For the non-tech savvy, there could be some confusing issues if terms like “HTML” and “PDF” are used by tech-savvy people, in pointing out some documents and how they want it presented. There are also some tasks that may want open html to pdf.
At this point in time where there is already so much progress in the digital world, the work is already a very easy task to do and is usually done in a span of four sentences. Converting an open HTML into a PDF files is something akin to learning a song for children.
The main work is to simply follow the “dancing ball”. And you can’t go wrong with that.
When
converting an HTML file, you simply open an HTML web page in any of the
following browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Firefox. Click the “Convert
to PDF” button in the Adobe PDF toolbar to start the PDF conversion. “Enter a File” and “Save” and save in your
favorite place in the computer.
Advantages
Both HTML and PDF have their own uses. It is not everyone that would prefer HTML over a PDF file, or even vice versa. Each file has its own importance and definitely has its own use.
There
are reasons why HTML are being converted into PDF and some are questioning
whether HTML or PDF would be the more useful format ESA’s electronic reprint.
The main answer is that it depends on whether the article is to be viewed and
used mainly as hard copy.
Appearance
PDF (portable document format) retains the exact appearance of the document, no matter what platform (PC, MC, and UNIX) is used to view or print it.
HTML is the language of the Web and they are intended to be accessed via computer whenever needed rather than be printed. Making HTML versions of articles is more expensive than making PDFs.
In PDF, articles retain the exact appearance of the original article. Screen images or portion can be zoomed in or out up to 800%.
The appearance in HTML is determined by marked-up tags, the browser, the monitor, and the settings of the browser.
File structure
Each article in PDF is a single binary file, usually between 100 KB and some few MB in size; these files are smaller compared to Word of the same document.
In HTML,
the document and the figures are separate files. A richly illustrated article
with both thumb-nail and full screen versions of each figure could require
10-20 files. Making HTML versions of typical printed articles is more expensive
than making PDF versions.
Advantages
PDF is low-cost, produces images and hardcopy that researchers know and like.
In
HTML, interactivity (forms, internal and external hyperlinks), on-screen
appearance, audio and video clips are easily incorporated.
Disadvantages
The chief disadvantage of PDF is that it is not easily made interactive. With HTML, the hardcopy lacks interactivity (links and thumbnails are dead, and the format is not designed for print.
The
hardcopy is less compact (more pages) and harder to read (no columns). It is
difficult for users to save the article in electronic form for later viewing.
(Many of the files sometimes require particular directory structure.)