[LINK] Government gives thumbs down to PDF format

[Fernando Cassia]

On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 1:07 AM, Jan Whitaker <jwhit at melbpc.org.au> wrote:
> At 02:04 PM 13/12/2010, Fernando Cassia wrote:
>
>>Document consumers (readers) want to read information, not be
>>impressed by the graphics designer set of fonts or cool shades.
>
> I would argue that readers want both. If the fonts and contrasts of
> the graphics are unreadable or distracting, readers will either
> consciously or unconsciously turn off. I agree that readers want the
> content, but it must be in a way that is readable. Layout is one of
> the considerations. If you've ever had to scroll horizontally to read
> something with poor line breaks or too narrow columns, you'll get my drift.

I agree. However, Jan, remember how this discussion started... the
issue of whether or not a PDF can be parsed and read by specilised
software for visually impaired people and the like. A properly
designed PDF can have the text extracted easily and processed by such
software.

Instead, if the PDF is improperly created by "graphics designers" who
think in terms of DPIs and curves, and with wrong use of bitmaps, of
course such PDF files will be useless for anyone who wants to extract
text from them.

It´s been so long since this thread was started that I might be
confusing some statements as I´m quoting from memory - let me know if
that´s the case-

Just my $0.02
FC