HOW TO CORRECTLY EXPORT PDF FILES
If you want to export an e-book, a brochure or another type of publication from Adobe Indesign into a PDF format, you should consider how this PDF file will be consumed by the reader.
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The following example shows you why. In order to keep myself fit and healthy, I spend a few evenings per week in the gym and read newsletters, e-books or other articles on my iPad while crosstraining. In this case, I wanted to read an e-book on content marketing:
As this content was promoted as an e-book, the producer of the e-book should have taken into account that this PDF file would be consumed digitally, on a computer screen or a mobile device.
As you can see, the e-book was exported so that several PDF pages are visible at once. This e-book PDF was exported as spreads, so one PDF page does not equal one display page on the tablet. This made it very difficult to read this e-book as I constantly had to manually zoom in and out - on every single page!
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As this e-book had approx. 30 pages, you can maybe imagine how nerve-wracking it was to consume this content. The reading flow was so impaired that many people would probably not finish reading this e-book. What a shame.
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The solution: correctly export PDF files!
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HOW TO EXPORT PDF FILES FOR DIGITAL READING
If an e-book or a PDF file is intended for digital reading (on a computer or mobile device), I recommend to export it as separate pages. This is how to do it (Adobe Indesign):
File (Datei) - Adobe PDF Presets (Adobe PDF-Vorgaben) - High Quality Print (Qualitativ hochwertiger Druck) (or another preset)
save (speichern)
select Pages (Seiten)
export (exportieren)
By the way, I recommend to activate the command View PDF After Exporting (PDF nach Export anzeigen) so the PDF file automatically opens up right after the export, so you can check everything again.
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The end result is a PDF file that is displayed perfectly for digital reading. One PDF page equals one page on the iPad:
HOW TO EXPORT PDF FILES FOR PRINT
If a PDF file shall be read in printed format (i.e. book, brochure, magazine layout design), I recommend to export it as spread. This is how you do it (Adobe Indesign):
File (Datei) - Adobe PDF Presets (Adobe PDF-Vorgaben) - High Quality Print (Qualitativ hochwertiger Druck) (or another preset)
save (speichern)
select Spread (Druckbögen)
export (exportieren)
Attention though: Different printing companies work with different printing presets that should be taken into account during the export! If you want to export a PDF file for print purpose, always speak with your printer upfront to make sure you use the correct PDF presets.
You can also download this article as a free whitepaper.
Get another Indesign tutorial on overprinting white text by clicking here.