Got mine!

Jesus...this is the worst PDF I've ever had to try to read.

A couple of tips for folks in the future:

-Two-column PDFs are a bad idea. I don't care if that makes it look like the print version. I don't care if it means more work for you. One-column PDFs, please. On slower computers it becomes a cast-iron bitch to repeatedly scroll the same page (which can often take more time than the next page takes to load into memory).

-Optimize your PDFs before release. The SR4 BBB takes up three hundred megabytes of system memory when in Adobe Acrobat 6.04. Not the god-awful memory hog of Acrobat 7, but the relatively lean 6.04. BAD. Get rid of that green border, get rid of the three-plus layers that make it look all uber-l33t-hawt, and rasterize the layers into a SINGLE graphical layer. Or get rid of the graphics entirely--that'd be nice too.

Well, my 'work-file' still has layers and transparency (the conversion was crap)... just the green stuff and things like cover, story, etc... have gone - in every other aspect, it's just the same file as yours - even as my system is about twice as 'strong' as yours, it runs far from fluid...

Distribution of such a file would be a no-no, though.

Rotbart--mind outlining the exact steps you used? I want to pummel this damned PDF into submission.

As has been said, oh, just a couple times over the last 48 hours -- a revised version of the file is being worked on. The compatability and size/layer issues will be addressed.

FanPro has no plans to release distinct 1-column/landscape eBooks at this time, though; putting them together is an amount of work that eBook sales do not justify at this time.

It ain't that much work, Adam. I've converted D20 books into single-column formats for personal use in under six hours (granted, I stripped graphics and the like). Hell, a PDF'd Microsoft Word file would be more than enough for me. The uber-l33t-hawt graphics don't matter. The text does.

Something usable on my primary computer (IBM ThinkPad A22m, 1GHz, 512 MB RAM) would be really nice, though. This isn't it.

Yeah, I saw that; it's been integrated. Thanks for the heads up.

Blacken: oh, thats quite simple: Get Adobe Acrobat, go to Pages Tab, select those you don't need, and hit <DEL>, go to Bookmarks tab and clean up the now dead links,select the touchup Object Tool, click on the part (usually green bars and frames at the side of a page) you want to see gone, and hit <DEL> - and that about three times every page... save early, save often, when you are done save as a new file to reduce filesize... that took me about eight hours, as sometimes, Acrobat 7 simply freezes for some time.

Props to Adam for doing a similarly mindnumbing job.

Ugh. Too much work for too little gain. I'll settle for rasterizing the thing and making it loadable for now.

An entirely different type of mindnumbing, really.

Cripes. I guess I'll wait for someone else to do it while my book comes...

Hehe, I like this book, it is quite cute.

I cut & pasted each page from Reader 7 to Photoshop, coverted to grayscale (flattening layers in the process), and saved each page as a PNG. I then went to Acrobat Pro 6 and made a PDF for each chapter, plus a whole-book PDF. It took me about four hours, but it's worth it to 1) open it in Acrobat 6, 2) print it, and 3) not wait 15-30 seconds per page for it to load. The largest chapter is a little over 6 MB. The whole PDF (with color front and back covers) is 49.9 MB.

Bookmarking the thing (since I couldn't fix the bookmark errors anyway, just like with Loose Alliances) will probably take me another 4 hours. It will also probably add another .5 - 1 MB, and I don't actually lose anything because the book looks better in grayscale (Which it would also be when printed, so I cut out the middleman), and I can always open it in Reader 7 to a specific page if I need to cut & paste (although typing works, too. It always has when quoting books, etc.).

I'm also curious why there's an image under the full-page images.

SL James, but now it's not searchable. Crazy talk! =)

That's what the Index is for.

And searching in Reader 7 is more of an annoyance than it provides any actual utility.

Well, I managed to make a copy that is much more responsive, as well as properly operational in Preview.

I also managed to make it 1.25 gigabytes large. I don't know how, but I don't think I can consider this a success.

~J

We should talk.

OBTW, with the bookmarks it's now a whopping 50.3 MB.

I've had some odd experiences with the PDF that might give someone some ideas.

On my work machine (P4 3.0GHz, 1GB, XP) it is god awful slow in Reader 7.0, it takes about 30 seconds to display a page as I watch it work on displaying each layer and image. Also, all pictures are really low resolution.

On my Mac mini (1.4GHz, 1GB, !0.4) in Preview the first page or two will displayed, but with bizarre colors for the first page or two, then Preview crashes. However, using Reader 7.0 the colors are just fine, the pictures are high resolution and it takes less than 1 second to load.

I don't expect column reformatting, esp. since a lot of people who bought the pdf probably want it to look like in print, but it would be nice if there were a text-only version to download.

Sorry if this has been covered before. I'm new to e-books, and to the dumpshock forums in general.

