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HTML or PDF for Creating Web-Based Documents with Text and Photographs, Illustrated with Pictures of a Red Pender from the Central Park Zoo
By David Alderoty © 2018
To contact the author use: David@TechForText.com Or left click for a website communication form
To demonstrate the functionality of HTML versus PDF this website is presented in both formats.
To see this website in HTML click on these words
If you want to see it in PDF click on these words To see the PDF in high resolution click on these words Note the high resolution PDF may require anywhere from 10 seconds to as long as 2 minutes before it is displayed, because of its large size.
The Article on this Website This website contains a 1630-word article with 14 images of a red panda. The photographs are in the last section. The article is focused on creating web-based documents, with photographs in the HTML and PDF formats. Web links are provided to access additional information and software from other authors, for creating HTML and PDF documents. The links are the blue underlined words. If a link fails, use the blue underlined words as a search phrase, with www.Google.com, or for a video use www.google.com/videohp. The search will usually bring up the original website or one or more good alternatives.
Below is the hyperlink table of contents of this website. If you left click on any of the blue underlined words, a section or topic heading will appear on your computer screen. Alternatively, you can scroll down to find the topic you want to read, because all the text and photographs are on one long webpage. |
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Web-based documents with photographs and text are often displayed on HTML webpages. This is an excellent format for displaying text and photographs, but it is not the only choice. There is another popular alternative, which is the PDF format. A PDF document, just like a conventional webpage, can be linked to any file format that functions on the web, including web-based: videos, downloads, and software. PDF is especially useful when writing lengthy documents that are structured for printing. The precise way you structure your document will be maintained in the PDF format. Web browsers never reorganize the structure of a PDF document, in the way they sometimes do with conventional HTML webpages. Thus, if a PDF document is printed, it will look the same as it does on the web. However, the PDF format can be structured similar to conventional webpages if necessary, but this might interfere with optimal printing. This can involve very small margins and unconventional dimensions of the pages, as well as background colors. The PDF version of this website is an example. It was structured to resemble a conventional webpage, and it is not structured for printing.
Using Word Processor Software for HTML and PDF
When your primary focus is writing, scientific, technical, instructional, or academic material, with or without photographs, start with a good word processor. The word processor must have functions to carry out photo editing, and to create HTML and PDF documents. Microsoft Word and Apache OpenOffice Writer have the required functionality. The main advantage of Microsoft Word is a grammar checker, and the ease of changing background colors. In addition, it is relatively easy to write mathematical expressions with Microsoft Word. The main advantage of OpenOffice Writer is it does NOT reduce the number of megabytes of a photograph excessively during the conversion process to HTML or PDF. Reducing the file size of a photograph generally results in a reduction of the quality of the image. Thus, the photographs in web-based documents might look better if they were created with OpenOffice writer, then they would with Microsoft Word. However, the superior quality might not be visible on computer screens less than 4K, especially if the photographs are small. The following photographs will clarify the above. The photograph on the left was reduced to 28.6 KB with a Microsoft Word conversion to HTML. The photograph on the right was reduced to 83 KB, in a conversion to HTML, using OpenOffice Writer. The difference in quality might be apparent when the photographs are relatively large, and the resolution of the computer screen is high.
Microsoft Word 28.6 KB OpenOffice Writer 83KB
A greater reduction in file size of photographs may be preferred in some cases. The smaller file size of the photographs reduced the time it takes for a webpage to load. This can be especially important if a website contains a large number of photographs. A reduced file size of a photograph makes it less desirable for copyright violators. When any of the above is relevant, Microsoft Word may be preferred over OpenOffice writer.
