MobileRead Forums - Workshop http://www.mobileread.com/forums en Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:07:54 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.mobileread.com/feeds/images/mr/misc/logo.gif MobileRead Forums - Workshop http://www.mobileread.com/forums How to adapt a such PDF to 6 inches reader ? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61476&goto=newpost Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:14:59 GMT Hi,

I would like to adapt this pdf (https://portal.health.fgov.be/pls/po...01%20CORPS.PDF ) for my PRS-600.

I can read it with reflow, but in this mode I can't see pictures properly displayed. Text is ok. So what method/tools would you recommend to adapt this kind of content ? I don't want to have the very same layout, just need to be able to read both text and pictures, in the right order.

I think it can fit, I just don't know how. Basicaly I presume it just need tweaking with document size, margins/tabulations and font size.

(It can stay PDF, or can be LRF, Epub or any format supported by Sony). ]]> Workshop sebastienbillard http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61476 purchasing ebooks with intent to convert http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61342&goto=newpost Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:08:54 GMT In another thread we were talking about scanning/ocr and the thread began to drift to purchasing ebooks and converting them. I promised to post my results in a separate thread, so anyone who was interested could read about my experience without getting too off topic on the original thread.

For my purposes, I decided I would rather figure out how to scan because too many of the books I want are not available as eBooks as of this posting.

Also, as a newbie, I found experimenting difficult and results sub-optimal. My goal was to get a book into a .txt file so I could have some other software analyze word and expression usage within the books.

I tried purchasing a lit file (microsoft reader). After I paid for the lit file, I was informed that I would need to install Microsoft Reader on my computer before it would download. Half way through the Microsoft Reader install, I was informed that I needed to create a Microsoft Passport Account to activate the software. Then I had to activate all kinds of Active-X controls to download the software. Then the file I purchased didn't download anyway because the default settings of IE8 on my WinXP computer (or perhaps the fact that I had popup blocker on) did not permit the download. I eventually figured that out and the got the eBook downloaded.

To convert it to text, I had to "unlock" it by "turning off the DRM." That required downloading software from what struck me as an "outlaw" company -- which made me nervous. Enough people told me it works that I tend to trust the company and believe it would work, but I just decided it wasn't worth all the hassel to me. Most of the books I want aren't available as eBooks, so I may as well just solve the scanning problem.

I do have faith that I could have gotten everything working and that it makes sense for others with other circumstances. I just thought I should alert anyone starting out like I was that unless someone is holding your hand, this isn't as straight-forward as you might hope. (Of course, I may say the same thing about scanning after I've tried that:) ]]> Workshop Jim Thompson http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61342 Please suggest scanner/software for 50 novels http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61236&goto=newpost Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:34:41 GMT I'd like to scan about 50 novels into searchable text. More may follow. I'm thinking a budget of about $1,000 will probably get me the scanner/software I should use, but I haven't been able to figure out what will be easy for the task. I plan to feed the pages through an ADF.

I almost settled on the HP ScanJet N8420 and then think I learned that I would have to touch each page to get the scanner to understand that I want to crop the page to omit the standard header and page number on most pages. It's hard to figure out how the pieces work together by looking at literature on the Internet.

Can you suggest a scanner and software?

I'm hoping the software will also help to remove optional hyphens. I don't need formatting. I plan to run another program against created text files to analyze word and expression usage within the novels.

Thanks for your attention. Please advise if you can. ]]> Workshop Jim Thompson http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61236 Request : Creating Languages for Finereader http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61171&goto=newpost Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:37:48 GMT short intro to this topic :
abbyy allows generation of new language models based upon existing
or newly formulated ones.

I am trying to build up a language that contains specifically almost all
symbols which are needed to OCR a book(based on Latin some greek etc.).

Nonetheless when i look at the recognized pages the
symbols, which i specified, like Ⓐ or ①②③ are not used.

Is this due to missing fonts.
Has the training of the user pattern anything to do with this.

The book is quite large and it makes no sense to do this manually.

ideas any1:blink: ]]> Workshop roputs http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61171 learning : DRM, Adobe, Nook http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61108&goto=newpost Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:08:10 GMT I've just recently started reading various threads over on the B&N Nook forum, along with participating in our local branch library usage of the Overdrive system and ebooks. I have several confusing Q&A's about DRM....

My impression of DRM, from friends with Kindle and reading various forums, is that each device, or desktop software like Adobe Digital Editions, has an electronic serial number or Physical ID (PID) that is used to encrypt or restrict the ebook to be downloaded. Therefore, that ebook will only open and work with that specific software desktop or specific reader device...

On the Nook forum, it was mentioned that the Nook supports epub & pdf. But my question was does it support epub & pdf that are DRM'd - the answer was yes... BUT they also said that the Nook does not support library ebooks from Overdrive.

This is my point of confusion....
What is the difference in what they are supporting ?
Are there different types of DRM, with Adobe DRM vs "something else" ?

I specifically went to my virtual library and checked out and downloaded an epub format & a pdf format - just to have and comapre/test.
Both open within Adobe Digital Editions, but I don't have any Reader device to copy them over just to see how they work/fail.

