computer, tablet, reader, smartphone, etc.).

While this format respects and retains all the features of the content and layout of the document, it does not remove page breaks. Moreover they cut the reading, and offer no flexibility on reading. The latter can quickly become laborious or even impossible when the screen is too small. The document loses its appeal.

In short, web formats are much more suitable!

So why are PDFs everywhere? The reason is simple. Word only produces relatively good quality PDF, while the Web format is execrable.

According to a recent article by TCWorld (named after the very serious Tekom),The PDF format would retain many advantages. The easy-to-use arguments for PDFs are search options, the ability to print on paper, offline functionality, and the wide selection of PDF players available. The drawbacks are dependence on the availability of a device, the risk of poor selection when downloading lists, and low responsiveness.

Comparative PDF Features / Web Formats

• The PDF would offer "opportunities for research. I confess not to understand this argument. The only possible search on the PDF is full text search, the same as on all other formats (except paper...). Web formats, on the other hand, provide many additional options: keyword search, categories, etc.

• PDF allows print on paper. That's for sure! However, printing possibilities from a web format are increasingly effective. It must be recognized that a good PDF is convenient for a printer... Unless the same document can easily be published in several formats from the same source.

• The PDF allows consultation Offline. Web formats are easily available in offline mode too! However, this feature is rarely used or even known.

• There is a wide selection of PDF readers: Idem for web readers!

Benefits of structured authoring in PDF format

There are other disadvantages for the PDF format which have not been mentioned, and which are not negligible:

• it invades the mailboxes, which quickly limit to obesity;

• we never know which version we have, nor is it the latest version of a document.

So why continue with PDF?

With a structured authoring tool such as Calenco®, which allows for multi-format publishing in an instant way, one can legitimately wonder whether the PDF format still retains advantages on a Web publication...

And despite all this, if I think of a minimum. I am the first to prefer reading on a PDF rather than on a website... Then why? Because I learned to read on a notebook. On a good old book with pages that you turn with your finger. And that my brain now needs this harmonious page format (A4!). He needs these terminals up and down, right and left. An average of 15 words per line and 20 lines per page secure it.

The new generation dares to question the PDF format

Luckily, the new generation of professionals who arrive, run on screen reading, are breaking into the labour market. They have the power to say:No, I don't want that dusty support anymore. I want to read mobile, on a tablet or a smartphone. I want hyperlinks and dynamic content based on my context.

Companies that will only have PDF to offer them will leave with a certain handicap, compared to more innovative companies that have anticipated this change. They will have produced their content independently of form, in a structured way, ready to be publishing in one click on all media and formats!

After all, even the airline pilots start at the iPad.

Structured technical documentation tools like Calenco have good days ahead.

And as a good example is better than a long speech, you can also download this article in PDF, e-Pub and Word formats (the most geeks can even recover XML).