Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellby
However, I bet there's still a non-negligible number of publishers with a workflow similar to this:
- Author writes in a word processor and sends file to publisher
- Publisher creates a print-ready document (PDF)
- Book is printed
- Someone thinks that an ebook would be nice
- Word processor file is lost, or it doesn't include all the modifications (formatting etc.) done by the publisher
At this point, an ebook is created either from the PDF, if available, or from a scan of the printed book. |
You left out a critical step in the process.\
It is extremely unlikely that any print-orientated publisher would create the "print-ready PDF" from a Word Processing program. They would have imported the author's WP file into a page layout program that can better deal the the niceties of typesetting and layout that are necessary to decent quality print. With recent books, it would generally be that program that programs native file that would be used for the generation of the ebook and not the "for output only" PDF.
True, in some cases of older print books that were produces electronically it may be impractical to use the layout program's file due to the age of the software that created it leaving them with the PDF as the only resort shy of scanning a print copy.