I work for a manga publisher that's trying to convert some books for use on the Kindle, and would like to use the "PDF -> PDF2LRF -> PNG2PDF -> MobiPocket Creator -> Kindle (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18968)" method as that seems like the most ideal conversion option that I've found. The only catch is that the Windows version of PDFLRF can only convert to, well, LRF. Since the Dos version (which could zipped png files) is impossible to find now, my question is... has anyone found a good alternative for manga that doesn't use the 4-step method?


I was thinking maybe "PDFLRF-win -> LRFTools -> Mobipocket," but I'm not sure if that's the only (or best) option.

Thanks,
- Adam

Hi Adam,
I can think of other methods but i'm not sure if the end result will be much different you probably will save one step or two. I guess what I don't really understand is why you are using PDFLRF?

=X=

Hi Adam,
I can think of other methods but i'm not sure if the end result will be much different you probably will save one step or two. I guess what I don't really understand is why you are using PDFLRF?

=X=

To be honest, I don't know. Mobipocket Creator on its own wasn't doing what I wanted it to do to convert image-filled PDFs (i.e. 192 pages of Tif files), so I was looking into other options.

To be honest, I don't know. Mobipocket Creator on its own wasn't doing what I wanted it to do to convert image-filled PDFs (i.e. 192 pages of Tif files), so I was looking into other options.

Okay I see then you might want look at PaperCrop (http://jupiter.kaist.ac.kr/~taesoo/projects/paperCrop/index_eng.html), I think this tool will do more of what you are looking for.

If you have any questions about PaperCrop visit the PaperCrop forum discussion (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31677)

This tool converts PDF to PDF or converts PDF->Images(PNG,GIFF,JPG, TIFF)
The tool allows the user to crop portions of a PDF page and converts it to an image. Once you have your images you can load it to calibre and have it convert it to a MOBI (I think its only calibre 0.6 (in beta) the supports this. The older calibre only convets cbz/cbr to LRF.

=X=

There are literally dozens of free tools that will extract images from PDF files. Once you have the images, there are other tools that will convert them to an e-book format of your choise.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of PaperCrop. I'll definitely give that a try.

Thanks. But how can I download these tools?

Hi,

Nice work, but as I see the binaries are still waiting approval to downloaded (!?).

xc8, it is unlikely that the binaries will be posted here, since the author hasn't shown any interest in complying with MR policies about public licensing the software. Still, if you search the right places you can probably find it to download somewhere else.

looks grear!

try it

NIce job, THX a lot

thanks;)

good!

thanks

thanks ,mate

Wow, everybody is so wordy in this thread.

I've had this theory it's the original author of the software who comes and wrights a random post as part of an elaborate joke. Which would be quite hilarious :rofl:

=X=

definitely not me!

So that's what it takes to get you to visit us again. Anyhow more props to you for denying it.

BTW thanks for an awesome piece of software.

=X=

definitely not me!

If I make up a fake ID and post a one word thanks, would you send me the linux version of PDFLRF in return? That would be awesome.

:2thumbsup

try it

Just found PDFLRF by accident and I love it! It's just what I was looking for. I can now read my maths and engineering pdf textbooks on my prs 505.

Huge thanks to cacapee for his time and effort.

I'm going to track back through the thread and read it now, but just in case, does anyone know a way to automate the process of having PDFLRF convert a whole pile of documents? And perhaps save a default set of options, instead of having to tweak it each time I open the app?

If I could avoid having to manually convert each one of 100 odd lessons/revision workbooks it sure would save me a lot of time.

I notice kovidgoyal has recently posted here, so I'll say thanks to him too, for Calibre, which is also a thing of beauty :)

You'd probably have more luck batch-converting if you got lucky and found the DOS version (or Linux version), since then you could use a batch file; I'm not sure the Windows-GUI version can be used so easily for this purpose.

This is one reason I'm still looking for the linux version. I can run the Windows version on linux through Wine, but want something I can use in a shell script. If anyone has it, please let me know!

It took me sometime, but I understand now that the "cacapee" is a kind of mythological animal, and the pfflrflinux 0.99.zip is only a private joke between exclusive MR members.

Would have been nice though if it had been possible to find it in the real world...:rolleyes:

You're just not looking hard enough.

A search for "pdflrfwin" on demonoid.com and thepiratebay.org will show you torrent results. In the comments sections of both places, you'll find a link to direct download if you don't know how to use torrents.

Heck, even a google search for "pdflrfwin" gives you both torrent and direct download link results on the first page! You won't find things if you don't look for them.

demono..what? :eek:

Thanks for your tip. Had to be happy with the Windows version, the Linux one seems to have fallen down into the inkpot.

