First, I’d like to thank everyone who has given us feedback and support over the last few weeks with the rollout of Prompt. We know there have been some bumps in the road and we are working hard to address all the little bugs and glitches and feature requests we’ve been getting from you.

The biggest issue we’ve been hearing is that the PDF manuscripts aren’t keeping their formatting when they are uploaded to Prompt and very important things like italics or highlights are not showing on the Prompt teleprompter screen. As an audiobook editor, I know first-hand how important it is to be able to see font changes and any additional prep notes in the script, and this is our #1 priority at the moment.

As it turns out, PDFs are kind of a pain in the butt to work with. Of course, we all know this. But why is that? Without getting too technical, here are a few reasons why PDFs are hard to deal with, especially when you’re trying to manipulate them for easier reading, which is exactly what we’re trying to do with Prompt.

• Fixed Layout: PDFs maintain a specific layout across devices, which can make it difficult to extract or edit text and images without disrupting the design.
• Encoding: Text in PDFs is often encoded in ways that aren't straightforward, making it hard for 3rd-party software, like Prompt, to recognize and manipulate it accurately.
• Complex Elements: PDFs can contain complex elements like vector graphics, annotations, and forms, which can complicate editing and extraction.
• Lack of Structure: Unlike word processors, PDFs don’t inherently store data in a structured way, making it harder to programmatically edit or extract content.
• Software Limitations: While there are tools for editing PDFs, many are not as powerful or user-friendly as those available for other formats, which can limit your ability to manipulate them easily.

These features make PDFs great for sharing documents where format consistency is crucial, but they also pose challenges for editing and manipulation (e.g., real-time changes in the teleprompter screen).

For those of you who have uploaded a PDF with graphs or images or other fancy formatting, you no doubt realized the limitations of Prompt. Being able to upload your PDF manuscripts with fidelity so all the words, highlights, fonts, and funky graphics present themselves as clearly and seamlessly as possible is our goal, and we’re working hard to make that happen.

It’s just me and Enes working on this app, and unfortunately for Enes, I don’t know how to code. So really, it’s just Enes trying to make the PDF and teleprompter world work together in harmony. He’s made huuuuge strides in the last several weeks, and we will continue to update you about each new Prompt win over the PDF world.

Try Prompt now and let us know what you think and if you have any feedback. We’re offering a lifetime one-time payment option while we’re working through the bumps in the road and making this app everything you could ever dream of.