I understand the customization putting the owners name on it, it makes sense, but why oh why do you have the export pages disabled.
I bought the bestiary 2 pdf, and i wanted to print myself out a mini bestiary for use with this weeks game, I wanted to export all the plants / fey to one pdf so i could easily use it on my ipad.
Instead the only option i was left with, was to print a few pages at a time after making a list of all the pages that contained those creatures (couldn't use the gui). Then most printers only let you list about 20 char for selective printing,so i had to run 4 print jobs.
Is this necessary?
This is also going to prevent me from doing something else which i was thinking of doing which is subscribing to modules and then exporting pages with new creatures to make a supplementary PDF for my own use of all the special mobs in modules.
What purpose does this serve?
Director of Sales
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We protect our PDFs from piracy and from editing, as we do not want either of these things happening.
These protections are self-supporting and not granular. This means that in order to make them as secure as possible, we will err on the side of locking them up. This prevents some activities (as in your case), but certainly does not render the PDFs unusable.
We do not tolerate piracy of the digital assets available here. The security on the PDFs serves this purpose and is completely necessary to ensure it.
Unfortunately this makes it so you cannot easily use the PDFs in the manner you wish. As is the case with all DRM, the pirates have spoiled things for everyone.
thanks,
cos
I know it might be tedious but you could screenshot the desired pages and then compile the screenshots into a PDF (assuming you have PDF creation tools.)
This is also going to prevent me from doing something else which i was thinking of doing which is subscribing to modules and then exporting pages with new creatures to make a supplementary PDF for my own use of all the special mobs in modules.
If you subscribe to the Adventure Path, you can download both the all-in-on version as well as a version broken out into sections, and one of those sections is the bestiary from the end of the Adventure Path. That won't let you cherry pick just those monsters you want, but at least it gives you an option for just loading the small bestiary.
We protect our PDFs from piracy and from editing, as we do not want either of these things happening.
These protections are self-supporting and not granular. This means that in order to make them as secure as possible, we will err on the side of locking them up. This prevents some activities (as in your case), but certainly does not render the PDFs unusable.
We do not tolerate piracy of the digital assets available here. The security on the PDFs serves this purpose and is completely necessary to ensure it.
Unfortunately this makes it so you cannot easily use the PDFs in the manner you wish. As is the case with all DRM, the pirates have spoiled things for everyone.
thanks,
cos
+1
Another example of security interfering with legitimate customers, and being a trivial deterrent (if not a complete non-issue) for those with the intent of illegal activities...
I wanted to export all the plants / fey to one pdf so i could easily use it on my ipad.
I do not know what OS you are using, and I know little about Mac OSs, but look for an option to "Print to File / PDF."
Linux (at least Ubuntu) has it built in. When printing, select "Print to File," and you can select .pdf or .ps. (I haven't tried the default .ps [Post Script]. It might be superior, but I've always wanted the PDF format for some reason.)
In Windows, you can find a couple of free programs that allow you to add this option.
I wanted to export all the plants / fey to one pdf so i could easily use it on my ipad.I do not know what OS you are using, and I know little about Mac OSs, but look for an option to "Print to File / PDF."
Linux (at least Ubuntu) has it built in. When printing, select "Print to File," and you can select .pdf or .ps. (I haven't tried the default .ps [Post Script]. It might be superior, but I've always wanted the PDF format for some reason.)
In Windows, you can find a couple of free programs that allow you to add this option.
On the lastest Mac OS, you would ordinarily go to File --> Print, which brings up the Print box. Then you set the Printer to Adobe PDF, which should give you the little tab to select the PDF type. You would then ordinarily pull that box down to "Save as PDF."
I say "ordinarily" in this case because in this case, it has been disabled, as well. Not sure if this is because Acrobat might be declining to save a pdf as a pdf, or if it is something Paizo did, but either way, it doesn't work as it does with other docs.
