PDF Research PDF vs. HTML - A Features Comparison by C. Scott Miller

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 29, 1999) -- The decade of development between desktop publishing and the internet has given rise to a new class of document - one that is all digital. It is not an intermediate step between one medium (computer files) and another (print). It is the product itself - it is what we create, send, receive, and use. The specific format of this digital document enables or limits it range of application. Below is a brief, feature vs. feature comparison between two universal publishing formats - their features, advantages and disadvantages - to aid in our decision-making about when to use each and how to integrate their usage. Comparison Chart FORMAT HTML HyperText Markup Language PDF 1.3 Portable Document Format Platforms Supported All internet compatible platforms. Windows (95, 98, NT, 3.1), IBM AIX, Macintosh, LINUX, Sun SPARC (SunOS, Solaris), SGI IRIX, HP-UX, OS/2 Warp, DOS. Format Standards Universal format. Limited fontselection. Cumbersome layout controls. Portable Document Format (.pdf) is becoming a ""foundation"" format of printing industry workflow and internet/intranet browser dev-elopers. Fonts can be embedded. An established standard for most EDMS file archiving and retrieval systems. Electronic Document Management Compatibility Compatible with internet-based document management standards. No OCR conversion capabilities. Forms capabilities. Convert to .pdf using PDFWriter or Distiller. Compatible with most EDMS systems. Compatible with Adobe Catalog¨ (indexing) Compatible with Capture¨ (print to OCR electronic document conversion). Creates forms for data submission WWW Viewers Universal language of all browsers. Acrobat installs PDFViewer as a function of its free Adobe Reader installaon routine into Netscape Navigator 3.x and Internet Explorer 4.x plug-in folders File Viewers Browsers are viewers. Preview mode of most HTML page editors are viewers. Acrobat Reader (1.2Mb) is freely distributable. Hyperlinks can be across documents although bookmarks cannot. Notes can be seen with this program. File Creation Created by any text editor with codes or Word saving to HTML format. Large selection of page and website creation programs. Programming requires steep learning curve. Four options available: Save/Export to .pdf directly from compatible programs. Print to .pdf format using PDFWriter driver. Save to postscript (.ps) with or without font embedding. Convert existing .ps or Encapsulated Postscript (.eps) format files using Distiller. Creator Installation Microsoft Word to HTML conversion. PDFWriter installation required. Full Acrobat installation for creating .pdf files. Editor Module Any Text Editor Acrobat (4.x) and plug-ins Document Viewing Not scalable: No magnification. User defined in browser preferences for window dimensions and fonts. No page description. Magnify to 1600%. Will accommodate different size pages within the same document. Document Annotation None available. Annotate document with bookmarks, highlighter, drawing tools, sound files, and sticky notes only in Acrobat program, not Reader Document Editing Edit document pages in compatible programs. Edit text using embedded fonts. Edit document pages in compatible programs Hyperlink functions Go to page; Reset form; Open file; Play Sound; Submit form, WWW link; launch viewers for Shockwave, PDF, Word Viewer, etc. Execute menu item, Go to view, Import form data, Read article, Reset form, Movie, Open file, Show-hide field, Sound, Submit form, WWW link, execute JavaScripts Document Navigation Scroll bar, Hyperlinks, Search Engines Navigate by Scroll bar, Page numbers, Magnifier, Grabber tool, Articles, Thumbnails, Bookmarks, Hyperlinks, Annotations, Search Engines Ease of Use Authoring Authoring files takes place in other programs. PDF distilling has many options and while flexible, requires training. User Installation Requires availability of web browser, preferable 4.0 or above. Requires full installation of at least Acrobat Reader w/ATM (2.7Mb). User Training Compatible with EDMS standards. OCR conversion of text only. Forms capabilities. Convert to .pdf using PDFWriter or Distiller. Compatible with EDMS systems. Compatible with Adobe Catalog (indexing) Compatible with Capture¨ (print to OCR electronic document conversion). Creates forms for data submission Search Options In browser: Search within document Search across documents with Search engine implemented. In Reader: Find for text within document Plus, in Acrobat: Search for text within the document and search for text and metadata within many documents at once using Search function. Save the notes and form data as text; contents as .pdf, .ps or .eps Import images, form data, notes Search on the Internet All internet Search Engines are compatible. A few Search Engines will index and search PDFs for text content. Security Options Security must be programmed. Opening file Printing Changing the Document Selecting Text and Graphics Adding or Changing Annotations and Forms Fields Forms HTML editing can create forms documents for accepting input and submitting data to scripts. Exchange can create .pdf forms documents for accepting input and submitting data to scripts. Capture Not available although OCR documents can be saved to .doc (without formatting) and then converted to HTML using Internet Assistant. Adobe Capture plug-in or program can convert .tif scans into .pdf formatted electronic versions (text retains layout and fonts). Electronic files can be converted to and enhanced with sounds and movies. Extensibility Extensive viewing plug-ins available. Authoring plug-ins depend upon page layout program in use. Functionality of format can be extended with plug-ins that operate within Acrobat program. Support Extensive support options available via documentation and internet forum and website accessibility. Extensive support options available via documentation and internet forum and website accessibility. Installation cost - Browsing and printing only. Free browsers. Free Reader (allows cross document links) Installation cost - File Creation and editing Generally less than $200 for authoring programs. Acrobat 4.0 - $199 (street price)

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