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PDF vs. HTML – A comparison of two file formats.

When you look at a web page and a PDF file, what do you see? Because PDF and HTML share some of the same characteristics, both are often compared side by side. If given the chance to jot down differences and similarities, your list might include some of the following:

HTML
PDF

Not scalable
Scalable

No media available to add footnotes
Can annotate and add comments

Navigation consists of scroll bar, search engines, hypertext
Variety of reader navigation controls

Requires browser window
Requires PDF reader

Font and appearance defined by web page creator; may appear differently according to browser
Fonts are embedded – appearance and layout of document is retained

No security restrictions
PDF security measures can be added

Concerned with structure
Concerned with appearance


Both are universal formats in that all browsers can accommodate HTML just as all computers can support PDF. They are also portable in that you can electronically send either format as a file over the internet.

PDF and HTML formats can enhance each other in similar ways. An example includes the web-functionality in a PDF file. Internet links and images in PDF documents are possible. Likewise, PDFs can be used on HTML based web sites to include supplementary content such as articles or forms.

Thus, it's easy to see why PDF and HTML can be considered competitive forms although they aren't derived from the same technologies.

Due to the advantages and disadvantages of each, there may be instances in which a user wants to take their PDF and convert it into HTML, or vice versa.

Users can use the conversion capability of Able2Extract to convert from PDF to HTML.
For those wanting to go from HTML to PDF, Sonic PDF Creator will surely do the trick.



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