I do this all the time; I have a set of about 20 Word documents that have grown to about 1000 pages over the past 5 years.
All I do is copy/paste the text from the PDFs along with the picture. It takes a bit of time per creature, but I'm very practiced at using find/replace to replace all the paragraph markers with spaces (hint: in Word, ^p (two characters) matches the paragraph marker in the Find/Replace dialog).
And then I can do things like advance it, etc., and keep that in the my bestiary. Often, it's just as easy to copy from the online PRD or d20prd.com and use the picture from the Bestiary or Bestiary 2. I've kept a lot of the 3.5e monsters around just for variety (e.g. the d20 Call of Cthulhu shoggoth is very different from the Pathfinder shoggoth, as are the paraelementals).
Now, when building encounters, I can just copy the relevant pages from my bestiary, modifying if needed.
Edit: And for trying to print to PDF, look for a PDF printer - I use CutePDF, which works great under Windows but I have no idea if it's supported for MacOS.
Edit: And for trying to print to PDF, look for a PDF printer - I use CutePDF, which works great under Windows but I have no idea if it's supported for MacOS.
It's part of OSX: File -> print, and there's a button at the bottom that says PDF, click it and choose "Save as PDF."
We do not tolerate piracy of the digital assets available here. The security on the PDFs serves this purpose and is completely necessary to ensure it.
I'm curious, but at what point do you consider this plan flawed? If the files are widely available to pirates, why continue to punish your actual paying customers? If the DRM was preventing everyone from getting pirated copies, I would understand, but when the pirates have no problems getting it, and have a better product (due to removed DRM), how does it make sense?
Note: I am in no way in favor of people infringing on Paizo copyright. I fully believe people should pay for what they use.
While yes, it is possible to remove the watermarks and such, they have to do SOMETHING. Since they basically give everything away online anyway, honest customers always have a viable / non-criminal option they can choose. The criminals will do what they will, but there's no sense making their job easy.
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Chief Technical Officer
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If the DRM was preventing everyone from getting pirated copies, I would understand, but when the pirates have no problems getting it, and have a better product (due to removed DRM), how does it make sense?
If the locks on your doors don't prevent thieves with crowbars from getting into your house, why don't you just leave your doors unlocked?
If the DRM was preventing everyone from getting pirated copies, I would understand, but when the pirates have no problems getting it, and have a better product (due to removed DRM), how does it make sense?If the locks on your doors don't prevent thieves with crowbars from getting into your house, why don't you just leave your doors unlocked?
Would you still use locks on your door if you couldn't control them? Lets say you came home early one day, but your locks were on a timer, so you couldn't go inside until your usual arrival time.
Yet a thief, could go down the street, ask a random person and get a way to bypass your lock.
Would you still use those door locks?
This is more about video games but I think it's still relevant.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2653-Piracy
Unfortunately even the best PDF create products have limits. There's just not a way to allow such things to without opening oneself to pirates. For example, in Acrobat I can't make multiple layers for forms (fillable form fields come on a single layer over the PDF's other layers). It's a limitation I hope they overcome one day, but I don't expect others to beat down their door to do this... by the same example, I do not believe they'll make the products do what you speak of any time soon. It's just an unfortunate lack of technology (vs making it easy to pirate).
Buying a ticket to see a movie does not give you the right to take the movie and recut it from the master tapes/files "for your own use."
Purchasing an airline ticket does not endenture the airline to furnish you with your own plane to customize "for your own use."
If you buy an orange the super market doesn't have to give you free oranges for life.
There comes a point at which the customer is not entitled to further service/product than that which is rendered.
Paizo providing PDF content of all of their material is already atypically accommodating of them. Just go out and purchase a WotC pdf..oh wait. Take that alongside their nod to print a copy of the pdf legitimately, or extract images for handouts, player maps, etc "for your own use." To then get all red faced and "omg gaiz omg" because retooling, recombining, re-editing and reworking their content is "too time consuming?" Seems a tad wankish.
