With the digitalization of the world, people’s reading habits worldwide are also changing. Technological evolution allows people to carry digital books with them wherever they go. Digital versions of books can never beat the feel of paper or a new book’s smell, but their numerous advantages outweigh these minor inconveniences.
eBooks allow easy accessibility and save you from the hassle of carrying heavy books. A single device is sufficient to store and read numerous books.
The majority of eBook reading platforms are cloud-based and are regularly updated. Additionally, an eBook can be shared with multiple users simultaneously, enabling productive collaborations. Digital books for students are thus now a highly preferred way of circulating study material in educational institutes.
Two of the most common formats for sharing and making custom eBooks are ePUB and PDF. All the major digital libraries offer the PDF format when people buy eBooks online. Readers also have the liberty of converting one format to another depending on their needs and requirements.
If you are confused about which format to choose, we have you sorted. We have explained in detail the pros and cons of PDF and ePUB to allow you to make an informed choice.
What is a PDF?
Portable Document Format, commonly referred to as PDF, is a file format first developed by Adobe in 1992. It is used for transferring documents from one system to another.
It contains various features like links, buttons, audio/video tags, form fields etc., to make it easier for readers to view the content systematically.
PDF does not provide any editing feature except for allowing readers to highlight the text they are reading. PDFs are popular in academic and corporate settings.
What is ePUB?
Electronic publishing, commonly referred to as ePUB, is majorly used for eBooks. ePUB textbooks are also called reflowable textbooks because the font size can be easily changed to fit the screen size.
Additionally, due to the pagination feature in which the page numbers change and adjust themselves depending on the device the text is being read on, ePUBs are considered to provide much more accessibility compared to PDFs. Readers with visual challenges or disabilities also prefer the ePUB format because of its accessibility features.
Comparison of PDFs and ePUBs
|They are larger than ePUB as they save all the characters, fonts, and fields in a non-editable format.
|They are smaller than PDFs because they are stored as zip files with HTML codes.
|PDFs are more printing friendly as compared to ePUBs.
|ePUBs are not printer-friendly as the alignment keeps changing due to their reflowable feature.
|PDFs require editors to make changes to the document.
|ePUBs also require editors to make changes to the file. Compared to PDFs, editing ePUBs is more complex as coding knowledge is required.
|PDFs do not have a lot of media files. They mainly have text and pictures.
|Media files like audio files, video files, infographics, etc., can be easily added to ePUBs.
|Engagement and Interactivity
|Readers can add notes and highlight any part of the text they want.
|Readers can add notes and highlight text in ePUBs as well.
|For protection, files can be locked through passwords.
|Multi-layer protection can be added to ePUB files as well.
|PDFs are created for a singular device.
|ePUBs adjust the alignment of the text automatically according to the screen size.
Why is ePUB better than PDF?
Although both ePUBs and PDFs are efficient ways of sharing custom eBooks, the consensus is that ePUBs are better than PDFs because of their reflowable feature.
Here are some more advantages of ePUBs over PDFs:
Much More Efficient Editing
Although both PDFs and ePUBs can be formatted, editing ePUBs is much more effective. You will require some coding knowledge to make the edits, but the edits will continue to be compatible across all types of devices and screens.
As mentioned earlier, the reflowable feature enhances compatibility tremendously. Additionally, as compared to PDF conversion, more open source and paid ePUB editors are available online.
ePUBs offer features to add interactive and engaging media for the readers. It is possible to do so in PDFs, but it highly depends on your editing software and platform.
With ePUBs, media can be easily added through almost all editing platforms. Media like audio files, video files, infographics, graphs, pie charts, etc., are compatible with ePUB files.
Security and Protection
Multi-layer security and protection features like passwords, pins, email verification, etc., can be embedded into ePUB files. In case the reader forgets the security pin or password, it can be recovered through ePUB recovery software.
DRM protection can also be combined with ePUB files to offer additional security features like inhibiting copying of text, specific VPN login, specifying a reading time, and much more.
Major digital libraries like Amazon Kindle, Apple, Sony Reader, Kobo, etc. do not accept PDFs other than their own. However, all of them do recognize and read ePUBs.
If readers want to add a free book to these digital libraries, they can simply do so by adding the ePUB file.
Numerous free and paid PDF to ePUB converters are available online. Once the file has been converted to ePUB, it can easily be converted to other formats as well, like MOBI, AZW3, LRF, DOC, DOCX, etc.
