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Of course in the Adobe example, they put all of their page numbers on the
right side of the page (except the front matter) which is very awkward if
you print it double-sided.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+rick=rickquatro -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
<techwr-l-bounces+rick=rickquatro -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> On Behalf Of
Robert Lauriston
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 2:42 PM
To: TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: Re: Odd/Even formatting
It looks old-fashioned to me. I read hundreds of PDFs a year and so few of
them use left/right formatting that it's startling when I come across one.
It interferes with skimming.
Left/right adds value to no one except those users who print double-sided
and bind the pages. I've heard that's still common in some fields.
I publish to online help, PDF, a help-center format for the web site, and
Zendesk. The main advantage of PDF in the modern era is that it gives you
everything in a single downloadable file.
On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 11:13 AM, Rick Quatro <rick -at- rickquatro -dot- com> wrote:
> Who does it look old-fashioned or weird to? This is an opinion that is
> not shared by everyone. "Unless a lot of users are going to print..."
> So you essentially admit that left/right layouts add value for some of the
users.
> Do you know what percentage of your users might print and bind pages?
> Even if it is a small number, do you make your documentation less
> useful so it doesn't look "old fashioned or weird"? And, if you are
> still using a page-based format like PDF, you haven't dumped all
> holdovers from the print era.
>
> Eschewing "bookthink" or dumping the "print era" sound more like
> philosophical or fashion statements. I would be more concerned with
> presentation and usability than not wanting to appear old fashioned.
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