In this section, I briefly describe some of the many software alternatives that can be used to create HTML and PDF documents with photographs. Some of this software is free open source. All of the software listed has specific advantages and limitations, and require some study and practice to create good HTML and PDF documents. Microsoft Word is bundled with Microsoft Office, which can be obtained for a yearly subscription for about $70. You can purchase the home and student edition for a flat fee of approximately $150. www.microsoft.com/en-us/store See the following YouTube videos to learn how to use Microsoft Word: VIDEOS for Microsoft Word VIDEOS Microsoft Word with HTML VIDEOS Microsoft Word with PDF VIDEOS Microsoft Word and Photo Editing
OpenOffice Writer is bundled with Apache OpenOffice, which is free open source software. You can download it free of charge from www.OpenOffice.org See the following YouTube videos to learn how to use OpenOffice Writer: VIDEOS for OpenOffice Writer VIDEOS OpenOffice Writer with HTML VIDEOS OpenOffice Writer with PDF VIDEOS OpenOffice Writer and Photo Editing
An alternative to the above is LibreOffice. This is also free open source software. See www.libreoffice.org See the following YouTube videos to learn how to use LibreOffice: VIDEOS for LibreOffice VIDEOS LibreOffice with HTML VIDEOS LibreOffice with PDF VIDEOS LibreOffice and Photo Editing
WordPerfect is another good choice for creating HTML and PDF documents, and it is bundled in Corel WordPerfect Suite 8. The home and student edition is about $90. It can be downloaded from www.WordPerfect.com See the following YouTube videos to learn how to use WordPerfect: VIDEOS for WordPerfect VIDEOS WordPerfect with HTML VIDEOS WordPerfect with PDF VIDEOS WordPerfect and Photographs
When creating HTML webpages, it is sometimes best to start the work in a word processor, and completed in a HTML editor. This of course requires converting the document to HTML, so it can be completed in the HTML editor. An HTML editor is especially useful if you cannot obtain exactly what you want from a word processor. For example, in some word processors it is difficult or impossible to obtain background colors with texture. This is easy to do with almost any HTML editor, by using a photograph or any type of graphic for the background. Similarly, when creating PDF documents, it is often necessary to modify pages produced in a conventional word processor. Usually there are extra spaces between each page when it is converted to PDF. The extra spaces can sometimes be excessively long, but they can be removed with a PDF editor that has the required functionality. It is sometimes better to convert a word processor document to PDF using a PDF editor. Under the following two headings, there are descriptions of six editors. The HTML editors are free, but the PDF editors must be purchased online. All of the editors essentially provide what you see is what you get functionality. Thus, you do not have to know how to write computer code to use these editors. However, it will be helpful if you understand the basic concept of HTML, and PDF file structure. I own these editors, and my comments are based on my personal experience with these devices. If you do some exploring on the web you might find editors that function better for your personal working style and needs. Keep in mind that the best software is not necessarily the most expensive, or most popular. In general, the best software is a relative concept, and it is determined by the personal needs and working style of each individual.
Based on my experience KompoZer is the best HTML editor for creating web-based documents with or without photographs. It is free of charge, and it can be downloaded from www.kompozer.net Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use KompoZer
SeaMonkey is a web browser, combined with an HTML editor. It is free of charge, and it can be downloaded from www.seamonkey-project.org Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use SeaMonkey
BlueGriffon is another good HTML editor, and it is free of charge, from http://bluegriffon.org/#download Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use BlueGriffon
Wondershare PDFelement 6 Professional is a PDF editor that has a very good page crop function. Specifically, PDF pages often contain excessively large spaces on the bottom of the document, which are removed by cropping. The other PDF software I tried did not have very efficient cropping functions. PDFelement 6 Professional, is available for a free trial, it costs about $90, and it can be downloaded from: https://pdf.wondershare.com/store/buy-pdfelement.html Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use PDFelement 6 Professional.
Wondershare PDFelement is less expensive than the above. I have version 5 and it does not have a good cropping function. Version 6 is available at this time and it may or may not have an adequate page cropping function. It costs about $60, it is available for a free trial and it can be downloaded from: https://pdf.wondershare.com/store/buy-pdfelement-standard.html Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use Wondershare PDFelement.
Corel’s PDF Fusion is a PDF editor that has very good functions for converting documents to PDF. It can convert a Microsoft Word document directly to PDF without removing background colors or textures. However, this conversion can be done directly in Microsoft Word, but PDF Fusion has functions to control the quality and size of the converted document. PDF fusion costs approximately $55, but it is available for a free 30-day trial, and it can be downloaded from: www.wordperfect.com/en/product/pdf-creator Click on these words, for list of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use Corel PDF Fusion.
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The panda was moving very rapidly, and frequently changing directions, without any apparent goal. This can be seen in the following four photographs.
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The panda was grabbing on to shrubbery, as can be seen in the following three photographs. However the animal was momentarily distracted by the shutter of my camera, which can seen in photograph 6. The panda quickly returned to the shrubbery, as shown in photograph 7.
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The pander started to run through the shrubbery, and then found a tree to climb, as can be seen in the following seven photographs.
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