Although the advantages of ePUB are much more vast than PDF, the final verdict comes down to personal choice and requirements.
PDF is a universal digital version of a book but offers limited accessibility. ePUB textbooks are not as common but can be easily modified and circulated. When it comes to publishing, ePUB is preferred as it offers more sizing and alignment controls.
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand two major formats of digital books and files. We recommend you do some more research in case you are still confused about the strengths and advantages of ePUBs.
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Pamoja na digitization ya dunia, tabia ya kusoma ya watu ulimwenguni kote pia inabadilika. Maendeleo ya kiteknolojia huruhusu watu kubeba vitabu vya dijiti popote wanapokwenda. Matoleo ya digital ya vitabu hayawezi kamwe kushinda hisia ya karatasi au harufu ya kitabu kipya, lakini faida zao nyingi zinazidi shida hizi ndogo. Vitabu vya elektroniki huruhusu upatikanaji rahisi na kukuokoa kutoka kwa shida ya kubeba vitabu vizito. Kifaa kimoja kinatosha kuhifadhi na kusoma vitabu vingi. Wengi wa eBook kusoma majukwaa ni wingu-msingi na ni mara kwa mara updated. Kwa kuongezea, eBook inaweza kusambazwa na watumiaji wengi kwa wakati mmoja, ikiwezesha ushirikiano wa uzalishaji. Vitabu vya dijiti kwa wanafunzi kwa hivyo sasa ni njia inayopendekezwa sana ya kusambaza vifaa vya masomo katika taasisi za elimu. Mbinu mbili za kawaida za kushiriki na kutengeneza eBooks za kawaida ni ePUB na PDF. Maktaba zote kuu za dijiti hutoa muundo wa PDF wakati watu wanaponunua eBooks mtandaoni. Wasomaji pia wana uhuru wa kubadilisha muundo mmoja kuwa mwingine kulingana na mahitaji na mahitaji yao. Kama wewe ni kuchanganyikiwa kuhusu ambayo format kuchagua, tuna wewe sorted. Kwa hivyo, tunaelezea kwa undani faida na hasara za PDF na ePUB ili kukuruhusu kufanya chaguo lenye maarifa. PDF ni nini? Portable Document Format (PDF) ni muundo wa faili uliobuniwa na Adobe mnamo 1992. Ni kutumika kwa ajili ya kuhamisha hati kutoka mfumo mmoja hadi mwingine. Ina makala mbalimbali kama vile viungo, vifungo, tags audio au video, mashamba fomu, na kadhalika, ili kufanya iwe rahisi kwa wasomaji kuona maudhui kwa utaratibu. PDF haitoi kipengele chochote cha uhariri isipokuwa kuruhusu wasomaji kuangazia maandishi wanayosoma. PDF ni maarufu katika mazingira ya kitaaluma na ya ushirika. EPUB ni nini? Uchapishaji wa elektroniki, unaojulikana kama ePUB, hutumiwa sana kwa eBooks. Vitabu vya ePUB pia huitwa vitabu vya masomo vinavyoweza kufurika tena kwa sababu ukubwa wa fonti unaweza kubadilishwa kwa urahisi ili kufanana na ukubwa wa skrini. Kwa kuongezea, kwa sababu ya kipengele cha kurasa ambapo nambari za kurasa hubadilika na kujipatanisha kulingana na kifaa ambacho maandishi yanasomwa, ePUBs huchukuliwa kutoa ufikiaji zaidi ikilinganishwa na PDF. Wasomaji wenye matatizo ya kuona au ulemavu pia wanapendelea muundo wa ePUB kwa sababu ya sifa zake za upatikanaji. Kulinganisha PDF na ePUBs: Wao ni kubwa kuliko ePUB kama wao kuhifadhi wahusika wote, fonts, na mashamba katika format non-editable. Ni ndogo kuliko PDF kwa sababu zimehifadhiwa kama faili za zip na nambari za HTML. PDFs ni zaidi ya kuchapisha kirafiki ikilinganishwa na ePUBs. |ePUBs si printer- kirafiki kama alignment anaendelea kubadilika kutokana na kipengele yao reflowable. |PDFs zinahitaji wahariri kufanya mabadiliko katika hati. |ePUBs pia zinahitaji wahariri