Kelly L. Russell wrote:
> Having spoken to several projects using PDF files it occurs to me that one
> common problem is the time it takes to print larger PDF files - particularly
> files containing graphics. I know this is especially relevant to ODP
> projects and Electronic Short Loan projects.
>
> I thought it might be worth posting this now and getting some discussion going.
>
> Some issues raised at meetings I've attended that may be worth considering:
>
> 1) Resource implications
..and the provision of printing facilities tends to be a *big* drain on IT support
resources.
> 2) The cost implications - for instance, is it cheaper for a student to
> photocopy a printed version (available on the shelves or in a reserve
> collection) than it is to download or print from the electronic version?
Surely the optimum situation would be to avoid paper as a medium altogether? I
realise there are numerous obstacles to this approach (shortage of hardware for
viewing, reduced portability, decreased legibility of on-screen information etc.),
but I would have thought that one of the long-term goals of the eLib programme as
a whole would be to reduce the costs (financial & environmental) associated with
'physical' media like paper, books & journals etc.?
(c.f. an earlier debate on Negroponte's 'atoms v bits' argument ;-)
> 3) And finally a more technical question (or at least as technical as I get
> :-). What effect does the choice of fonts have on the size of a PDF file?
> Chris thinks if you use a smaller set of standardised fonts this may keep
> the size of the file down.
I'm guessing here, but it's probably a fairly minimal effect in comparison with
the use of graphics, unless the fonts are particularly elaborate or there are a
very large number of them. A native (say, Adobe Type 1 of TrueType) font file
tends to be less than 50k in size, although I'm not sure how Adobe stores these in
PDF files.
Nonetheless, minimising the number of fonts probably would keep file sizes down,
but then, the ability to use fonts that may not be installed on an end-user's
system was one of the main reasons PDF was created in the first place; there'd be
no need for it if everyone used Times New Roman, Helevetica etc., because these
(or substitute) fonts come supplied with GUI OS's now anyway.
Another issue that wasn't raised in Kelly's posting is the fact that Portable
Document Format is still very much a proprietary format; I suspect that there'd be
a lot more resistance to it's use if it had been Microsoft, rather than Adobe, who
created it!
My tuppence worth,
Tony
--
== Tony Gill ================================= ADAM Project Leader ==
Surrey Institute of Art & Design * Farnham * Surrey * GU9 7DS * UK
Tel: +44 (0)1252 722441 x2427 * Fax: +44 (0)1252 712925
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