Adobe .PDF vs. Open-source. EPUB Comparison

 

January 12, 2014 4:06 pm / Posted by Jack Fisher to PDF Tips
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Ebooks can be produced in a wide variety of formats, and each has its own special features. The special features make it suitable for certain publications and styles, which makes sure that the necessary information is conveyed in the must suitable and economical way possible. Ebooks are proving to be a time and money efficient way to provide information and entertainment around the globe. The following is an explanation of the types and uses of two of the most popular formats-- PDF and EPUB . then make comparison between them.

The first common format is the Portable Document Format, saved as a .pdf file and read by Adobe. The PDF ebook can be read on and printed from various platforms on the internet and so this is a commonly used format as the audience is wide reaching and no extra equipment is needed. The PDF is mainly associated with text, tables, indexes, hyperlinks and simple drawings so the ebooks most commonly found using PDF include short literary pieces, papers, reports and journals.

The ePub format is a free and open standard format created by the International Digital Publishing Forum ( IDPF ), and it's designed for reflowable content that can be optimized to whatever device is being used to read a book file. The IDPF has championed EPUB as a single format that can be used by publishers and conversion houses, as well as for distribution and sale of electronic books. Since it's an open standard, anyone can make a program to read or create ePub books, and anyone can make an ePub ebook .

1 Popularity
According to Mark Coker’s file-format data covering the past year on Smashwords, Adobe’s proprietary. pdf file format was the most-used format at 35%, followed by the open-source .epub format at 22%. Mark also noted that this was a change from the previous year, when .epub beat .pdf handily.

2 Readability
Regardless of the application used to create them, PDF files creates a static image — a picture — of each page. From the author’s point of view this is a godsend, because content will always display the same way for every user. For users, however, there is a downside. Precisely because . pdf text is not reflowable, it will not resize to fit each device or user setting. This means some users on some devices will need to zoom in and out to read the entire text.
While EPUB is designed for reflowable text — meaning text that adjusts itself depending on the size of the display, the font being used (if the user is able to change fonts), the size of the text, and various other variables. EPUB can optimize for the particular display device, the readability for mobile devices is better than PDF.

3 Multiplatform
For both PDF and EPUB are open standard, only if you have the right viewer, you can read PDF and EPUB on any Operation System and any devices. For example, if you have Adobe Reader installed on your PC or Mac OS, reading PDF is not a problem. There are also many free reader for EPUB like Stanza, FB Reader, Adobe Digital Editions

4 Interactivity
PDF users can easily create a PDF bookmark or add links to it, so that you can easier to navigate to particular pages or get access to Internet through PDF. Meanwhile, PDF users can also create interactive PDF forms. All we need is Adobe Reader, and then we can easily fill out the PDF form, print or effortlessly return to others by email. the PDF format can also include extra fonts and images, plus sound and video clips. Therefore, for the competent user this is an excellent choice for e-zines and flyers advertising eBooks, EPUB does not support interactivity, it is read-only.

5 Integrity
In this contest, PDF format is superb. PDF is compatible with text, drawings, video, 3D, maps, full-color graphics, photos, just to name a few. EPUB is basically support text and images.

In summary, each format has its own advantages and disadvantages. Readers and publishers need a connection between PDF and EPUB. For example, the handy built-in application iBooks on Apple iPad (iPhone, iPod Touch) supports only EPUB. If one wants to read PDF with iBooks, PDF to EPUB conversion is necessary. EPUB is widely supported by almost all the mobile reader (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader or other eBook Readers.) because of the reflowable feature, however, PDF is still the most popular eBook format all over the world, if you want to enjoy reading PDF on mobile devices, you should definitely read this: How to convert PDF to EPUB .