I've noticed I have many pdf files I'm wanting to view on my 505. I can view them fine on a zoomed mode but, every time I turn the page it stays on that setting but the font goes smaller... then I have to click the zoom button twice so it goes back to small and then medium again. Is there a way to fix this?

Hallo,

I gave up on PRS 500 because of the absence of pdf support. Now I´ve noticed that there is pdf support on PRS-505. Therefore it is my favorite and I am seriously considering buying the device. but before I send the order I would like to see how are the pdf´s displaiyd.

Could somebody do me the favour and make a picture of PRS-505 displying the enclosed pdf? I read a lot of technical stuff and therefore I am affraid that the graphics will not be visible enough on the reader. therefore it would help me a lot to see it in advance.

Unfortunatelly Im from europe. therefore have no possiblity to try it by my self in some store in US.

Thanx

Hallo,

I gave up on PRS 500 because of the absence of pdf support. Now I´ve noticed that there is pdf support on PRS-505. Therefore it is my favorite and I am seriously considering buying the device. but before I send the order I would like to see how are the pdf´s displaiyd.

Could somebody do me the favour and make a picture of PRS-505 displying the enclosed pdf? I read a lot of technical stuff and therefore I am affraid that the graphics will not be visible enough on the reader. therefore it would help me a lot to see it in advance.

Unfortunatelly Im from europe. therefore have no possiblity to try it by my self in some store in US.

Thanx

I downloaded your file. Loading it into the 505 as a pdf file with no problems.
The text is so small in the S (Smallest or Standard) mode that it is impossible to read with the naked eye or with a magnifying glass. can make it out. In the M (Medium) font size you can barely make it out with a magnifying glass. I would judge this as useless.

Running your pdf through libprs500 produced a smaller file that could easily be read except the formatting of tables was gone, formulas became useless to decipher and, overall, except for straight forward text, was pretty bad.

I know you would like to see a picture but, honestly, there is not much to photograph that woulds show up. Sorry.

I have a couple of books in pdf format and they all are useless when loading directly into the 505. The text is too small to read! If all the book or document is just text, then using libprs500 produces a suitable read.

Thank you for the try. I suppose the landscape mode does not help as well.

I will probably have to go for iRex which has bigger display.

Thanx again

Dexter

Thank you for the try. I suppose the landscape mode does not help as well.

I will probably have to go for iRex which has bigger display.

Thanx again

Dexter

Attached is a scan of your PDF file in landscape mode. It is in the M (Medium) font. you cannot get any larger with PDF.

My tired old eyes cannot read this with my glasses. Using a magnifying glass, it is possible to read. However, I notice the page turns slowed up a bit when tying to page rapidly. Turning at a "normal" read was still a bit slower than you would expect with an eBook.
Overall, the Sony does a VERY poor job of displaying PDF files!

I will add this: What the reader does display is an exact copy of the PDF file. You have it just as it appears on the computer screen. Just too small to read and no option to make it larger even with scrolling which is not available with the PDF.

I would wait for the new Sony 505 firmware update coming out soon (date unspecified).
This new update is supposed to give better pdf support among other things.

I have the Sony 505. I downloaded the web-options.pdf link from the start of this thread, and ran it
though several programs. I got the best results from a conversion program called RasterFarian,
which converts the pdf as a rasterized sony reader ebook lrf file.
The RasterFarian program has a history and Strong abilities.
(http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13678&highlight=rasterfarian)

The settings I used were:
2) Normal
Auto crop the file?
Yes
Arrange as:
2) split into halfs

Level of post processing:
1) Full

Level of boldness:
12) light

Enter a page for preview
10

You don't have to own a Sony 505 reader to see what the results are like.
Download and Install both the Sony eBook Library software and the
RasterFarian program. Do a Conversion with RasterFarian. It will give you a good idea of what can
be achieved.
I was able to read your pdf ok with the Sony 505 screen in Landscape mode.. The print was on the small
side. The print was bigger then a home mortgage contract or a prescription medicine disclaimer.
There is software called LaTeX, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX) that some use to reformat their
pdf's into a more e-reader friendly format. Its not something I have experience with.
The Sony 505 doesn't have as much screen real-estate as the iRex iLiad or the soon to come out Hanlin
eReader V9, yet if one was to buy a pair of cheap 2.00 Strength reading glasses to go with their Sony
Reader they might find a more Compact, less expensive e-reader solution for their pdf's. I bought my
Sony 505 as Ever-changing Electronic Paperback Book.

