oh dear, I have only 3 weeks to figure this out, and it seems to be a nightmare.

I thought I could scan the guidebooks that I have purchased (this is for my personal use only), create an Adobe Acrobat 7 pdf file and then put them on the PRS505 instead of lugging an entire duffle bag of guidebooks with me on my upcoming trip.

a) scanned book shows on elibrary, won't show on reader
b) reader doesn't seem to even know it is there
c) as an aside - reader doesn't seem to recognize anything on the memory cards
d) after copious time speaking with SONY, was told to create the pdf as a 5-inch x 6-inch page, so tried so by printing out a pdf at a reduced page size, then scanning again -- resolution is going bad, I have harvested at least one or two forests in this attempt to be paperless and the PRS505 still doesn't see the *.pdf file. ....

e) found this forum and seem to have a dozen different ways to do things, none of them real clear to me (I really thought the first time I read PDFRasterfarian that the solution being suggested was to go take a break.... ;-)

I'm sorry to ask things that have likely been asked a thousand times, but any of the searches I've done seem to give me threads that are over my head... (mixing metaphors?)

all suggestions greatfully accepted...

Once you have the PDF file, you might try PDFLRF which converts PDF files to LRF files. I have found that it works just fine, although I haven't done what you've done, scanning books into PDF files. But it does work on googlebooks, which are simply paper books which have been scanned into PDF files.

When you scan the books, what graphics format did you use before converting them into PDF files? Maybe if you use jpg graphics instead of tiff graphics your files would show up.

That's just a suggestion, based on no experience whatsoever but knowing that sometimes the graphics format can make a difference in such things.

Good luck!

oh dear, I have only 3 weeks to figure this out, and it seems to be a nightmare.

a) scanned book shows on elibrary, won't show on reader
b) reader doesn't seem to even know it is there
c) as an aside - reader doesn't seem to recognize anything on the memory cards


Question more than answer. Have you been able to put any formated item on the reader? Have you tried a different memory card? Some types of cards have not operated properly.

As David said... need more info. I've scanned a number of my own books into my Sony Reader. Here's the process I use.

Flat bed scanner (I use a OpticBook 3600 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPlustek-Opticbook-3600-Scanner-Conversion%2Fdp%2FB00065KA72%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dele ctronics%26qid%3D1200931677%26sr%3D8-2&tag=cityofdoors-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325)) but most flat beds can handle this, it's really a matter of how long it takes.
I set it to gray-scale 600dpi. I've found that black and white cause too many strange artifacts and since it's all just black or white the OCR program can't ignore them easily. Also, I've just had better luck with 600 dpi when it comes to the OCR.

OCR is good not just because it makes your text more usable (converting to other formats, etc) but also because it drastically reduces file size (usually.)

The OpticBook actually comes with very good OCR software, but there are other options available (including Acrobat Pro - though it's not too good in my experience.) Anyway, use OCR on it somehow - it may help to combine the scanned images into one PDF first.

Most good OCR (aside from Acrobat) has an option to export as a word file. I used to do this all with basic text, but found this was a faster process and was a more reliable option.

Opening in word, you begin the process of "fixing" which can take anywhere between a half-hour and hours.

Once this is done, I save the file and open it with Book Designer. I then set the chapters up and then save as an LRF.

I've had 200 pg books end up only about 300 kbs this way, and work like a dream.

Now, if you're dealing with travel books with lots of pictures I'd handle things a bit differntly. I'd still do all of what I suggested, but when you get to the book designer page find the images you want in the scanned images and drop them in the appropriate places before turning it into an LRF.

So, that's really all I can do to help - hope it does. As to why any given PDF doesn't work - no clue. I try to avoid using PDF files at all.

thanks much, I'm toddling off to try these ideas, will likely be back with more questions

Some cards don't work? I got the largest I could of both types for the slots on the PRS505 (ok, ok, I'm a book fiend....) I have an 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo and a Sandisk 8GB SD.

thanks, will likely be back with more questions....

Carol

Only the first 2GB of the SD card will be read. This is an unfortunate limitation of the 505. An 8GB cart might not work at all.

The 8 GB SD card will likely not work but according to Sony, the 8GB memory stick should but if you fill it with books you will notice a tremendous slow down it the reader's operation. Probably better to start smaller.

If time (or patience) runs too short you may want to think about purchasing travel guide ebooks instead. Not sure how your finances are or how many books you plan to use. I remember coming across travel guide ebooks before. Booksonboard.com has a very large selection and multiple formats, including adobe 7. Read the faq page before buying to make sure. If you do purchase from the site I recommend downloading one, making sure it works on your reader, before replacing all of them.

I've also found that putting the book title and the word ebook in ask.com can help to find a specific ebook. I don't have any advice on re-formatting, sd cards. I have different readers than you. This site is the most knowledgeable and helpful one I've come across so you are definitely talking to the right people about the problems you're having. Good luck and a safe journey to you-

I got the largest I could of both types for the slots on the PRS505 (ok, ok, I'm a book fiend....) I have an 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo and a Sandisk 8GB SD.
Reader supports SD cards up to 2GB only. Some 4GB cards work, but only 2GB of them is usable. SDHC cards (which you've got) do not work at all.

Hi,

Try a plain vanilla Sandisk 1 or 2 GB card and it should work just fine. The 1 GB cards are on sale now for $15., and the 2 GB cards are going for under $18-20.

The Sony seems to be very picky about the memory cards it uses, and it won't address a card larger than 2 GB.

Starfish

thanks all, for the input on the memory cards -- apparently I enthusiastically jumped in over my head (we can pretend that I've never done that before!)

I have realized that although I've been scanning and pdf-ing forever, I'm super novice at it -- have always just worked with the scanned books as images, hence many of my problems. I'm wrestling with the Readiris that I have, learning OCR things as quickly as possible....

And yes, my CYA position is buying ebook formatted guidebooks. I'm only in this situation because I'm a bit of a reference fiend, so have 10 or 20 guides (buy them used from ABE.com, where the book is $1 and the shipping is $4 to $5!). And a few brand new ones...

Well, we shall see. I still have 2 weeks, and not that much work to get done (have my own business, and this is slow season), so will forge onwards!

thanks for all the help, please keep any creative ideas coming!

Carol