I have a question about the pdf of SR4 I purchased at Battlecorps that I'm hoping can get cleared up.

I burned a copy of the e-book on CD this morning, and after work I had a co-worker drop me off at the local Staples so that I could get the book actually printed out. The pdf is nice, but it isn't very portable or easy to read. I was looking forward to printing it out with some nice paper and some ring binding to make flipping through it fast and easy.

So I walk into Staples, and as I approach the copy center there are numerous signs posted up about them not being able to print copyrighted material. Ok, I can totally understand that. They are covering their asses.

Anyway, I read through all of it, but thought I was still ok since I had legally purchased my copy of SR4 online at Battlecorps. Unfortunately, the rather rude associate told me that there was no way they could print the book for me. I tried to explain to him that I had legally purchased the book online, but he just kept repeating that he couldn't do it, all with the familiar look on his face of a lazy employee who didn't want to do any work.

Back to my question....what exactly did I purchase with my $30+ dollars (I'm in Canada) when I paid Battlecorps to be able to download the pdf?
What rights do I have with it, exactly?

Am I legally allowed to make copies of it, electronic or print, as long as they remain in my possesion and my use?

Or, technically, did I just pay that money to be able to read the book on the only computer I downloaded it from?

If someone official could clear this up, that would be great.

-Ravennus

I don't know about Battlecorps' policy (wait for Vaidric to make some comment about that), but drivethrurpg.com allows you to make unlimited print copies of their PDFs. You can read their policy here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/catalog/FAQ.php?

I'd imagine Battlecorps' policy is similar. This is a case of the employees at Staples being total jerks. It would help to bring the copyright printing policy, I guess.

than i would print out the page(s) from battlecorps that outlines your rights as the purchaser of the book

I don't know if this'll help, but the BattleCorps Terms of Service has the following statement (of which, I've bolded a key point:

Go to Kinko's, that store has no scruples, I have copied all kinds of things that were in shady territory in terms of reproduction...

Actually, Paul, i would think it would be the other way around, that you couldnt print or download or play the webpages themselves, but the documents you can download or view, are the ones you can also print.

@Vairdic: I bought the PDF last Wednesday morning, had the all-familiar PayPal error and sent several mails to Battlecorps.com about this, including the transaction ID.

So far I have nor received a single answer.

Seeing as you are a represantative of BC.com, can you perhaps tell me when I can finally download my already bought PDF?

I am a bit disappointed, both in battlecorps.com and in PayPal, who have answered only with a standard reply, in which they did not even acknowledge the error on their side.

Helge.

so if i'm getting this straight...

its not worth buying the pdf at the moment because its apparently FUBAR?

No, by all means, buy it now. When the Errata comes out you will be able to download an updated PDF for free.

What the previous poster was complaining about was an error with paypal, not with the PDF itself.

I'll grab it from DTRPG since i've bought PDF's from there before and have found them reliable....

I dont know anything about battlecorps

Cantello:

I don't know why you didn't get an initial email from us explaining the situation. I'll take the blame for that one though, and apologize profusely. I looked through my records, and see that you should have gotten an email from our programmer (Scott "Mordel" Bukoski) last night. It would have come from mordel@battlecorps.com. Check your order history and you should see the order there.

We're trying to work with paypal to fix this problem, but so far it's like pulling teeth, so as soon as the fervor over SR4 dies down, and Scott gets some time, we're implementing our own solution. As it is now, if your system crashes or paypal hiccups before you can click the return to merchant button, nothing at all happens on our side. That's why your items stay in your cart. Scott then has to go into the database and rebuild the order from the ground up and that can take some time.

(To anyone else with similar problems, please bear with me, I'm slowly getting back to all of my emails. With the Holostreets announcement, SR4, and System Failure all hitting at the same time as the "Post GenCon Plague" I'm woefully behind.)

Ravennus:

Yes you have a right to make a copy for your personal use.

That said, there's nothing I can do if you brought your receipt with you. It's up to the individual store(s) (for any chain or independent) to decide if they want to allow copying.

That said (again), I would go and ask to speak to the manager. Generally if you speak to the manager and explain that this is a legally purchased PDF, and you have the receipt for it, they'll be willing to work with you. You may want to print out a copy of the product page too so he can see the cover and description too.

Hope this helps

Yeah i wasnt calling battlecorps non reliable by anymeans, and i didnt misunderstand details before hand i was just going on problems people were having with the pdf as far as loading speed for pages etc.

for those who have actually read the book how much easier is the system?
and how is the game in general.
admittedly SR3 gave me nightmares and made my brain hurt.

Thing i always loved about SR tho was the setting. Best setting i've ever read about.

Much easier to learn and use, but at a cost. Rules make less sense, cover fewer situations, and have all manner of balance problems... THe new rules + the house-rule compilations might be nice, though.

what house rule compilations?