Well, the Windows version works on Linux with Wine and looks really pretty stable.

So I had a quick try with a 2.1 M pdf about Roman history in A4 format. A difficult one indeed with lots of photos and maps or genealogical trees. It was converted in some minutes into a 26.4 M lrf file. Calibre opened it successfully after a one minute loading time.

You read the lrf output in landscape mode. The texts parts are nearly legible. By this I mean that the font size is OK but the line is trimmed (you need to scroll left right about 1/8 to read it). It means the default settings have of course to be tweaked to suit your own book (if possible?).

For the maps and the photos, you get them and at least you have a decent idea what it's all about but no more.

For your information, here is a view of the main window with the book loaded, just to have an idea of what are the default setting values and a the screenshot of a page as seen with calibre with visualization mode (I turned it counterclockwise for you)

For a quick and not too dirty reading...can be tried.

You're just not looking hard enough.

A search for "pdflrfwin" on demonoid.com and thepiratebay.org will show you torrent results. In the comments sections of both places, you'll find a link to direct download if you don't know how to use torrents.

Heck, even a google search for "pdflrfwin" gives you both torrent and direct download link results on the first page! You won't find things if you don't look for them.

We were talking about the linux version. Believe me, I searched every torrent site I could find, and rapidshare search engines, etc., ... I just can't find it.

pdflrfwin is not the problem. I have that, and I use it through a virtual machine and it works fine... I'd just rather have the linux version.

I did notice that the windows version runs under Wine, but at least for me, is horribly slow -- so slow that I do better in a virtual machine. It's a lot of rigamarole, but often still worth it.

I have used this program to convert files previously, but I have a file that for some reason at around 25% the program just closes. It doesn't give me an error, but it just closes. Is there any way of figuring out what is happening so I can resolve this? Thanks.

Update: I've figured it out. For some reason in the pdf there were a few pages that were different size (they were blank pages). When I removed those out of there it was able to complete processing of the file.

No, but you can use it to optimize your pdf files, rainbless. (You'd have to use calibre or similar to convert the LRF files, though, since Kindles don't read LRF files.)

You might try sopdf (www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32066) instead, which is PDF > PDF to avoid a step like that.

This is a really nice tool.

Quite agree. Just tried it and it is great. Quite and solves the problem of trimming the margins on my PRS-600 -the preview is really helpful.

This is a really nice tool.

I agree- Two thumbs up :thumbsup::thumbsup:

rastefarian is smaller and clearer

rastefarian is smaller and clearer

This has not been my experience, but to each their own.

I am looking to convert the files to kindle format, thank you

Moderator's Note: I've taken down the attached programs because it appears to be in violation of GPL. They will go back up after the issue is resolved.

Nate the great



Hi, I've taken some of the ideas of existing tools along with a few refinements of my own to code this one up. I've attached a few sample conversions to get an idea of what the tool can do.

The refinements are --runpages (which causes adjacent pdf pages to be spliced into the same image if possible) and --smartcut (which avoids the annoying splits at the edge of the image) Another feature is that landscape mode (which is the default) rotates the image but doesn't actually use the Reader's landscape mode.

f_l.lrf outputs the page that can be viewed by rotating the reader (-rs)
f_p.lrf outputs the page in portrait mode (-prs)
f_po.lrf outputs the page without runpages and smartcut (-p)
g_2col.lrf sample of two column mode (-vrs)
comicl.pdf comicp.pdf strips in landscape and portrait mode (uses --nosplitpage -rs)

The pdf files tested are linked here

http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/what/shannonday/shannon1948.pdf
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~tants/tsm/tsm.pdf


pdflrf 0.99

A program to generate lrf files for the Sony Reader
Needs Ghostscript to be installed unless you are using poppler

Usage: For 2 column portrait mode
pdflrf.exe -vrs -i file.pdf -o file.lrf
For landscape mode
pdflrf.exe --rotation=-90 -rs -i file.djvu -o file.lrf
For comics
pdflrf.exe -nrs --erode 1 -i file.cbz -o file.lrf


-h, --help Print help and exit
-V, --version Print version and exit
-i, --input=STRING Input file (PDF, DJVU, CBZ)
-o, --output=STRING Output file
-f, --firstpage=INT First page to process (default=`1')
-l, --lastpage=INT Last page to process (default=`-1')
--ghostscript Use ghostscript (instead of poppler by default)
to read pdf files (default=off)

LRF file metadata
-t, --title=STRING Title
-a, --author=STRING Author
--category=STRING Category
--publisher=STRING Publisher

