Making the change from print to digital
There has always been a need to transition from printed media, publications, reports, financial overviews, magazines, brochures, manuals, policies & procedures, catalogues and so the list goes on. However, now more than ever there is a greater demand for user-friendly and easy-to-navigate digital publications and media.
The world has shifted dramatically and in such a short space of time, we have needed to adapt to our new work-from-home lifestyles. Although, for some, working from home is only for the short term, there seems to be a large portion of corporates and SMEs that may see this change as a more permanent solution.
Making the change from a print-mindset to defined digital processes is a change that has been happening for many years, our work-from-home lifestyles have merely highlighted the need for this change.
Personally, I absolutely love all things print, the smell of a brand new book or a newly printed magazine hot off the press. As much as there will always be a need for print, the reality is that there are countless advantages to opting for paperless solutions.
Digital publications are much easier to navigate. This includes having active links, directly accessible cross references and jump-to page options.
Where forms are included they can be interactive, with no need to navigate from the page and easy to submit.
There are no limitations as to the number of pages within a document. This may also apply to page size but the reality is that when producing digital publications it’s advisable stick to printer-friendly specs as you don’t want to eliminate the ability to print either.
Let’s go green and reduce the unnecessary need for paper.
Why is it okay to outsource the overall presentation and layout to an expert when the document will be printed professionally? It seems that when there’s no need to print, there’s no need for a professional looking, aesthetically pleasing or user-friendly document. However in my experience I find this way of thinking is usually a by product of our inability to finalise something.
When it comes to printed material there is always a deadline, a content deadline, a layout deadline, an approval deadline and a print deadline. With deadlines, especially print deadlines, comes a certain finality. This material is going to be proofed and edited and read and re-read, changes will be made until it comes to the last possible moment where that deadline says you are out of time, no more changes can be made and it needs to go for final approval for print. At that point the document has been scrutinised and analysed, because print is expensive and mistakes are costly – we push ourselves, designers, content writers, managers, lawyers, doctors, students, marketers… whatever the content – we put our best foot forward and produce the best possible version of this document.
When we have constant access to a document and can change and update it over and over and as we please – the document is never really finalised. This inability to put a final stamp of approval on content opens the door a number of versions floating around, especially if there are no set guidelines in place for updating content. There is far greater room for error, far less responsibility for the quality and zero need to ever finalise the document. So essentially very relevant information becomes less reliable when it’s almost always a work-in progress.
Perhaps if we adopted a print-mindset for digital docs and these docs were presented professionally, it would streamline processes and efficiency ten fold and simply increase the value of the content.
Having an engaging PDF is one thing, but you could take it one step further and convert that pdf to an authentic digital online publication. There are so many great options for converting pdfs to appealing publications, here are a few I’ve found:
Let’s convert those manuals, catalogues, reports, yearbooks and brochures into user-friendly, appealing and easily accessible publications. Get in touch and let's go paperless... click to email!
Commentaires