The programs I use most on my 505 are:
1.) libprs500, its the single best program for the Sony Reader.
2.) Bullzip PDF Printer driver, its freeware and its append mode it great!
3.) Web2Book, it downloads feeds and web pages.
4.) Sony eBook Library software, its clunky but has its benefit's.
5.) RasterFarian

Hallo,

I gave up on PRS 500 because of the absence of pdf support. Now I´ve noticed that there is pdf support on PRS-505. Therefore it is my favorite and I am seriously considering buying the device. but before I send the order I would like to see how are the pdf´s displaiyd.


Huh? PDF support on the 505 is exactly the same as it was on the 500. Could you elaborate?

The Sony 505 doesn't have as much screen real-estate as the iRex iLiad or the soon to come out Hanlin
eReader V9,

The Hanlin V9 isn't going to be released until June at the very earliest, and perhaps considerably later than that. PVI (the screen manufacturer) are at full production capacity making 6" screens for the Sony, Gen3, Kindle, etc.

Hi,

thank you for the support. the visual on the pictuar is very poor indeed (very hard to read). The RasterFarian is probably the only option as you say. If it can split the picture in half and display it as the supported format, I belive it works.

Thanx again

Dexter

Yes, PDF support is not very useful on the 505. Have you noticed that you get the "ghosting" effect while displaying PDF files and not with LRF files?
Hope they improve this on the next firmware

Why hasn't anyone mentioned PDFLRFwin... am I missing something? Its the only thing I use to process math books and papers. It does a good job on graphs and tables too.

I tried to download the weboptions pdf above, but the server was unresponsive. If I can get it I'll process it for you and post the LRF file and a picture of the reader.

PDFLRFwin-0.99

Mike

hi,

that would be great. I post the file again.

thanx

hi,

that would be great. I post the file again.

thanx

Okay, here it is treated with PDFLFRwin-0.99. This processor removes margins and rotates the text 90 degrees to maximize the size of letters. Your document has a logo on each page and side-text, so most documents will look better than this. You can get PDFLRFwin at this link:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13135

Make sure you get version 0.99 and not simply 0.9

You will also like Libprs500 by Kovidgoyal. I'm using it to automatically fetch my favorite news to my Reader, but it does a lot more. If you like it don't forget to send him a little donation. Get it here.

https://libprs500.kovidgoyal.net/download_windows

You can also use libprs500 to view the LRF file below.

And here is your file:

Yes, PDF support is not very useful on the 505. Have you noticed that you get the "ghosting" effect while displaying PDF files and not with LRF files?
Hope they improve this on the next firmware

Yes, the reason is unoptimized palette and gray background in PDF images.
have a look at my study of the rendering in PRS-500 and PRS-505:

http://www.msh-tools.com/ebook/rendering.html

Here is one of the findings (gray background in PDF):

http://www.msh-tools.com/ebook/pdf_frame.png


http://www.msh-tools.com/ebook/pdf_large.png

Yes, the reason is unoptimized palette and gray background in PDF images.

Interesting, I wonder why they did this in the first place? kind of stupid if you ask me.

Interesting, I wonder why they did this in the first place? kind of stupid if you ask me.

Well, when you choose a font for your documents you don't always assume that people will someday try to display it with only a couple bits of depth... unless I'm misunderstanding what you are saying. I think a lot of rich fonts are designed today with 8-bits of gray (256 grays - maybe someone more familiar w/ fonts can comment).

In any case you'll want to process pdf's with PDFLRF (see my post above). It really is amazing.

Have fun,

Mike

... unless I'm misunderstanding what you are saying.

What I meant is the gray-ish background when displaying every PDF. It seems to serve no purpose other than annoying PDF users because it apparently uses a white background for LRFs.

What I meant is the gray-ish background when displaying every PDF. It seems to serve no purpose other than annoying PDF users because it apparently uses a white background for LRFs.


Yes, I fully agree. The background for PDFs is not entirely "white" (using the 505's definition of white) but is a little off-white, which does detract from the quality of the experience. You can see a faint line (around the border) between "PDF white" and "real white."

In any case you'll want to process pdf's with PDFLRF (see my post above). It really is amazing.

I agree, pdflrf is the only tool I use for formatting pdf. Works especially well with google books. A letter size pdf is usable when you split it in half in landscape mode. Still anticipating a reader with a letter size (A4) screen.