LRF file generation properties
--fit=STRING Scale image (possible values="width",
"height", "2xheight" default=`width')
--rotation=STRING Rotation (possible values="-90", "0",
"90", "180" default=`-90')
--filter=STRING Resizing filter (possible values="lanczos",
"quadratic", "cubic", "catrom",
"mitchell", "sinc", "bessel"
default=`lanczos')
--stretch Stretch image to fit screen (default=off)
-v, --vsplit Vertically split the page (default=off)
-r, --runpages Run pages together (default=off)
--pad=INT Pad (in pixels) to add when concatenating pages
(default=`3')
-s, --smartcut Cut pages at blank lines (default=off)
-n, --nosplitpage Do not split pages across images (default=off)
--notoc Do not add TOC (default=off)

Image processing
--erode=INT Size of erosion kernel (2 works well too)
(default=`3')
--overlap=FLOAT Overlap % between successive pages
(default=`0.05')
-c, --colors=INT Number of colors in final image (default=`4')
--grayscale Convert image to grayscale (default=on)
--nocrop Do not crop the sides automatically
(default=off)
--outputimages Write generated images out (default=off)
--width=INT Width of final image (default=`584')
--height=INT Height of final image (default=`754')

The following options are run before any of the above processing is done
--trimleft=FLOAT Trim width*trimleft/100 pixels from the left for
all pages (default=`0')
--trimright=FLOAT Trim width*trimright/100 pixels from the right
for all pages (default=`0')
--trimtop=FLOAT Trim height*trimtop/100 pixels from the top for
all pages (default=`0')
--trimbottom=FLOAT Trim height*trimbottom/100 pixels from the bottom
for all pages (default=`0')
--eventrimleft=FLOAT Trim width*trimleft/100 pixels from the left for
even pages (default=`0')
--eventrimright=FLOAT Trim width*trimright/100 pixels from the right
for even pages (default=`0')
--eventrimtop=FLOAT Trim height*trimtop/100 pixels from the top for
even pages (default=`0')
--eventrimbottom=FLOAT Trim height*trimbottom/100 pixels from the bottom
for even pages (default=`0')
--oddtrimleft=FLOAT Trim width*trimleft/100 pixels from the left for
odd pages (default=`0')
--oddtrimright=FLOAT Trim width*trimright/100 pixels from the right
for odd pages (default=`0')
--oddtrimtop=FLOAT Trim height*trimtop/100 pixels from the top for
odd pages (default=`0')
--oddtrimbottom=FLOAT Trim height*trimbottom/100 pixels from the bottom
for odd pages (default=`0')
--fuzz=FLOAT Fuzz factor % for matching colors
(default=`0.01')


version 0.2 now reads in cbz and djvu files. It also reads pdf files using poppler - so you do not need to install ghostscript.

version 0.3 has a windows gui. --portrait has been removed and replaced by --rotation. Default is portrait now. Also metadata from pdf files are automatically read

version 0.4 adds drag/drop and batch processing (drag mutiple files over) + other small refinements (not specifying smartcut/runpages/splitpage scales a page to fit in an image)

version 0.5 has support for pre-trimming off the input pages. These are specifed in terms of % of the page from the left/right/top/bottom that you want to trim away. They can also be specified independently for even/odd pages. Also unicode metadata is now supported.

version 0.6 adds support for unicode filenames (previously only unicode metadata was supported), cbr/rar files, better error reporting and assorted bug fixes.

version 0.7 adds preview of pre trimming, catrom filter for resizing images, png files are now generated for embedding in lrf files. Converted over to using threads - so batching is a lot more improved.

version 0.8 adds support for Table of Contents in pdf files. It is possible to preview output images to test out various settings. An experimental linux build (built on Ubuntu) has been added. Improved threading support so processing should be faster. Changed default colors to 4 to reduce frequency of file size questions. Added more filtering options and better dithering so images should look a lot better.
Fixed threading bug that causes it to hang occasionally under linux. Fixed TOC. Erosion now works sensibly with small images (like those of comic strips). Can also go down to 2 colors.

version 0.9 Added padding (in pixels) when using runpages. Fixed crash bug when generating toc. Added back ghostscript support. Added option to disable generation of TOC.

version 0.99 Fixed Librie compatibility (maybe). Adjustable image size on output. Output zip files (if extension is cbz or zip). Added RGB output. Added post stretch of image to fit page. Added options to fit image by height/width/2*height etc. Sort files in rar and zip.

Fixed bug in dos and linux commandline versions that ignored toc. Fixed metadata bug.

I've broken out the dos commandline, windows gui and linux commandline versions into separate files to better track usage.