It's also a bit exasperating to rehash the "yeah but pirates do it so it shouldn't matter" debate. Step 1: Don't be a D word. Step 2: Remember step 1.
Buying a ticket to see a movie does not give you the right to take the movie and recut it from the master tapes/files "for your own use."
Purchasing an airline ticket does not endenture the airline to furnish you with your own plane to customize "for your own use."
If you buy an orange the super market doesn't have to give you free oranges for life.
The problem with using analogies to make an argument is that they usually fail when put in context. Buying an orange doesn't grant me free oranges for life (no one demanded free stuff in this thread, btw). However, if I pay for an orange I am free to do what ever I want with that orange. I can cut it up, juice it, smash it, use it to satisfy some devious fruit fetish, plant an orchard--whatever, it's my orange.
If Vic sells his house with the locks in place, the buyer would expect to be handed the keys.
See the problem?
There comes a point at which the customer is not entitled to further service/product than that which is rendered.
No one here is arguing against that.
Paizo providing PDF content of all of their material is already atypically accommodating of them. Just go out and purchase a WotC pdf..oh wait.
It's safe to say Paizo provides PDF content because its good for business.
Take that alongside their nod to print a copy of the pdf legitimately, or extract images for handouts, player maps, etc "for your own use." To then get all red faced and "omg gaiz omg" because retooling, recombining, re-editing and reworking their content is "too time consuming?" Seems a tad wankish.
First, no one in this thread is being unreasonable or wankish. Second, for a hobby company to thrive in the age of competing media it had better take customer feedback seriously. Paizo does this, which is why we love them and give them money (mostly it's about the money). Finally, DRM doesn't make things "hard" for pirates. As soon as the DRM is broken the files will be uploaded to the internet. When that happens your DRM officially becomes good for nothing except annoying the honest customers that are paying for your product.
It's also a bit exasperating to rehash the "yeah but pirates do it so it shouldn't matter" debate. Step 1: Don't be a D word. Step 2: Remember step 1.
You should follow your own advice.
There are PC game companies that sell their products DRM-free. Again, I don't think its a relevant comparison because the needs and expectations of a PC gamer are different from those of a PnP GM trying to build an easy reference guide for his campaign.
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There are PC game companies that sell their products DRM-free. Again, I don't think its a relevant comparison because the needs and expectations of a PC gamer are different from those of a PnP GM trying to build an easy reference for his campaign.
And while I can appreciate the choices of those PC companies, they usually aren't the larger and more well know companies, they are usually the independents trying to attract potential gamers with their hassle-free approach. Larger game companies are the ones you see doing this more often than not. I consider Paizo one of the big boys at this point; their product has really taken off in popularity. They are just doing what they feel is best to attempt to deter as many pirates as possible. Obviously you wont stop everyone, but if you do nothing, it would be much more widespread.
Using the argument "well people will still crack it" in this case is pretty much meaningless. They aren't trying to STOP it, as I've said thats impossible, they are trying to slow it and discourage it as much as possible. Which certainly IS possible.
Wanting to get rid of this because it means some extra work to organize your personal documents is a fairly weak argument. I can and do everything the OP is wanting to do with one note and the snipping tool in Win7. Sure, takes some effort on my part, but in the end it works just the same. Im still able to do what I want with my product I've paid for, they never said it would be easy. But i have my easy reference built for my campaign. Im not a mac guy, but im sure there are similar tools available there as well.
We protect our PDFs from piracy and from editing, as we do not want either of these things happening.
These protections are self-supporting and not granular. This means that in order to make them as secure as possible, we will err on the side of locking them up. This prevents some activities (as in your case), but certainly does not render the PDFs unusable.
We do not tolerate piracy of the digital assets available here. The security on the PDFs serves this purpose and is completely necessary to ensure it.
Unfortunately this makes it so you cannot easily use the PDFs in the manner you wish. As is the case with all DRM, the pirates have spoiled things for everyone.
thanks,
cos
Okay, honest question here.
