Mobile-friendly PDF

How many times a day do you read something on your phone?

For me? Every. Single. Day.

Google searches. Facebook. Occasionally Twitter. Kindle. Even the show notes in Overcast (it’s where I get my podcasts).

*sigh*

There is one kind of document that’s practically unreadable on my device.

PDFs.

Technically, they can be read on a phone, but it requires a lot of work. Lots of zooming, sliding, and scrolling.

Usually what happens is I end up waiting until I’m at my laptop before I’m able to read it.

If I remember to do it.

Of course, that requires searching again for the PDF, usually in my email. And sometimes the distance is too far between when I wanted to read it and when I’m able to pull it up on my laptop. Often, my interest in it has waned.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with designing a PDF for a large screen. I’m simply suggesting you also make a mobile-friendly PDF.

It’s not difficult. You just need to keep the mobile audience in mind when working with your document.

Here is an example of a PDF designed for mobile devices. I’ve included suggestions for readable font-sizes and other tips to make your next PDF mobile friendly and a joy to read on the go.

If you decide to follow this guide, I’d love to see the results.