Countermelody

PDFs make a very simple option

Although I did attempt to produce quality product on paper for several years, I also found that purely electronic distribution was a viable method, from my earliest experiments with it. And the magic ingredient that made it “go” was putting files into Portable Document Format: PDF.

Here are just a handful of advantages:

• The format is standardized. Literally, “portable”—virtually every computer setup will have a PDF reader these days, and if they don’t, the user will constantly encounter content that urges them to install the latest one. No proprietary music software viewers are required.
• Results are predictable. Next to paper, it is the best option I know of for ensuring that the recipient sees what you sent them. Usually even better than in Finale NotePad or Scorch.
• They are cheap. Or free. A widely-used freeware application called PDFCreator seems to work fine (but if you install it, be sure to disallow the toolbar, or the license says you are agreeing to let it take over your web searches in any browser!). I need a bit more power, and a better-developed interface is nice for making PDFs of lots of parts at a time, so I use Tracker Software’s PDF-XChange. The Pro version has some handy extras, but even the Lite would allow distribution to dozens of clients for just pennies a page.
• Creating them is easy. A PDF generator acts just like a printer in your system. All you have to do is run the “print” command (from any program) and select it as your printer.
• File sizes are small. At least they are if you use a software-based method, as above; then musical scores are comparable to word-processed documents with embedded fonts and limited images. If you scan printouts into a PDF, you lose this benefit, as pure graphic files are always large.

Fair’s fair, so next week I will confess to a few of the disadvantages to be aware of.