Trying to open the PDF/DRM with normal Adobe Reader results in an error message indicated DRM is active and to open with ADE...

In my mind, this is how things would work on any device without explicit DRM support via a PID and local software to encrypt the ebook with that device's PID.... which brings me back to the Nook - and trying to interpret what they will support from the external world (not purchased via B&N) and why the Overdrive library books may, or may not, have a "different" DRM ? ]]> Workshop ps56k http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61108 Format idea http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61035&goto=newpost Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:12:06 GMT Hi all, no this is not yet another thread about scifi uber format made by nonprogrammer to be never specified, nor coded. I will do it on my own (hopefully), but I want to be sure i am not reinventing the wheel. My idea basically is that there is bad way of todays formating of ebooks. Everyone tried converting books and everyone had problems, because formats are too specific. I want technically return to pre-css ages, with XML-based format that gives you set of basic tags to format ebook. Customization and f.e. re-flow will be done client-side, using some css-like file. This is where HTML basically was, but due to much bigger monitor flexibility, css files became very powerful, and too specific, so its now problem to convert book to smaller device. Similarity can be found in every other format, starting in post-script (but its purpose was to be specific) and ending anywhere (maybe excluding plain text). So, my plan is to make XML-based, hand-editable, opensource, open specification very simple format, and some basic converters. I want just to know that there is not something like it, so I could just help it. Hope someone understood. Hi all, no this is not yet another thread about scifi uber format made by nonprogrammer to be never specified, nor coded. I will do it on my own (hopefully), but I want to be sure i am not reinventing the wheel.

My idea basically is that there is bad way of todays formating of ebooks.
Everyone tried converting books and everyone had problems, because formats are too specific. I want technically return to pre-css ages, with XML-based format that gives you set of basic tags to format ebook. Customization and f.e. re-flow will be done client-side, using some css-like file. This is where HTML basically was, but due to much bigger monitor flexibility, css files became very powerful, and too specific, so its now problem to convert book to smaller device. Similarity can be found in every other format, starting in post-script (but its purpose was to be specific) and ending anywhere (maybe excluding plain text).

So, my plan is to make XML-based, hand-editable, opensource, open specification very simple format, and some basic converters. I want just to know that there is not something like it, so I could just help it.

Hope someone understood. ]]> Workshop Jamp http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61035 Definitive Guide to eBook Formats? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60805&goto=newpost Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:22:11 GMT Can anyone point me to a definitive guide to eBook formats? I am particularly confused by the PDB formats. I see DOC, ztext and eReader formats? It looks like Plucker also uses the PDB file extension but yet nothing I download from Gutenberg in the PDB format will open in Calibre. I used to have a Palm Pilot and had a lot of stuff in the PDB format, luckily I kept the original TXT files and am able to convert them to anything that it supports. Is there multiple formats in the epub file extension too? I anticipate buying a Nook in December and am confused as to whether it will open and read the epub files that I create with Calibre. Anyone know? Can anyone point me to a definitive guide to eBook formats? I am particularly confused by the PDB formats. I see DOC, ztext and eReader formats? It looks like Plucker also uses the PDB file extension but yet nothing I download from Gutenberg in the PDB format will open in Calibre. I used to have a Palm Pilot and had a lot of stuff in the PDB format, luckily I kept the original TXT files and am able to convert them to anything that it supports.

Is there multiple formats in the epub file extension too? I anticipate buying a Nook in December and am confused as to whether it will open and read the epub files that I create with Calibre. Anyone know? ]]> Workshop Rootman http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60805 Change single quotes to double quotes http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60559&goto=newpost Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:01:11 GMT Does anyone know any batch methods for converting single quotes, but not apostrophes, to double quotes?

I'm OCR'ing a scanned book, and I want a final version I can read without twitching. I'm considering using Word's find-and-replace to change space-apostrophe into space-dblquote, and apostrophe-space into dblquote-space. Especially since this book seems to favor apostrophe-s even for words that end with s. (Yeats's. Moss's. Democritus's.) ]]> Workshop Elfwreck http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60559 Anyone want to trade effort? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60436&goto=newpost Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:02:24 GMT So, I'm thinking that we might be able to come up with a barter system, off-site.

I'm thinking that we could trade markup. I don't have the perfect system in mind; I'd be open to input on this.

Suppose you want to read a book, but it's in terrible shape. It can be a drag to try to proof it and read it at the same time.

So you send it to me; I do the preliminary clean up, mechanical spell check, fix links, images, etc. and I return it to you. You can then do a read, and just fix the super-tricky stuff as you go. Then I have a credit with you, and I can ask you to do the same for me.

Anybody have thoughts? As I wrote, I don't expect to be doing this via this site, except for finding folks that might be interested.

Oh, and I'm thinking to primarily work in (x)html.

m a r ]]> Workshop rogue_ronin http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60436 Confused over plethora of formats? YES! http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60312&goto=newpost Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:31:31 GMT I have narrowed my eventual choice down to the HanlinV5 from Australia because that is our home base or the Coolreader cos I love the look (Yep I know that is a completely stupid reason) and what appears to be lots of formats.

