Difference between eBook and PDF
There is misconception about eBook and PDF. This article describes the differences between both the formats. eBooks, generally known as electronic books, have acquired their name from the fact that when opened it behaves like the traditional book we are familiar with.
eBooks are usually a collection of web pages that are bundled into a file. It can do whatever a web page can do and more. There are varieties of eBook readers available in the market and so as there are multiple types of eBooks are produced to study on these readers.
The main feature of eBooks is that it automatically reflows the contents and hyphenate the words; it is well suited for handheld devices while PDFs will be difficult to read on smaller devices. A user can change the font and specify a particular font size in eBook however, the similar feature is not available in PDF. There is a page turning feature available within eBooks format where user can swipe horizontally to turn the page but in case of PDF, users scroll vertically and because of bottom page margins, user can experience larger gaps between the pages. There is re-usability feature in eBooks using which a user can frequently publish the updated version without much efforts while updating the PDF is time consuming task. The hyper linking feature of eBooks will enable it to link any elements like table, figure internally and externally. Using external link, a user can link it to any web site and once any user clicks on the hyper link it will take the user at the appropriate web site.
The complex tables are always difficult to read and to make it read, a lots of tweaking need to be done before accessing the file. However, such complex tables can be read easily by using zoom functionality of the device. User can always zoom any part of the complex table if it is not readable. With PDF, although complex tables may not require tweaking, but they are often difficult to read on smaller devices (horizontal scrolling) when enlarged.
Various interactive features can be implemented into eBooks. A user can do various interactivities like read aloud feature with text sync, zoom functionality, etc. Using accessibility options of eBooks, read aloud with text sync feature can be implemented. Depending on the device/reader, user can do text to speech feature. The similar feature is not available within the PDF. Read aloud with text sync feature is absolutely not available within the PDF version. The multimedia can be embedded into both eBooks and PDF.
The other features like search, annotation, text copy feature, highlighting text etc. are available both in eBooks and PDF.
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An ebook can adjust itself depending upon the device, while a PDF file retains its formatting. As far as readability is concerned, A PDF file is more readable on multiple devices - be it PC, laptop etc. But, on a mobile device, an ebook format offers better readability than PDF. One more functionality that goes in favor of PDF is that it can be edited compared to ebooks which are read-only files.