Digest-sized books

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toddlyons
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by toddlyons »

Solomoriah wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:46 pm Still can't believe anyone wants to read the rules that small.
Same here. I'm thankful for the letter-sized versions having been increased to 10 point font.
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leon
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by leon »

FWIW, you can scale a PDF with ghostscript. This code produces a 5.5" x 8.25" version.

Code: Select all

gs \
 -o Basic-Fantasy-RPG-Rules-r116-Digest.pdf \
 -sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
 -dDEVICEWIDTHPOINTS=396 -dDEVICEHEIGHTPOINTS=594 \
 -dFIXEDMEDIA \
 -dPDFFitPage \
 -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 \
  Basic-Fantasy-RPG-Rules-r116.pdf
Screenshot from 2023-03-22 21-54-28.png
Screenshot from 2023-03-22 21-54-28.png (120.17 KiB) Viewed 473 times
Who knows if scaling it this way works with Lulu. I suspect you won't get a usable digest size without bumping the font size and redoing the layout. And that's where you get into it not being easy.
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bugleyman
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by bugleyman »

Solomoriah wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:10 pm Honestly don't know how to easily scale a PDF. I can think of several hard ways, but that doesn't sound like fun.
According to the post I linked up thread, it's as easy as opening the existing PDF, and then "printing" to PDF using the "printer" Microsoft print to PDF after having selected A5 as the paper size and setting scaling to "shrink to fit printable area." I've attached some sample output.

In fact, PoD providers may not even require you to do any scaling at all; offering different sizes may be as easy as exposing a toggle (though never having published anything, I'm not sure on that front).

With a new print version on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to suggest the digest-size option. But as you seem skeptical, I shall beat this drum no more. ;)
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Basic Fantasy sample in A5.pdf
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Last edited by bugleyman on Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by Solomoriah »

bugleyman wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:28 am
Solomoriah wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:10 pm Honestly don't know how to easily scale a PDF. I can think of several hard ways, but that doesn't sound like fun.
According to the post I linked up thread, it's as easy as opening the existing PDF, and then "printing" to PDF using the "printer" Microsoft print to PDF after having selected A5 as the paper size and setting scaling to "shrink to fit printable area." I've attached some sample output.
You might not realize this yet, but my workflow does not include Windows at all.

Leon's suggestion for GhostScript is more my speed, and I should have realized GS was the way to go.
bugleyman wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:28 am In fact, PoD providers may not even require you to do any scaling at all; offering different sizes may be as easy as exposing a toggle (though never having published anything, I'm not sure on that front).
They don't. The best I can hope for is that they cut off the margins consistently.
bugleyman wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:28 am With a new print version on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to suggest the digest-size option. But as you seem skeptical, I shall beat this drum no more. ;)
Your opinion is welcome, sir. Also, you might PM me your credit as you'd like it to appear in future releases; you've submitted enough corrections to qualify for a proofing credit.
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chiisu81
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by chiisu81 »

Solomoriah wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:08 am They don't. The best I can hope for is that they cut off the margins consistently.
:D
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coureur_d_bois
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by coureur_d_bois »

Not gonna lie, I'd buy the digest sized book as well.
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Dimirag
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by Dimirag »

For those wanting a "better" digest-sized, you can combine your efforts and work with the .odt file changing the format to keep the font size.

If you decide to take on this task I suggest that you ask permission to the artists appearing on the book, as the art permission is given to Solomoriah and is not linked to the game CC.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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Solomoriah
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by Solomoriah »

Actually, Dimi, I'd prefer if they not start something like this yet. Let the Core Rules 4thed solidify first.
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Dimirag
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by Dimirag »

Oh, totally agree on that, I wasn't saying them to start now, after a print candidate stays stable for a while is the best option.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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peelseel2
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Re: Digest-sized books

Post by peelseel2 »

If you do not mind a stretch/skew of the pdf, Adobe does a great job of it fast. Simply using print to pdf scale to page does not work so well, because the margins are off then.

I have made a lulu print for myself in 5.5x8.5. Solomoriah is right. The font is a little small. I still like it though. My readers pick it up fine, and it is very portable. I even made a box for it based on the OD&D Whitebox. Looks great.
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