Difference between Adobe PDF eBook and PDF?

jodykihara · 04-13-2011, 08:48 PM

Hi everyone
Forgive the dumb question - I'm actually very familiar with PDFs as I've worked in document production (and know ins and outs to Acrotbat Pro that most people don't) - what I don't understand is whether a 'PDF E-book' is just a PDF with password protection?

Some e-tailers have their e-books available in both Epub and PDF format. What puzzles me is, if a person buys the PDF version, what's to stop them from copying it and sending it to other people? Or is that the difference with a 'PDF eBook' - some encryption that prevents people from doing this?

thanks for your help!
Jody

wallcraft · 04-13-2011, 10:35 PM

An Adobe PDF ebook is more or less PDF /A with encryption. The encryption scheme is stronger than "passworded" PDFs, but has been circumvented. So you can obtain a DRM-free version of any Adobe PDF ebook you buy, and this is readable by just about any PDF Reader (since PDF/A is very basic). See Apprentice Alf's Blog for more info on DRM of all common kinds. Note that most DRM schemes for ebooks have been circumvented, and all can in principle be circumvented, so there is nothing except copyright law preventing someone from redistributing ebooks.

For more on what exactly Adobe Digital Edition PDFs can contain, see Q&A: What PDF version for eBooks? and the ADE FAQ.

DaleDe · 04-13-2011, 11:16 PM

An eBook PDF should also be reflowable but there is no actual standard that requires this. ADE attempts to reflow any PDF but without adequate data in the PDF itself it can only achieve spotty results.

Dale

jodykihara · 04-15-2011, 11:54 AM

Hm, I was wondering about reflowing, too - someone reviewed my book on a site and complained that the formatting was all messed up, and when I messaged her to ask about it, she said she had a PDF version of it. Since then, I've been steering clear of PDFs (can't say I'm happy receiving bad reviews because of them!). Is there any way to optimize the reflowability (if that's even a word?)

DaleDe · 04-15-2011, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodykihara

Hm, I was wondering about reflowing, too - someone reviewed my book on a site and complained that the formatting was all messed up, and when I messaged her to ask about it, she said she had a PDF version of it. Since then, I've been steering clear of PDFs (can't say I'm happy receiving bad reviews because of them!). Is there any way to optimize the reflowability (if that's even a word?)

You need to start with a tool that understands how to make the document reflow. For example Framemaker can add the appropriate reflow tags. Adobe Acrobat can also do it. However editing the pdf directly can mess up reflow. Adobe documents talk about reflow. Sure some of the new readers can try and reflow without these smart tags but the results are not always what they could be.

Dale

Jim Lester · 04-21-2011, 06:59 PM

Just FYI, RMSDK has always ignored the reflow tags within PDF file and tried to reflow based upon just the document structure. However that being said if you are doing content where reflow is important to your users, then any of the (x)HTML based formats such as ePub (or .mobi if you have to

) are far better than PDF.

jodykihara · 04-22-2011, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Lester

if you are doing content where reflow is important to your users, then any of the (x)HTML based formats such as ePub (or .mobi if you have to

) are far better than PDF.

I agree... unfortunately, some people still want PDF. (not sure why, though, if they have an e-reader!)

04-13-2011, 08:48 PM	#1
jodykihara Author Posts: 49 Karma: 284 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kindle reader for PC	Difference between Adobe PDF eBook and PDF? Hi everyone Forgive the dumb question - I'm actually very familiar with PDFs as I've worked in document production (and know ins and outs to Acrotbat Pro that most people don't) - what I don't understand is whether a 'PDF E-book' is just a PDF with password protection? Some e-tailers have their e-books available in both Epub and PDF format. What puzzles me is, if a person buys the PDF version, what's to stop them from copying it and sending it to other people? Or is that the difference with a 'PDF eBook' - some encryption that prevents people from doing this? thanks for your help! Jody

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04-13-2011, 10:35 PM	#2
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	An Adobe PDF ebook is more or less PDF /A with encryption. The encryption scheme is stronger than "passworded" PDFs, but has been circumvented. So you can obtain a DRM-free version of any Adobe PDF ebook you buy, and this is readable by just about any PDF Reader (since PDF/A is very basic). See Apprentice Alf's Blog for more info on DRM of all common kinds. Note that most DRM schemes for ebooks have been circumvented, and all can in principle be circumvented, so there is nothing except copyright law preventing someone from redistributing ebooks. For more on what exactly Adobe Digital Edition PDFs can contain, see Q&A: What PDF version for eBooks? and the ADE FAQ.

04-13-2011, 11:16 PM	#3
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	An eBook PDF should also be reflowable but there is no actual standard that requires this. ADE attempts to reflow any PDF but without adequate data in the PDF itself it can only achieve spotty results. Dale

04-15-2011, 11:54 AM	#4
jodykihara Author Posts: 49 Karma: 284 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kindle reader for PC	Hm, I was wondering about reflowing, too - someone reviewed my book on a site and complained that the formatting was all messed up, and when I messaged her to ask about it, she said she had a PDF version of it. Since then, I've been steering clear of PDFs (can't say I'm happy receiving bad reviews because of them!). Is there any way to optimize the reflowability (if that's even a word?)

04-21-2011, 06:59 PM	#6
Jim Lester Evangelist Posts: 416 Karma: 14682 Join Date: May 2008 Location: SF Bay Area Device: Nook HD, Nook for Windows 8	Just FYI, RMSDK has always ignored the reflow tags within PDF file and tried to reflow based upon just the document structure. However that being said if you are doing content where reflow is important to your users, then any of the (x)HTML based formats such as ePub (or .mobi if you have to ) are far better than PDF.