kufanya mabadiliko kwenye faili. Ikilinganishwa na PDFs, kuhariri ePUBs ni ngumu zaidi kama ujuzi wa coding inahitajika. PDFs hazina faili nyingi za vyombo vya habari. Hasa zina maandishi na picha. Vifaa vya vyombo vya habari kama vile faili za sauti, faili za video, infographics, nk, vinaweza kuongezwa kwa urahisi kwa ePUBs. |Engagement na Interactivity |Wasomaji wanaweza kuongeza maelezo na kuonyesha sehemu yoyote ya maandishi wanataka. Wasomaji wanaweza kuongeza maelezo na kuonyesha maandishi katika ePUBs pia. Kwa ajili ya ulinzi, faili inaweza kuwa imefungwa kwa njia ya nywila. _ Multivariate ulinzi inaweza kuongezwa kwa faili ePUB pia. PDFs ni kuundwa kwa ajili ya kifaa pekee. |ePUBs kurekebisha alignment ya maandishi moja kwa moja kulingana na ukubwa wa skrini. Kwa nini ePUB ni bora kuliko PDF? Ingawa wote ePub na PDF ni njia bora ya kushiriki eBooks desturi, makubaliano ni kwamba ePub ni bora kuliko PDFs kwa sababu ya kipengele yao reflowable. Kwa upande mwingine, kuna faida kadhaa za ePub juu ya PDF: Kuhariri kwa ufanisi zaidi Ingawa PDF na ePub zinaweza kuundwa, kuhariri ePub ni bora zaidi. Unahitaji baadhi ya ujuzi coding kufanya marekebisho, lakini marekebisho itaendelea kuwa sambamba katika aina zote za vifaa na skrini. Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo awali, kipengele reflowable huongeza utangamano sana. Kwa kuongezea, ikilinganishwa na ubadilishaji wa PDF, wahariri zaidi wa chanzo wazi na waliolipwa wa ePUB wanapatikana mtandaoni. ePUBs hutoa vipengele vya kuongeza vyombo vya habari vya maingiliano na vya kuvutia kwa wasomaji. Inawezekana kufanya hivyo katika PDFs, lakini inategemea sana programu yako ya uhariri na jukwaa. Kwa ePUBs, vyombo vya habari vinaweza kuongezwa kwa urahisi kupitia karibu majukwaa yote ya uhariri. Media kama faili za sauti, faili za video, infographics, grafu, chati za pie, nk, zinaendana na faili za ePUB. Usalama na Ulinzi: Vipengele vya usalama na ulinzi wa tabaka nyingi kama vile nywila, pini, uthibitisho wa barua pepe, nk, vinaweza kuingizwa katika faili za ePUB. Kama msomaji amesahau PIN ya usalama au nenosiri, inaweza kurejeshwa kupitia programu ya uokoaji wa ePUB. Ulinzi wa DRM unaweza pia kuunganishwa na faili za ePub kutoa vipengele vya ziada vya usalama kama kuzuia nakala ya maandishi, kuingia maalum kwa VPN, kutaja wakati wa kusoma, na mengi zaidi. Maktaba kuu ya dijiti kama Amazon Kindle, Apple, Sony Reader, Kobo, nk. Usiwe na PDFs nyingine isipokuwa yako mwenyewe. Hata hivyo, wote wao kutambua na kusoma ePUBs. Ikiwa wasomaji wanataka kuongeza kitabu cha bure kwenye maktaba hizi za dijiti, wanaweza kufanya hivyo kwa kuongeza faili ya ePUB. Wengi bure na kulipwa PDF kwa ePUB converters zinapatikana mtandaoni. Baada ya faili kuwa kubadilishwa kwa EPUB, inaweza kwa urahisi kubadilishwa kwa muundo mwingine kama vile MOBI, AZW3, LRF, DOC, DOCX, na kadhalika. Ingawa faida za ePUB ni kubwa zaidi kuliko PDF, uamuzi wa mwisho unakuja chini ya uchaguzi wa kibinafsi na mahitaji. PDF ni toleo la ulimwengu la digital la kitabu lakini inatoa upatikanaji mdogo. Vitabu vya masomo vya ePUB si vya kawaida lakini vinaweza kubadilishwa na kusambazwa kwa urahisi. Linapokuja uchapishaji, ePUB hupendekezwa kwani inatoa udhibiti zaidi wa ukubwa na usawa. Kwa matumaini, makala hii imekusaidia kuelewa miundo miwili kuu ya vitabu vya dijiti na faili. Tunapendekeza ufanye utafiti zaidi ikiwa bado unachanganyikiwa juu ya nguvu na faida za ePUB. Huenda Pia Ulipenda