Sorry for this stupid question, but I can't find a link to download the converter. On the first pages everything appears as a picture or text but not a valid URL link. What am I doing wrong?

Added 5 minutes later:
Ok, I missed the point:
Moderator's Note: I've taken down the attached programs because it appears to be in violation of GPL. They will go back up after the issue is resolved.

If you read through the last few pages of the thread, you'll find ways of acquiring it, however. (At least if you want the windows version; if you want the linux version, like me, alas you may be out of luck.)

I am confused. What is the issue here? the software is free using GPL stuff.

SO what is the problem with simply COMPLYING with the GPL requirements? just release the source? is the creator gone or something so no one HAS the source?

IE why can it not be PUT into COMPLIANCE ?

The author has not released the source. He does occasionally stop by here, but hasn't explained the noncompliance.

Strictly speaking, I'm in compliance as I'm not distributing the tool anymore.

Cheers

Thank you for the great tool! I'm amazing very nice images!

Wow, everybody is so wordy in this thread.

I've had this theory it's the original author of the software who comes and wrights a random post as part of an elaborate joke. Which would be quite hilarious :rofl:

=X=

definitely not me!

More and more, I'm tempted to believe =X='s theory here.

We already know cacapee--although capable of writing one fine program--is a strange and mysterious being... and not exactly forthright. I'm not sure I believe him.

can't download it?

Please read the thread through. You'll find links to ways of acquiring it, but no, you can't download it here.

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/

This program is amazing,
now I can read reference books in my Sony 505.
I don't understand why the programmer does not want to make it open,
it should be developed by other people here to be used for all reader...
But it is his software and he decides no one can argue about it.

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/

This program is amazing,
now I can read reference books in my Sony 505.
I don't understand why the programmer does not want to make it open,
it should be developed by other people here to be used for all reader...
But it is his software and he decides no one can argue about it.

Thank you!Now my PRS-900 is working on full power!

How I can increase font size in an output file? What option can help me with this task?

PDFLRF rasterizes the PDF. When it's done, there are no fonts in the document, and therefore, no fonts to resize.

There really is no good way to change the font size in a PDF.

You really only have two other options:

1) On most portables, the page of each PDF will be scaled to fit as well as possible on the screen. So if the page is smaller, the characters will appear bigger. Keeping things in PDF format, your best bet would be to crop all unnecessary whitespace, and perhaps split each page up. If PDFLRF is not doing the trick, SoPDF (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32066) or BRISS (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83055) are two good tools to look at here.

2) You could try converting it the PDF into some reflowable format. How well this works and how much you will lose depends a lot on the type of PDF in question, and its complexity and cleanness. Free tools to do this include calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) and pdfreflow (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfreflow/). (There are also more expensive tools such as Adobe Acrobat or ABBYY finereader.) Nothing works perfectly for this, however.

The advice frabjous gave you is quite excellent, and probably would be the first thing I try.

If those solution do not work you can try one tool that was not mentioned "PaperCrop (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31677)". This tool acts very much like PDFLRF/PDFRead, where it turns the PDF pages into images then optimizes the images to fit on a 6" screen. However PaperCrop has a few features that make it stand out above PDFRead/PDFLRF.
You can select page per page, or bulk page the crop zones. This is a front end GUI, second the tool has a resize feature that word wraps the text if the target screen is smaller than the PDF width. The only downside is you have to set the resolution form the config file.

What I have found is I try to get the PDF to be readable with soPDF/BRISS and if I can't then I use PaperCrop. PaperCrop has ALWAYS worked for me, but it takes more time to format the final product.

=X=

I have a few pdfs that pdflrf did not recognize and I could not convert. can you help me?

thanks

One of the funniest things about the one or two word gratitude posts in this thread is that half of them are using Kindles, which don't even support the LRF format. :D

I have a few pdfs that pdflrf did not recognize and I could not convert. can you help me? ...I don't know if this will help anyone, but I tend to convert PDFs to Word and then reformat to A7 page size with almost no border and reprint as an A7 size PDF with Arial 8pt text, which fits my PRS-600.

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/

This program is amazing,
now I can read reference books in my Sony 505.
I don't understand why the programmer does not want to make it open,
it should be developed by other people here to be used for all reader...
But it is his software and he decides no one can argue about it.


which program? there are many programs in this url!!!

Where can I find the linux version?

Where can I find the linux version?

I've been looking for it for well over a year now with no success; if you find it, do let us know.

The Windows version works with WINE, however.

Seriously, why is this program not made open and continued?
It is BY FAR the best tool I have found to convert PDFs to LRF. In it's current version, 0.99, it works VERY well. However, there are a few niggles. But the potential is enormous.

