Technology Tutorial on SVG
Two years ago, you may have never heard about SVG, a new open-standard technology for rendering complex Web graphics and page layouts. But then again, five years ago, you may have never heard of PDF or Flash.Why have technology giants such as Adobe already developed a suite of tools to support SVG? Why last September, did the World Wide Web Consortium recommend SVG as a stable and promising technology that merited further development? And why, just half a year later, has Ingenta moved so quickly to offer SVG content via catchword.com, an Ingenta company website?
Because many technology experts believe SVG will offer a viable open-standard alternative to PDF, Flash and other proprietary formats used to display graphically complex Web content. As a publisher of cutting edge online research, you need to know why.
What is SVG?
In layman’s terms, SVG (Scaleable Vector Graphics) is a language for describing 2D graphics, and is basically another alternative for viewing content on the Web. In some ways, its functionality overlaps that of PDF and Flash.
In technology-speak, SVG is an open-standard XML application for defining Web graphics and content. With SVG, your content can be rendered through a high-quality format that can be dynamically scaled to meet the needs of different output devices (for instance, high-resolution monitors and PDAs). SVG also supports interactivity through its ability to be manipulated via client side scripts.
SVG features (and benefits for you)
For you, the publisher, SVG offers three key advantages:
Firstly, because SVG is open-standard, your content will no longer be locked into a proprietary format. With previous formats such as PDF and Flash, your files were fixed in a format controlled by other companies. Now the formats are regulated by an open-standards organization. For you, this means increased control over your content and more flexibility in the way you can present it.
Secondly, because SVG allows you to scale graphics, the quality of your images will always be consistent. We’ve all seen pictures that look great on a small screen but get all fuzzy and jagged on larger screens. That’s because they are stored in traditional bitmaps that don’t scale properly to different sizes. (Ever heard of GIFs or JPEGs?) With SVG, your content can now be repurposed for all kinds of platforms and still look good — whether it’s on a PDA or a super high-resolution monitor. This means that one day, if your subscribers demand your content be offered in the hot format of the moment, you will be in a position to satisfy their requests.
Lastly, SVG allows you to add rich interactive graphics and tools, for a superior user experience. With SVG, you can portably create sophisticated user interfaces that allow researchers to blow out diagrams online… drill down into your charts for more detailed data… or instantly link into an online tutorial. You may not be ready to develop these capabilities now, but at least you know you could do so down the road — if you need and want to.
On the technical horizon
SVG is still emerging as a globally accepted format. But things move fast in the world of technology. As a leading provider of cutting edge online research, Ingenta is always on the lookout for the best ways to deliver your content. By offering your content in SVG, we are ensuring that your research is available on the most open, effective, and scaleable platform available today.
For more information on SVG, please visit “SVG Zone”, a special educational microsite developed by Adobe: http://www.adobe.com/svg/