Re: Designing docs for PDF

[John Cornellier <tw -at- cornellier -dot- com>]

>In your opinion, what other design choices
>improve the appearance and readability of PDFs?

I don't have any opinions, just facts. Heh. Here's a few ideas in no particular order:

- use Acrobat's nav system - set up the doc in a hierarchical manner so it's automatic
- optimize for the users' screen resolution and color settings
- don't use screen captures for online doc IMNSHO
- optimize the window size for the doc - it should be big enough to be useful but should not obliterate anything the user will look at.
- if you are delivering via HTTP, save as Optimized for byte serving
- think about whether to embed fonts in the doc - if your users are all on a standard OS maybe you can avoid that & save filesize
- optimize compression settings
- if your doc set is multi-file, consider setting up a multifile index.
- consider using HTML instead of PDF. The main reason for using PDF over HTML is for printing - no?
- do you need context-sensitivity?
- consider whether or not to make it possible to print - if printable, this has an impact on pg design, plus you have to include page numbers in the links, TofC, etc.

John Cornellier




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