LaTeX Companion available as ebook

Until now The LaTeX Companion 2ed was only available as a printed book (with roughly 1200 pages and more than a 1000 examples). While I still believe that a printed book is needed to fully experience the fine details of typography that the books explains, it is undoubtedly the case that there are good arguments for also presenting it in electronic (and reflowable) form.

So being faced with more and more requests for such an electronic version we finally gave in and looked at the options. Initially I thought that due to the complexity of the book content the only viable offering would be a PDF version of the book, but to see how far this could be taken we also commisioned an ePub and a mobi (kindle) version. The initial results looked promising but it took several months to bring it up to the quality level we all felt satisfying.

I’m therefore happy to be finally able to announce the availability of the eBook version of the LaTeX Companion. It is sold by Pearson as a bundle (containing PDF + ePub + mobi formats) and it is being made available without any DRM applied. As a gentle reminder that this is not a version for sharing they add a watermark with your name, but this is not restricting the use on several device nor does it require the use of special software (which in our opinion renders an electronic version more or less useless). Or to say it differently: DRM is hurting the honest reader while not really preventing piracy so we aren’t adding any. (Note: as the eBook is also sold though other channels, we can’t guarantee that other resellers aren’t applying DRM or offering only some of the formats; so watch out for the conditions if you are buying it elsewhere.)

If you want to buy the bundle (and in my view this is advisable as you get both the PDF which is best for Computer viewing, plus the eBook format for whatever reader you may have) you have to do this from InformIT in other places you will only get one format. If you are interested in just the kindle format then buying directly from amazon.de or amazon.com might be slightly cheaper but then you miss out the PDF.

For those interested in both the printed book and all the eBook formats Pearson offers them all bundled together on InformIT for a reduced price. However, this only makes sense, if you live in a place where InformIT ships to for free (which I think is only true for the US). Otherwise buying the book locally and the eBook separately makes more sense.

Please pass this information on to other interested readers.

For reviews of this eBook, see, for example, The LaTeX Companion ebook by Paulo Cereda

Enjoy. Frank