Print from PDF?

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TVZ
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Print from PDF?

Post by TVZ » June 5th, 2019, 7:29 am

I have written and published several local history books, using KDP (Amazon) printing company. I use them because I can print in small quantities and continue to refine the books. The books are composed using MS Publisher; then saved as PDFs.
When I die I would like for a local history group to be able to publish the books in the regular (offset) way, in larger quantities, much more economically.
Question: If I leave a PDF file for each book (contents and cover), which someone can someday send to a publisher, can the publisher then use that to produce the books? Or should I leave them in some other form?

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by Nathan Bransford » June 5th, 2019, 8:46 am

Yes - this often works in reverse, where authors who were previously published will sometimes pay their publisher for the files when their books go out of print, and then use those to self-publish.

TVZ
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by TVZ » June 6th, 2019, 7:16 am

Thanks Nathan. My main question is, is a PDF file the best thing to leave for them to be able to print & publish? Or should I leave the Microsoft Publisher files that I used to design the books?

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by Nathan Bransford » June 20th, 2019, 8:14 am

TVZ wrote: June 6th, 2019, 7:16 am Thanks Nathan. My main question is, is a PDF file the best thing to leave for them to be able to print & publish? Or should I leave the Microsoft Publisher files that I used to design the books?
Probably both.

TVZ
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by TVZ » June 20th, 2019, 9:11 am

Good point. Thnx.

meridianne
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by meridianne » October 9th, 2019, 9:17 am

Whoah!
Nathan is still here! Hello

Robert Corrington
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by Robert Corrington » March 12th, 2020, 4:11 pm

Here are my thoughts...
1) Microsoft Publisher only runs on Windows PCs. No Mac support. Offering other formats (e.g., PDF) makes it easier for people using other platforms to access your work.
2) Microsoft sometimes retires less popular programs. Anyone remember Bob? Or Encarta? Again, saving a copy of your work in a more common format makes it easier for others to access the work later.
3) I would encourage you to save a copy on the work in simple HTML. Like PDF, HTML will retain much of the paragraph and character formatting (e.g., headings, paragraph indents, italics, bold, etc.). Also, HTML makes it easy to import into other publishing platforms.
4) If you’re willing to give up the copyright, to make your work widely available to others, consider posting your work on Gutenberg.org and/or the Internet Archive.

JohnPeters
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by JohnPeters » December 3rd, 2020, 2:22 am

Vessel wrote: June 6th, 2019, 7:16 am Thanks Nathan. My main question is, is a PDF file the best thing to leave for them to be able to print & publish? Or should I leave the Microsoft Publisher files that I used to design the books?
I think everyone has their own taste and own way to design content if someone have good hands on practice on written something they want on their desire platform we should inspired them in their way and help them greatlly by defining the problems they we'll face after they are on that path ....

bobbiecb
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Re: Print from PDF?

Post by bobbiecb » November 23rd, 2022, 2:48 pm

I'm a computer scientist, here is my opinion ...

You're basically asking -- which file format will last longest to preserve my digital books?

A standard PC text file from 1980 is still readable today. This will have the greatest longevity.

The drawback is that while a text file preserves your intellectual content, it loses all device and page formatting your books contain under Microsoft Publisher.

HTML is a good bet for longevity, too. Almost any browser can read HTML files from even 20 years ago.

Plus, HTML contains plain text -- so you could always copy & paste it out of those files, if for some reason you ever wanted to. (HTML does not internally compress or alter the textual content, as many file formats do.)

Best of all, my understanding is that you just select the "Create Web Site from Current Publication" option in Publisher to output to HTML.

Publisher itself is a poor choice for longevity. Planned obsolescence is a design feature of all Microsoft products, that's why you have so many versions of Office, Windows, etc, over the past 3 decades. Don't rely on Publisher itself to provide any longevity.

Hope this helps.

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