Maybe I'm just being dense and missing the reasoning behind it, but why would you want to protect PDF's from editing? Aside from being able to remove the proof of purchase watermarking, of course. What exactly is wrong with having the ability to just yank the plants & fey entries onto one PDF if desired?I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, I'm just guessing I'm missing something really obvious.
Using the argument "well people will still crack it" in this case is pretty much meaningless. They aren't trying to STOP it, as I've said thats impossible, they are trying to slow it and discourage it as much as possible. Which certainly IS possible.
If they can't stop it then what exactly are they "slowing and discouraging" with the security locks?
Wanting to get rid of this because it means some extra work to organize your personal documents is a fairly weak argument. I can and do everything the OP is wanting to do with one note and the snipping tool in Win7.
That's a fair argument. I love me some One Note.
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Using the argument "well people will still crack it" in this case is pretty much meaningless. They aren't trying to STOP it, as I've said thats impossible, they are trying to slow it and discourage it as much as possible. Which certainly IS possible.If they can't stop it then what exactly are they "slowing and discouraging" with the security locks?
Wanting to get rid of this because it means some extra work to organize your personal documents is a fairly weak argument. I can and do everything the OP is wanting to do with one note and the snipping tool in Win7.That's a fair argument. I love me some One Note.
Again, its about discouraging as many people as possible. With no form of DRM, you would have much more widespread piracy. With DRM you have maybe 1 in 100 people pirating, without you'd have maybe 1 in 10 (disclaimer: numbers made up to illustrate my concept). Discouraging some at least slows the process. Someone used the examples of door locks. They will stop most people, but if you really want to get in, you will. Locks wont stop everyone, but they will still be used. And a lot of people will be put off because of the locks that would otherwise have walked right in. Not the perfect analogy, I know, but I honestly feel this one makes the most sense.
Sure, you can toss out the "you bought it so you own it" line, and justifiably so. But in the world of today, its an unfortunate reality that some individuals will take advantage of that. The DRM doesn't prevent the main use of the product, reading it and having it available, it just makes it harder to pirate, and in some cases makes it harder to use exactly how you might want. An unfortunate side effect yes, but again, this is something I'm willing to deal with. Mostly because there are ways around it, they just require a bit more effort is all. Just because you paid 19.99 for a new movie, does that give you the right to make 10,000,000 copies and give them away? Again, not a perfect analogy, but hopefully you get the spirit of the idea I'm trying to convey.
I understand where you are coming from on this, I really do. I just can see this from Paizo's point of view as well. And after WoTC's answer for PDF piracy was to stop offering them, honestly Im happy Paizo even offer the pdfs at all. I take what I can get :)
And yes, ever since I discovered one note, its been a revolution! Just sucks that one of my larger note books got corrupted recently, and of course I didnt have a backup like a moron! Oh well, half the fun is putting it together. Well, I think so anyway :)
As I see it, it's quite simple.
While discouraging the professional pirates [sic] would be nice, in my opinion that's not the goal of the DRM.
All subscribers get a free copy of the PDF for everything in the subscription (except maps ... boo!). Most subscribers do not have access to the tools for stripping the DRM stuff out that stamps their name on every page. Thus, if a subscriber illegally gives out this PDF to people, their name is all over it, thus making it very unlikely that they'll do so.
If there was nothing on the documents that identified the source, do you think that would be the case? I suspect there would be a lot more of "oh, here's the PDF" within gaming groups than there is now. And for that second person, there's even less incentive not to hand it out.
Because, really, few people out there have the tools and wherewithal to strip DRM - far fewer than the number of people with legitimate PDFs. So it's not like it does nothing - it inhibits some people with a legitimate PDF from sharing it. I'm sure some wouldn't share it anyways, and others are too stupid not to, but I'm sure there is a non-zero segment of the people who get legitimate Paizo PDFs who would hand them out who don't for the simple reason their name is on it.
