Personalization

[DazS]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb post, but I did a search and I couldn't find anything about it.
Apparently Personalisation is a new system that does something automatically, rather than making you enter an email, or something. I know it adds the header and footer, which is fine. The questions I have are; What does it do other than add the header and footer? Why doesn't it happen automatically? What limits are there?

I was wondering if the limits would be computers I can use the pdf on, but I'm not sure.

I have to click on a link to add the header and footer to my pdfs? Why isn't there a script that runs automatically when you buy it? You buy the pdf, wait a few minutes while the files and links are prepared and then download...

Instead, I have to buy, wait, click a link, wait, download, click link, wait, wait, download, and so forth...

The main issue I have is that there is no answer in the FAQ and I can't find anything really quickly on the forum...

[Ramarren]

If the files were automatically personalized when you first bought them, then Paizo would need to store *your* files separately from everyone else's.

Instead, they have a master copy of (for instance) the Core Rulebook, and a temporary file is created when you personalize it that can then be downloaded.

To my knowledge, Personalization does not prevent you from moving the files from computer to computer (though I haven't had the need to try), it just watermarks the document with a header/footer indicating ownership.

Personally, I've never found it to be that onerous a process, and it is far more convenient than:

wait for print version, drive to the store, buy, drive home, use.

[DazS]

Oh, okay. I can understand it in this case.

I kind of assumed that the personalisation process lasted forever. Having it be a quick verification that happens a few minutes before each individual download is fine. I just wish the whole thing were explained so I would actually know what the hell was going on...

One idea that I'd also had was that it just created a download, while if you didn't need a particular file (ie. you only cared about the whole thing as one pdf), then that's all you got; then the others would just be created as you needed them...

[Gary Teter]

Personalization is just watermarking the PDF with information that helps us track down the original purchaser of the file in case we find it somewhere it shouldn't be. It's possible to attempt to lock a PDF to a particular computer but we don't do that.

DazS wrote:

Why isn't there a script that runs automatically when you buy it?

That's a good idea and I've added it to our todo list.

DazS wrote:

One idea that I'd also had was that it just created a download, while if you didn't need a particular file (ie. you only cared about the whole thing as one pdf), then that's all you got; then the others would just be created as you needed them...

That's how it works, if you personalize the single-file version we don't bother watermarking the one-file-per-chapter version of the PDF until you need that one.