# PDF vs EPUB: which your readers need

Use a PDF when the design matters or the book will be printed, and an EPUB when people will read in a reading app or on an e-reader. A PDF keeps fixed pages; an EPUB reflows to fit the screen. For a free lead magnet, send the PDF first and offer the EPUB too. To sell through ebook stores, start with the EPUB: Apple Books names it, KDP recommends it and Google Play takes it.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026. Web page: https://chapbook.ink/guides/pdf-vs-epub/

## How they differ

The difference is what happens when the screen changes. A PDF is a set of pages. An EPUB is text and instructions for showing it. The EPUB 3.3 standard says it plainly: “EPUB publications by default are intended to reflow to fit the available screen space.”

| | PDF | EPUB |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | Fixed, identical everywhere | Reflows to the screen, with a fixed-layout option some publishers use |
| On a phone | The whole page, shrunk: readers zoom and scroll | Fits the screen, and the reader picks the type size |
| Printing | Prints as designed | Not made for printing |
| Answer lines and form fields | Can sit exactly where they should | Answer lines don’t hold their place when text reflows |
| Your design | Exactly what you approved | The reading app can change fonts, margins and colors |

## Which to use, by what you are making

**A free lead magnet.** PDF first. You chose its look on purpose, the reader can open it without installing anything, and it prints. Add the EPUB if your readers are the sort to carry an e-reader.

**A workbook.** PDF. Exercises need room to write, in the right place, and that needs fixed pages.

**A book you sell in stores.** EPUB. Apple’s help page says “Apple accepts EPUBs”, and Amazon’s KDP recommends DOCX, KPF and EPUB. KDP lists PDF only among additional accepted formats and only in certain languages. Google Play Books takes either EPUB or PDF.

**A long book for your list.** Both. Long reading happens on e-readers and phones, where reflowing text is kinder, but some readers will want pages they can print or annotate.

**A brochure or printable pack.** PDF. These are page designs, and reflowing would break them.

## Readers on Kindle can use either

If someone on your list reads on a Kindle, you don’t need a special file. Amazon’s Send to Kindle lists PDF and EPUB among its supported file types, with uploads of 200 MB or smaller on the web. MOBI is not on that list, so don’t make one for them. KDP [no longer accepts MOBI files](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GULSQMHU5MNH4EZM) either.

## Where Chapbook fits

On a paid plan, Chapbook exports every book except an activity pack as a typeset digital PDF, an [EPUB 3](/glossary/epub/) and a Word document, from the same text. An activity pack is pages to print, so it comes as a PDF only. The free plan gives a watermarked PDF, and EPUB needs a paid plan. The sample on this page has both files beside it, so you can compare them on your own phone. A book’s public Chapbook page gives readers the PDF when they sign up.

## What to do

1. **Ask where it will be read.** Think about the moment your reader opens it. On a laptop, or to be printed: PDF. On a phone in bed, or on an e-reader: EPUB. If you can’t tell, offer both.
2. **Ask whether the layout carries meaning.** Worksheets, tables, two-page spreads and answer lines rely on the page. If moving them would break the content, the PDF is the real book and the EPUB is the extra.
3. **Open both on a phone.** Download the two files for the sample on this page and read a chapter of each on your phone. Pinching and scrolling a page next to text that fits the screen shows the difference quickly.
4. **Check your store’s page.** If you are selling, read the store’s own list of formats before you start. Stores differ, and they change these lists.

## Made with Chapbook: Slow Money

Slow Money: What a family bakery taught me about pricing, patience and staying small, by Rosa Almeida. Nonfiction book, 9,273 words, 37 pages. A sample generated from one brief and exported unedited; it is not a customer's book. Read every page: https://chapbook.ink/examples/bakery/

The brief:

> Twenty years of running a two-shop family bakery: the decisions about price, growth and hours that kept it small and solvent. Promise: A clear-eyed account of how a small business stays small on purpose, with the numbers and rules of thumb that made it work. Reader: A small-business owner weighing a second location, a price rise, or a loan. Voice: First person, narrative chapters that each end with what the author would tell a friend; a fictional family, bakery and town; no invented statistics beyond the bakery's own illustrative numbers.

The outline the planner proposed:

1. Prologue: The Second Oven (585 words)
2. The First Price Rise (1,250 words)
3. The Loan We Did Not Take (1,101 words)
4. The Second Shop, and Why Not a Third (1,186 words)
5. Hours, and the Cost of Being Open (1,085 words)
6. The Wholesale Account We Let Go (1,142 words)
7. Hiring Family and Paying Them Properly (1,216 words)
8. What the Numbers Said Each January (1,179 words)
9. Epilogue: Small on Purpose (478 words)

## Questions

### What is the difference between PDF and EPUB?

A PDF keeps fixed pages, exactly as they were typeset. An EPUB reflows its text to fit the screen and the reader’s chosen type size.

### Is PDF or EPUB better for a lead magnet?

PDF, for most lead magnets. It keeps your design, opens on nearly any device and can be printed. Offer the EPUB as well for people who read on an e-reader.

### Can a Kindle read EPUB files?

Yes, through Send to Kindle. Amazon’s help page listed both EPUB and PDF among its supported file types on 30 October 2026, with a 200 MB limit on web uploads.

### Does KDP accept PDF for ebooks?

KDP lists PDF under additional accepted formats, only in certain languages. Its recommended ebook formats are DOCX, KPF and EPUB, according to its help page as of 30 October 2026.

### Does Apple Books take EPUB?

Yes. Apple’s Prepare your book page says “Apple accepts EPUBs” and calls EPUB a universal ebook standard, as of 30 October 2026.

### Can readers fill in a PDF or an EPUB?

A PDF can hold form fields that readers type into. Chapbook’s fillable answers are in a workbook’s digital PDF only; its EPUB stays as it is.

## Sources

- [W3C, “EPUB 3.3”, Recommendation of 13 January 2026](https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/)
- [Amazon KDP, help page on eBook manuscript formats](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634390)
- [Amazon, “Learn About Sending Documents to Your Kindle Library”](https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G5WYD9SAF7PGXRNA)
- [Apple Books Partner Support, “Prepare your book”](https://itunespartner.apple.com/books/support/9-prepare-book)
- [Google Play Books Partner Center Help, “Book file guidelines”](https://support.google.com/books/partner/answer/3424254?hl=en)