And, of course, if you could edit the PDFs, you could edit the name out.
As an aside, I have no trouble with cut and paste and/or printing single pages, so I'm even a little hazy on what the actual issue is here.
Edit: Note that I personally would not hand them out, regardless, so you'd think I'd agree with you about the pointlessness of it, but I don't - in my opinion it is an unfortunate side effect of the entitlement society we live in. Then again, I used to get in fights with my ex about whether downloading music off the Internet was stealing.
Discouraging casual piracy: How does the security restrictions stop Joe Exampleguy from giving a copy of his otherwise legally purchased, watermarked PDF to his mother or best friend? It doesn't. They know not to spread it around or Joe gets screwed.
Discouraging professional piracy: Either by breaking the security, scanning the physical book, or just stealing a copy from someone who paid for it, all it takes is one copy to get copied and spread around before it's widely available.
So lets look at business reasons for the security restrictions.
You need a group of people who:
A) Are willing to purchase Paizo products
B) Would not be willing to pay if the material was available for free
C) Have no moral or ethical qualms about copyright infringement
D) Are unable to get a copy from a friend because of watermarking
E) Are unable to find free copies of the product online through the traditional pirate channels
Is the revenue loss from the group of people who meet all of those criteria big enough to justify the (slight) inconvenience of every existing customer?
I would assume the marketing people at Paizo have looked into it, and that's why the DRM is there. But it's also possible someone at the top doesn't understand the whole thing and sent down an iron ruling of "We have to do something or the pirates win!"
What would happen if Paizo removed all security effects from their PDFs? The group of people above would probably be able to find the material and Paizo wouldn't get paid. That's a direct loss. But their service would improve for the people who do pay, less overhead for personalizing the files, more value to the customer from being able to edit them. How many pirates casually evade the security measures, but would change sides if the unprotected product just had a small note saying "Hey, we worked really hard on this, if you like the material, please support us by purchasing it"? Computer games have been experimenting with DRM free software, and finding success despite the huge piracy numbers. (Humble Indie Bundle and World of Goo are good examples)
I always get discouraged when people assume anyone who isn't in favor of DRM just wants to get free stuff and screw over the people who created the material. It's a touchy subject, and I'm glad the Paizo folks here have been tolerant in allowing the discussion. It's their livelihood, while to us it's just a hobby.
The thing about piracy at this level is the intent, really. You pirate "Avatar" because you don't want to spend $50 on tickets and popcorn for you and your SO to spend two or three hours together at a show, and a lot of people share the same sentiment, which is why it happens.
In the gaming field though, a lot of pirates don't even know what these things are. They just have them to have them for the sake of having them. If they had not fallen into their collections, they never would have gotten a hold of them in the first place. So, while yes it is a "lost sale" in that a file exists in someone's possession without their paying for it, in many cases that same person never would have spent the money on it regardless. Contrast that with a number of people who ARE fans of a given work who WILL buy it regardless; a friend pirated "How to Train Your Dragon" because his four year old daughter loved the movie at the theaters. When it came out he snapped it up. I own a FLGS and know players who'll pirate a PDF copy of a book until they can buy their copy from me or it comes in should an order/backstock printing be waylaid. I have a Dark Heresy group right now doing that; half of them have picked up their guide books already while the others are saving up but using pirated PDFs in the mean time. They know I discourage it, but they still do pony up for the books one way or the other. I know of only one person in the local scene who pirates and plays and doesn't own at least hard copies of the books he's pirated.
Basically, piracy in the digital age is weird. Major productions are pirated to sidestep paying for it, but in the particular case of PDF books its just odd. Even the people who pirate them to use them still end up paying for the books, while many of the people who pirate them without intent to buy never would have in the first place and never use the material to begin with.
