Right now the layouting is pretty basic. So data will only fit within the width/height you 'draw' on the template. We are working on a dynamic layouting engine which will be able to automatically paginate tables cleanly, but its not rolled out yet.

Noted, thanks! Btw, you can also use the feedback widget within the editor to give quick feedback like this. Its on top right corner.

You are right that was a bit too far fetched, we'd see how to make it better. Thanks!

Hmm, thats a very interesting perspective. We would definitely give it thought. Much appreciated!

Thanks for your feedback! Which products do you have in mind which do the design part? Particularly those that work in a browser.

Essentially we are something like Crystal Reports for web apps. Being web based is a core part of our proposition.

I have never heard Crystal Reports mentioned in a positive light. I think the parent means tools like InDesign which can create professional reports. If one could upload a pdf export of an indesign file and update it on the cloud through your api then I imagine designers would be throwing money at you fast.

That is in fact what I meant, but OP has the point that they are more trying to compete in the BI tool arena.

PDF generation time depends on the length of the document but ideally it should be pretty quick.

No you cannot manipulate existing PDF but only generate new ones. Thanks!

Thanks for answering. So you can understand my use case - I have a PDF book I want to sell, and would like to include a customized code in each book. As the book is long, I have no desire to recreate it in your app's Designer.

Off topic, but since PDF files are actually text files for a form of source code, you should be able to put a default code on your document and generate new ones using a search-and-replace script. Sed should do the trick.

Thanks! As of now this support is not available but we would definitely look into it. For now only our 'native' charts are available which can be populated with data as well (including bar, stacked, pie.. etc).

Also if you have an image url, that could work too.

We just launched our alpha (and are sending out invites to people who sign up). We want to validate our value proposition so any feedback/suggestion is very much appreciated!

Apart from the fact that its JS only, how is it better than HN? Why not just use HN to follow topics you like (JS in this case)?

I think it's a simple matter of focus. One could extend your logic and say 'Why don't you get your tech news from NY Times instead of Hacker News, since they have a tech section in their website ?'

True, but making a NY Times-like website for tech news wouldn't work either. HN works for techies because its clean and simple, and the karma/upvote mechanism keep the content relevant. So there is a difference from NY Times.

My question then remains, what is different?

The advantage is precisely the thing that you excluded, the focus on one technology.

I do not see OP mentioning "better" and neither on the website it's mentioned.

>>Why not just use HN to follow topics you like (JS in this case)?

It's a very subjective question. One answer can be why there's HN or why there's StackOverflow or why there's both.

It's actually good to have a dedicated JS forum, even if there are already many out there. Besides, on HN everything is posted - everything. People participating here are https://twitter.com/thejayfields/status/235074734163898368

I never said it claims to be better and it isn't. Let me rephrase the question: why would anyone want to be on echojs instead of HN, given that it's essentially an HN clone for JS and HN community is bigger at the moment? Why would you use it?

I am just trying to understand its value for myself.

I don't have any counter-evidence to show if the incubator trend is a bubble or not so I am not going to argue along those lines.

I have a very different perspective to offer. I live in Pakistan where there is an energy crisis so serious we don't have electric power half the day. It is in these challenging conditions that we are trying to establish ourselves as a tech startup. Perhaps this is not such an issue in SV but incubators can play a very crucial role in places where the conditions are not so ideal .

For example the incubator we have here, apart from providing seed money and mentoring, provides 24/7 power supply, connects us with businesses abroad (huge benefit, because no one wants to do business with a Pakistani startup, right?), is trying to get some foreign investors on board, etc. In effect, an ecosystem is being built and I dont see how it could have been possible without an incubator at its center.

Perhaps in SV these things dont even matter but they can be the difference between survival and failure in lesser developed ecosystems.