Please continue the project!

I've been looking for it for well over a year now with no success; if you find it, do let us know.

The Windows version works with WINE, however.

Here you are (pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2):

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SB5JSI55
http://www.zshare.net/download/822919271e67b0b7/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/b502111/n/pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2
http://depositfiles.com/ru/files/5jt0pl3o3
http://www.load.to/tMSso553nh/pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2

Hopefully, it's what you need.

Here you are (pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2):

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SB5JSI55
http://www.zshare.net/download/822919271e67b0b7/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/b502111/n/pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2
http://depositfiles.com/ru/files/5jt0pl3o3
http://www.load.to/tMSso553nh/pdflrf-linux-0.99.bz2

Hopefully, it's what you need.

No, as far as I can tell, those are all fakes.... probably the result of people having search for the term. Did you actually manage to get one of them working? I thought not.

why i cant download the file?

why i cant download the file?

Did you read the thread at all?

Finally get a way to work the whole mess out. Thanks for sharing:)

Hi,
I was trying to download the zip file. But I couldn't. It seems due to the posting rules those links are removed. So can u please let me know the link for this tool.

Thanks
VJ

Hi,
I was trying to download the zip file. But I couldn't. It seems due to the posting rules those links are removed. So can u please let me know the link for this tool.

Thanks
VJ

Either read the thread or learn how to use a search engine.:angry:

Thank you for sharing~

thanks :)

thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

how to download?

Download

thanks

Hello,dear,
How can i convert my pdf files/books to kindle 3, I really don't know how to go about this.I need help.

Hello,dear,
How can i convert my pdf files/books to kindle 3, I really don't know how to go about this.I need help.

Ask in the Kindle forum. This thread is not the correct place to ask.

Hi.
Could somebody explane me how to install and launch pdflrf-linux-0.99 on Ubuntu 10.04?
Thank you.

Hi.
Could somebody explane me how to install and launch pdflrf-linux-0.99 on Ubuntu 10.04?
Thank you.

The linux version has been missing in action for years. If you can find somewhere to download it, let us know!

The linux version has been missing in action for years. If you can find somewhere to download it, let us know!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SB5JSI55

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SB5JSI55

That's fake.

Hi. I am new to ebooks and have a problem that hopefully the great community here could help. I am currently using pdflrf0.99 to read pdf on my prs650. Great software, and it splits the pdf to nice chunks to read using landscape view.

I do have one question that I had tried to solve without success. The software split the pdf to chunks, and Smart Cut is a great option as it splits the image to the white lines between text. This ensures that the text is not cut in half. However, is there a similar option for figures? Alot of times, figures are split into half and spread across two pages, and that makes it difficult to read them. Is there a way to make the software keep figures intact, similar to how Smart Cut makes sure that text are kept intact?

Thanks.

Nope, no option to not split images. And since the author is no longer around and has not released the source code, it'll never be updated.

And since the author is no longer around

I believe cacapee watches this thread, but it's as good as not having an author around, since he has pretty much killed the project instead of complying with the GPL.

Why is this still a stick where there's no programs attached?

Very informative to neatly convert pdf files.

Why it can't be download now?

Great program, thanks!

I have an issue, though. When I use default conversion width and height settings (584х754) Sony PRS 950 leaves 1/4 of a page blank (it has 1024 pixels height). When I try to set higher values to the height setting, I get an error on each and very page generation: "GIF is too big (600 x 1024) > (600 x 800)". Are the later numbers maximum resolution (I hope not).

Thanks!

how can I download it? Thanks.

I'm hoping that there is someone here that would be willing to help me figure out why I'm having issues with my file converter. I am new to using dos command prompts, so obviously I have very little clue. I start by using PDF2LRF:

C:\PDF2LRF>pdf2lrf -i FILENAME.pdf -o FILENAME.zip

I am confused as to why it shows duplicate pages being converted. But my main question at this point is found in the next step of conversion using PNG2PDF:

C:\PNG2PDF>png2pdf FILENAME.zip

The results show me an error on every page, telling me that there are invalid parameters. I basically know what parameters are, but have no clue how they really relate to the present situation or how to fix the issue. Can someone please help me without making me feel stupid?

Thx,

mikewdarrow

The results show me an error on every page, telling me that there are invalid parameters. I basically know what parameters are, but have no clue how they really relate to the present situation or how to fix the issue. Can someone please help me without making me feel stupid?


Like jbenny (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=109181&postcount=260) explained, you have to download ImageMagick

Thread closed.

This thread seems to be defunct, and the first post does not contain links to the program.