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If the DRM was preventing everyone from getting pirated copies, I would understand, but when the pirates have no problems getting it, and have a better product (due to removed DRM), how does it make sense?If the locks on your doors don't prevent thieves with crowbars from getting into your house, why don't you just leave your doors unlocked?Actually, I don't lock my doors. I know if someone wants to steal something they will just break the lock anyway. Why replace the lock and the stolen items?
Add yet another vote for DRM free. BTW all major music providers have shown an increase in sales after going DRM free. Think about it.
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Computer games have been experimenting with DRM free software, and finding success despite the huge piracy numbers. (Humble Indie Bundle and World of Goo are good examples)
Those are small time companies though, who feel that the stigma of DRM isn't worth getting people to try their product. I cant think of a single major game publisher that doesnt have at least a basic form of DRM on their product. Because of their very prominence, the big boys will be larger targets. I'd put Paizo into this Big Boy group.
And Grick, no one is accusing you of wanting free stuff or screwing over people who paid. At least I'm not. I can understand your side of the argument, I really do. I just happen to agree with Paizo's decisions to protect their property. As I've said before, DRM is never going to stop piracy, but if I understand you correctly you think this means they shouldn't even try in the first place, because it inconveniences people who pay for the product. I'm saying as a paying customer I understand what they are doing as a company and understand that I might not be able to do what I want the way I want to. You just have to find other ways. Lots of companies do this with their product, and you have to decide if you're ok with it if you want to support it. For Paizo, I do.
As I mentioned before, instead of pulling out individual pages, use the snip tool + one note and you can easily make an easily transferable notebook. Snip tool is built into windows vista+, and you can easily get a demo of one note to try out if you don't have the software. Sure it takes a bit of work, and if you don't have windows you might have to find comparable software for mac/linux, but the point is it can still be done.
On a sad note, you mentioned the Humble Indie Bundle. Despite offering it up and letting people pay HOWEVER MUCH THEY WANTED FOR IT (many people choosing to pay under a dollar), it was STILL pirated quite a bit. Cant remember the exact number I saw in the article I read, but it was fairly large compared to how many were sold. It was pretty depressing actually.
Computer games have been experimenting with DRM free software, and finding success despite the huge piracy numbers. (Humble Indie Bundle and World of Goo are good examples)Those are small time companies though, who feel that the stigma of DRM isn't worth getting people to try their product. I cant think of a single major game publisher that doesnt have at least a basic form of DRM on their product. Because of their very prominence, the big boys will be larger targets. I'd put Paizo into this Big Boy group.
In the RPG industry though, not only did Posthuman Studios actively seed the PDF of Eclipse Phase on torrent sites they also encourage people to edit their files, and they seem to be very happy with the results Posthuman Studios 2010 Year End Review.
Now, I understand that Posthuman Studios doesn't fall under the "Big Boy" category that you speak of, but it's an interesting (and so far seemingly successful) experiment that I think shows there's a little more wiggle room on DRM for RPG's then most people believe.|
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In the RPG industry though, not only did Posthuman Studios actively seed the PDF of Eclipse Phase on torrent sites they also encourage people to edit their files, and they seem to be very happy with the results Posthuman Studios 2010 Year End Review.
Now, I understand that Posthuman Studios doesn't fall under the "Big Boy" category that you speak of, but it's an interesting (and so far seemingly successful) experiment that I think shows there's a little more wiggle room on DRM for RPG's then most people believe.
Good for them. Im not being sarcastic, I genuinely approve of them doing this. The point is that is their choice. I've never heard of this company before, so them doing this sparks my interest and gets me to go check out their product. These days it can be a marketing tool! Posthuman is using this to get people to try their product so they will buy more. That is their strategy. Paizo is fairly well established, most people know the quality of their overall product, they don't need to entice people in with DRM free material, there is PLENTY of testimony out there that speaks for itself. The situations, as I see them, are different.
