Document Formats

Explanation of the Different Formats

These days people read on a variety of devices from mobile phones and computers, to tablets and Kindles. Which format is right for you?

...And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

PDF (Portable Document Format):

Pros: An old format. Nearly Every device can open a PDF, which is why people create and share them. A printable document useful for sending to others when they want to print out a copy that looks identical to yours. You might use this when sharing a magazine, handouts or hymns that need to be printed.

Cons: They are hard to edit, or copy and paste from. If you try to read one on a phone, they can be very annoying as the text is too small to read, and so the reader often has to zoom in and scroll around alot.

Advice: Don’t share PDFs unless your recipient needs to print the document, or unless you have no other option. If you want to display PDFs on a website, there is an excellent piece of free code from Mozilla: PDF.js, that creates webpages from PDFs. (This website uses PDF.js to display various PDFs.)

DOCX (Microsoft Office Word Document):

Pros: Microsoft Office is a powerful way to create new documents, and DOCX format can usually be read by all Microsoft users.

Cons: Apple users often find that when they open these documents, they look broken or disorderly, and fonts can be missing.

Advice: Only use these for creating documents. When sharing with others, export your document to a format suitable for your recipient.

Kindle (MOBI: Mobipocket ebook format):

Pros: Similar to ePUB format (see below). The text flows and resizes to fit the screen size of the device. This is ideal for readers of all ages because the text size can be enlarged, and the colours and fonts can be changed, since the text is very clear and easy to read, many use Kindles instead of paper or hardback books. Every book or article you are reading remembers where you got up to, and syncronises between your different devices automatically over the internet. (Kindle uses MOBI format).

Cons: You will need to download an app for your device, such as Amazon Kindle reader for Mac, Windows, iOS or Android, or Calibre eBook program. However, this only needs to be done once. They are not editable by design.

Advice: When exporting a document, use this (or ePub) if you know your recipient has difficulty reading but has access to technology and can download an app to read this format.

Apple (EPUB: Electronic Publication):

Pros: Similar to MOBI format, this format is designed for the modern smart phone and tablet age. The text flows and resizes to fit the screen size of the device. This is ideal for readers of all ages because the text size can be enlarged, and the colours and fonts can be changed. Every book or article you are reading remembers where you got up to, and syncronises between your different devices automatically over the internet.

Cons: You will need an Apple device or app for your device, such as Apple iBooks or Calibre eBook program. They are not editable by design.

Advice: Use this format when sharing, if you know your reader has difficulty reading but has an Apple phone, tablet or computer.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language):

Pros: This format is shareable and readable for everyone, regardless of their technology. This is the format used by all web browsers, and is why the internet has dominated the world's exchange of information. Links are shareable without having to send a document. Each reader sees a version of the document that is appropriate for their device. It is easy to copy and paste from these documents, and they can be easily printed. Email uses HTML or TXT (see below).

Cons: Because they look different on each device, it can often be harder to help guide your reader to a specific place of interest within the document.

Advice: This is an ideal way to share information, as everyone knows how to do it.

TXT (Plain Text Document):

Pros: Text documents are shareable and readable by everyone, regardless of their technology. This is still the world’s standard for preserving information over time - software fashions come and go but text remains readable. There will never be a problem with reading or printing a simple text document. Email uses TXT or HTML (see above). Easy to share and print on basic technology.

Cons: The documents can sometimes look ‘basic’ and unappealing to look at because they lack ‘style’.

Advice: Use text documents if your reader has only very basic technology.

Online Collaborative Documents (Google/Microsoft/Apple etc...):

Pros: Automatically backed up. Allows multiple people to share and collaborate on a single master document or spreadsheet, no more emailing different versions backwards and forwards. Can open most types of documents. The final result can be downloaded to a different format for sharing.

Cons: Privacy: Companies read through your data and use the information there to build a profile of you and your friend’s personalities. These companies are usually ignorant of or even hostile to Christian values and work with governments and law enforcement, which seem increasingly critical of peaceful, law-abiding religious conscience and views. (Free email providers also do this).

Advice: Use if your data is not private, or if you want to help a person or group with a piece of work quickly. Don't use them to store or share passwords, or to communicate about personal issues. (The same goes for free email providers).

MD (Markdown Format):

Pros: For the technically minded, MD documents are ideal for creating publications for wide distribution. These documents can be automatically changed to any other format (including all of the above and a vast array of others). This format is therefore used the world over to document and preserve complex information that readers might download in other formats convenient to them such as DOCX, MOBI, EPUB, HTML, TXT etc.. Using this format when you create documents, books and magazines can drastically help cut your time, and assist your distribution workflow. Automated work-flows: This website uses MD for all downloadable transcripts and publications, and will automatically create the final download in real-time (from the original MD file), as the download link is clicked. Creation of publications this way is cost-effective.

Cons: There is a small amount of work to learn MarkDown syntax, to create other documents from the MD original, or to set up your web or email server to automatically create and send the final documents to the reader.

Advice: Use MD if you are receiving multiple documents from others, which you are then turning into books, magazines or other publications if you have geographically and economically diverse users, each with their own specific requirements that you need to cater to.

We hope that clears things up.