There are two forms in which a document can be published; the physical format and the electronic format
. The physical or paper format of publishing has been around for thousands of years but we are now moving towards electronic publishing whereby documents will be available in form of electronic files. For you to read a file that is stored in electronic format you need a reader. A reader is by definition a software program that permits you to view the words and images contained in the document.
There are several types of readers that are made to read different types of document files. The most common ones are PDF and MS Word but now there is a new addition to the list - the Epub. The Epub format is fast gaining popularity because it has features superior to what other readers offer and which is why some publishers are moving from PDF to Epub.
One attractive feature of Epub is that it is based on what is referred to as an open format. What this means is that an Epub document is compatible with a wide range of devices such that you can now view your document using an iPhone, Android, or indeed any other portable device. It is this ability that has enabled Epub to beat the Amazon Kindle; Kindle can only read files from Amazon thus making it very restrictive to users. With Epub, on the other hand, you can move documents across various devices.
The open format feature has encouraged many people to change their documents from PDF to Epub since a lot of devices are not capable of displaying PDF documents. Additionally, Epub documents can be compressed to a greater extent thus implying that the resulting files will be much smaller compared to other file formats. The benefit of this is that you can now store more documents in your portable devices memory. Epub also makes it easier to download your favorite documents to your device because of their smaller sizes, and which is greatly convenient moving forward because more and more online book stores are shifting their products from PDF to Epub.
The Epub publishing format is not yet a household name but its increasing popularity cannot be gainsaid, a fact that can be evidenced by the increasing sales of software that can be used to change files from PDF to Epub. More and more users are warming up to Epub and it is only a matter of time before we all embrace this format.