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Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

blog.adobe.com

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Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#91

Post by barumi »

copperx wrote: post #26
toddmorey wrote: post #6

When your digital document format needs artificial intelligence to understand the content, it may be the wrong container for delivering content. I'll be sad to see content that should be delivered as HTML instead delivered as liquid PDF.

I am old to remember that the initial publicity surrounding PDF touted it as the future of the web. A better HTML. I laugh now as I laughed back then.

Perhaps that was the case in the pre-HTML5 days, where each browser decided what they think they thought was HTML, and IE was a reference.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#92

Post by yeellow »

citizenkeen wrote: post #83
ISL wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many, the point of a PDF is that it appears the same way in all contexts. For device-dependent rendering, we have HTML.

I read a boatload of 2 column PDFs on my phone. Liquid Mode has been on PDF Reader on Android for... it feels like a year now? And it's fantastic. Without it I have to constantly pinch and zoom and swipe to the upper right to start a new column, etc. I hate PDFs, but if I want to read a document I've stored in print fidelity from the 80s on my phone, Liquid is rock solid.

Which android pdf reader has it?

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#93

Post by barumi »

ebg13 wrote: post #33
jfk13 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want content to be able to be presented in different ways (such as a Reader Mode) that reflect the document structure, there are far better options than PDF. This is Adobe trying to extend their moat. Just Say No.

You may as well be saying that there are better options for producing readable text than HTML, because that's what Reader Mode is for. Yes, but entirely irrelevant. Reader Mode is for the reader to use, not for the writer to use. Liquid Mode is for the reader to use, not for the writer to use. See the parallel? What the writer wants to present is structured layout based on design. Sometimes that's what the reader wan…

> You may as well be saying that there are better options for producing readable text than HTML, because that's what Reader Mode is for.

To me it reads like this adds absolutely nothing to that which HTML has been already delivering for years.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#94

Post by ebg13 »

barumi wrote: post #93
ebg13 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may as well be saying that there are better options for producing readable text than HTML, because that's what Reader Mode is for. Yes, but entirely irrelevant. Reader Mode is for the reader to use, not for the writer to use. Liquid Mode is for the reader to use, not for the writer to use. See the parallel? What the writer wants to present is structured layout based on design. Sometimes that's what the reader wan…

> You may as well be saying that there are better options for producing readable text than HTML, because that's what Reader Mode is for. To me it reads like this adds absolutely nothing to that which HTML has been already delivering for years.

HTML is not known for providing print-ready layouts. This is just a different way of viewing documents that are designed to be print-ready. Whether they choose to implement the output of the conversion in HTML or some other method isn't relevant to the announcement.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#95

Post by emteycz »

barumi wrote: post #89
emteycz wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most books I saw were epub and pdf. They say epub is some XML, ok. But I don't see how the number of existing HTML based formats is relevant

> They say epub is some XML, ok. Epub is HTML and CSS bundled in a zip file following a specific directory tree layout and containing a few metadata files. Epub 3 is HTML5. Open LibreOffice, create a doc, save it as Epub, and unzip the file. See for yourself.

That's cool, thanks!

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#96

Post by snowwrestler »

ISL wrote: post #32
modernerd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more like a readability mode than a responsive website. It's a button you click to automatically make a fixed-layout PDF fluid and easier to read on mobile. You'd still author the document the same way without considering multiple device sizes. When the PDF needs to be reproduced faithfully (printing) it would still appear as the creator intended.

For many, the point of a PDF is that it appears the same way in all contexts. For device-dependent rendering, we have HTML.

This is kind of funny to me since what is now the iOS Core Graphics framework started out life as a PDF rendering engine.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#97

Post by snowwrestler »

wombatmobile wrote: post #39
alanbernstein wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to this article, nothing will be "delivered" as liquid PDF, because it's a feature of the reader app, not the document. The point is that there are 30 years worth of existing, static, PDF documents - published as PDF for a potentially valid reason - which are frustrating to read on a mobile device.

If the AI is built in to a client side reader, that reader has to be installed on all clients, then kept up to date. A frictionless solution would be for Adobe to offer the AI as a web service that renders legacy PDF files as HTML.

I would prefer that my device does not phone home to Adobe about every single PDF I decide to look at on my phone. On-device rendering for me, please.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#98

Post by brokenmachine »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #75
scythe wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's a button you click to automatically make a fixed-layout PDF fluid and easier to read on mobile. But this of course reminds us of the miserable UX we have come to accept from the "mobile web". In the beginning, mobile websites didn't exist, and you just zoomed. Now, it's practically impossible to view the desktop website from a phone at some URLs without jailbreaking your device (if it's iOS). The net effect has…

The best restaurant website experiences I have are when the whole website is just a pdf of the menu with contact info. Maybe put a link on the pdf for online ordering or finding locations, but I have no idea why the home page should be anything but a menu.

I like to see pictures of the room/view as well.

Re: Adobe unveils multi-year vision for PDF, introduces Liquid Mode

#99

Post by Ayesh »

yeellow wrote: post #92
citizenkeen wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read a boatload of 2 column PDFs on my phone. Liquid Mode has been on PDF Reader on Android for... it feels like a year now? And it's fantastic. Without it I have to constantly pinch and zoom and swipe to the upper right to start a new column, etc. I hate PDFs, but if I want to read a document I've stored in print fidelity from the 80s on my phone, Liquid is rock solid.

Which android pdf reader has it?

Not OP. Xiaomi MIUI bundles WPS office, which has a "mobile view" for PDFs. It's far from perfect, but it can single-column some multi-column PDFs. Some PDFs, like restaurant PDFs are downright butchered though.
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