Again, I realize there are other ways to go about the whole DRM issue. But Paizo has chosen their path, and I can accept it. I fail to see how taking steps to protect their product can be faulted. Their DRM doesnt prevent you from USING the PDFs, in that you can read them, put them on a laptop and open them and read the product. No one says you have to like it sure, but you can't honestly tell me they don't have valid reasons for doing so. They certainly aren't doing it so screw over their paying customers, that's for sure. Im sure Paizo would like nothing more to know they could put out DRM free material for their customers, but a few people will always take advantage of that.
Good for them. Im not being sarcastic, I genuinely approve of them doing this. The point is that is their choice. I've never heard of this company before, so them doing this sparks my interest and gets me to go check out their product. These days it can be a marketing tool! Posthuman is using this to get people to try their product so they will buy more. That is their strategy. Paizo is fairly well established, most people know the quality of their overall product, they don't need to entice people in with DRM free material, there is PLENTY of testimony out there that speaks for itself. The situations, as I see them, are different.
Again, I realize there are other ways to go about the whole DRM issue. But Paizo has chosen their path, and I can accept it. I fail to see how taking steps to protect their product can be faulted. Their DRM doesnt prevent you from USING the PDFs, in that you can read them, put them on a laptop and open them and read the product. No one says you have to like it sure, but you can't honestly tell me they don't have valid reasons for doing so. They certainly aren't doing it so screw over their paying customers, that's for sure. Im sure Paizo would like nothing more to know they could put out DRM free material for their customers, but a few people will always take advantage of that.
Just to be clear, I'm not in any way calling for an abolishment of DRM, and I'm happy with Paizo and how they handle it (though I'm still confused by some of the editing restrictions they, and many other companies have, as per my original question. I'm not even upset by it, just a bit confused).
I was just making an observation that there more then one way to handle DRM successfully and that I feel like there's definitely some room for experimentation in that department.|
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Just to be clear, I'm not in any way calling for an abolishment of DRM, and I'm happy with Paizo and how they handle it (though I'm still confused by some of the editing restrictions they, and many other companies have, as per my original question. I'm not even upset by it, just a bit confused).
I was just making an observation that there more then one way to handle DRM successfully and that I feel like there's definitely some room for experimentation in that department.
I know, I wasn't per-say talking to you, just using your point to continue the general conversation. I 100% agree that there is room for experimentation with the DRM, but I just don't see it going away completely at all.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Okay, honest question here.
Maybe I'm just being dense and missing the reasoning behind it, but why would you want to protect PDF's from editing? Aside from being able to remove the proof of purchase watermarking, of course. What exactly is wrong with having the ability to just yank the plants & fey entries onto one PDF if desired?
I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, I'm just guessing I'm missing something really obvious.I can see why they would not want anyone to edit thier work, especially when it is of such good quality.
For example what if someone edited one of their AP for a home brew campaign and really messed it up, and then put it out there for everyone to download. Then this could become someones first impression of Paizo.
That is something that we considered, and is a factor. Another factor is that the security controls that are part of the PDF format aren't very granular: we can't give you the ability to, say, edit bookmarks, without *also* giving you the ability to easily remove our watermarks.
Ah yes... now that I'm looking at how one secures a PDF (I've never needed to that for anything I've made) I see that they don't let you do much picking a choosing. You kind of have package deals and other odd little options.
Basically, it's Adobe's fault!
First Flash being a resource hog (thus denying it from my iPad), and now this!
Indeed it is!
Paizo (probably like other publishing companies) purchases their fonts. For those of you who have ever done this, there can be a lot of limitations (especially if it's a custom font purchased). Unlocking all of those other features would allow anyone with the know how to steal that as well. While I doubt anyone on these boards would really want the typeface and such, it is one of the characteristics that makes their products shine. The more one really looks at fonts, the more one sees the subtle but huge difference font selection makes.
That probably fits the house argument / orange purchasing rights argument a little better. :)
We protect our PDFs from piracy and from editing, as we do not want either of these things happening.