Now my question is what the hell do all these letters you all put out there mean? I am not a complete technophobe but I am really finding this so hard to understand. So in words of one syllable or less :D could someone please explain to me what does it all mean?

Here is my my questions and also my 'wants' if that helps.
1/ What do you mean when you talk about Adobe, DRE, pdf bookmarks etc etc etc. Maybe someone here could set up a dictionary with all these and an explanation of what they all mean in simple terms?

2/ I live on a yacht so MONEY is our biggest problem so what should I be looking for when angling for the longest term usage and being able to move the books to another reader many years down the line?

3/ I want to be able to upload books anywhere in the world from probably public internet cafes. Does this influence the ereader I choose?

4/ What are the best, easiest, cheapest, user friendly ebook sites?

5/ I love the idea of the Text to speech of the Hanlin as when sitting in cockpit on long runs we can still maintain watch and not require a light to read which then ruins our night vision. Does this work? What format (gobbledegook letters) do I have to look for?

6/ I believe that I cannot access Amazon books because I won't be getting a Kindle. Is that right?

OK Now I realise that you have all just gone to sleep with boredom and I do apologise :o But please remember that there are always newbies coming along and, well, you are a great resource so any help is appreciated.

Now remember - words of one syllable or less and I will hopefully get it!

:thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: ]]> Workshop S/V Willow http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60312 cover images http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60242&goto=newpost Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:01:06 GMT Does anyone know where I can find a source of cover images for commercially published books? Thanks. Does anyone know where I can find a source of cover images for commercially published books?

Thanks. ]]> Workshop Nate the great http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60242 Some free software tools by Martin Ward http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60139&goto=newpost Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:06:43 GMT I've just come across these tools, kindly made available by Martin Ward of De Montfort University, Leicester:

FermaT Transformation System
Bible Reference
Kansas City Tape Decoder
Miscellaneous UK101 BASIC and 6502 Assembler Programs
SpamFilter
Clonedir: Create a copy of a directory and keep it up to date
Short File Name Restorer for Windows FAT16 and FAT32
Reflow: Break lines into paragraphs in a readable way
Compare two text files and show differences at the character level
Check the punctuation in a text file
Fix end-of-line hyphens in a text file
Convert paragraph breaks from indentation to a blank line
Download selected news from selected groups based on regular expressions

http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/mart...are/index.html ]]> Workshop Patricia http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60139 Does anyone make eReader format ebooks? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59902&goto=newpost Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:51:33 GMT We know the B&N Nook supports eReader. Does anyone know of a free ebook creation tool for this format?

I know calibre has eReader as an output. Does it do a good job?

There is also an Open Office plugin. Does anyone use it?

Does anyone know of other tools? ]]> Workshop Nate the great http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59902 színjáték: A (Xe)LaTeX Drama Template http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59831&goto=newpost Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:41:39 GMT The template is not quite ready yet, but I thought I'd show some work in progress and ask for help at the same time.

Anybody can suggest more tasteful ways of framing (or presenting some other way) the illustrations? For some reason the \framebox command does not produce consistent spacing/borders between the frame and the contained image.

Otherwise it doesn't look too bad so far.

- Ahi
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]]> Workshop ahi http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59831 Comics and Graphic Novels Kindle question http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59817&goto=newpost Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:57:53 GMT Hey there,

First, an apology. I initially joined the forum some months ago (ack! It was back in May!) and things went a smidgen crazy for me (including health issue stuff for my wife). I did not mean to be away for so long.

Here's my situation: I love the idea of ebooks, but I don't have a reader of any sort, save for my trusty ol' laptop. That means I've only "experienced" (cough) ebooks in either RTF or PDF form for text and PDF, CBR/CBZ for comics and graphic novels. I'm in Canada, so it's basically a non-starter with devices like the Kindle 2 or DX. So, in other words, I really know nothing right now when it comes to the Kindle, Sony Reader, and other ebook devices.

Now, I've recently self-published a 148 page graphic novel and I'd really like to make it available as an ebook. For something like the Kindle, getting formatting information for comics is very tricky. This Publishers Weekly article suggests that there's a few tricks to it, but when I contacted the DTP people at Amazon they noted that titles like Tumor were formatted with MobiPocket. Unfortunately, as of September they are no longer taking new publishers. And unfortunately, the DTP people weren't able to give me solid specifications on what I should do graphic-wise.

So, I feel a little stuck. I can do PDF, CBR and CBZ, and I think the Sony Reader (though I'm concerned about resolution) but not the Kindle. Simply put, what am I missing?

P.S.: To be fair, I've also talked with the folks at Smashwords but there doesn't seem to be a way of getting around their 5 meg upload limit, either. And unfortunately, there's just no way to compress a 148 page graphic novel down to meet this requirement. Smashwords would probably be my platform of choice, but it's a no-go. Graphics and ebooks just seem to be really, really tricky.

(edited to fix some silly formatting mistakes) ]]> Workshop Von Allan http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59817