These protections are self-supporting and not granular. This means that in order to make them as secure as possible, we will err on the side of locking them up. This prevents some activities (as in your case), but certainly does not render the PDFs unusable.
We do not tolerate piracy of the digital assets available here. The security on the PDFs serves this purpose and is completely necessary to ensure it.
Unfortunately this makes it so you cannot easily use the PDFs in the manner you wish. As is the case with all DRM, the pirates have spoiled things for everyone.
thanks,
cos
Um yes but... This is a bestiary of critters that are open content. While I can see limiting exportability on a normal PDF, I think the contentnvolved here warrants different treatment. Unlike other products the ability to print, export and oherwise excerpt from th PDF is a major selling point for h bestiaries.
That is something that we considered, and is a factor. Another factor is that the security controls that are part of the PDF format aren't very granular: we can't give you the ability to, say, edit bookmarks, without *also* giving you the ability to easily remove our watermarks.Okay, honest question here.
Maybe I'm just being dense and missing the reasoning behind it, but why would you want to protect PDF's from editing? Aside from being able to remove the proof of purchase watermarking, of course. What exactly is wrong with having the ability to just yank the plants & fey entries onto one PDF if desired?
I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, I'm just guessing I'm missing something really obvious.I can see why they would not want anyone to edit thier work, especially when it is of such good quality.
For example what if someone edited one of their AP for a home brew campaign and really messed it up, and then put it out there for everyone to download. Then this could become someones first impression of Paizo.
Bah, stupid Adobe....
Thanks for the response!
Another example of security interfering with legitimate customers, and being a trivial deterrent (if not a complete non-issue) for those with the intent of illegal activities...
+1.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Um yes but... This is a bestiary of critters that are open content. While I can see limiting exportability on a normal PDF, I think the contentnvolved here warrants different treatment. Unlike other products the ability to print, export and oherwise excerpt from th PDF is a major selling point for h bestiaries.
The game mechanics are Open Content under the OGL. The images and trade dress (page design, backgrounds, etc.) are not. And if you're talking about products outside of the core roleplaying line, they may also include other setting-specific elements that aren't open.
I wanted to export all the plants / fey to one pdf so i could easily use it on my ipad.I do not know what OS you are using, and I know little about Mac OSs, but look for an option to "Print to File / PDF."
Linux (at least Ubuntu) has it built in. When printing, select "Print to File," and you can select .pdf or .ps. (I haven't tried the default .ps [Post Script]. It might be superior, but I've always wanted the PDF format for some reason.)
In Windows, you can find a couple of free programs that allow you to add this option.
+1 print to pdf and then select the specific pages to print...
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This means that in order to make them as secure as possible, we will err on the side of locking them up.
This also means, we will err on the side of inconveniencing our customers. Until someone comes out with solid numbers that show DRM files are pirated less frequently than non-DRM, you are saying I am against those who pay for my product.
What ever happened to the customer is always right? Why would any customer being inconvenienced in any way be acceptable, if you have no evidence what you are doing is protecting your business?
And while we have no evidence that DRM does what it's supposed to do, we have plenty of evidence that it inhibits people from using material in ways they have every right to use them: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/25/freedom-of-expression-versus-drm- the-first-empirical-assessment/
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Chief Technical Officer
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You all can say all you want about the efficacy of DRM (which, by the way, isn't the correct term for our security—in the world of PDFs, DRM refers to a specific server-based protection scheme that we do not use) but I will tell you that our watermarking processes *have* allowed us to identify a number of pirates and curtail their ability to procure PDFs from us.
And several people above have told you how to achieve what you want to do.
If we're ever given the ability to select more less rigid security settings while still protecting the placement of our watermarks, we'll use them, but our watermarking scheme is not going away.
You knew what the restrictions were before purchase.
I removed a post. Please don't advocate illegal activities.
I removed a post. Please don't advocate illegal activities.
I'm sorry you saw my post as advocating illegal activity, because that wasn't the point and feels disingenuous to summarize the post as such.