Thread: Classic No zoom on PDFs
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Old 10-28-2009, 11:12 AM   #5
wallcraft
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi View Post
My understanding of PDFs is that each page in a PDF document is an image, usually acquired with a digital camera or scanner.
This is one form of PDF, and if a PDF only contains images then there is little you can do on a small screen. However, most PDFs start out as text with a few figures (images), e.g. a word processing document. The PDFs then have text in them, but a PDF does not have to store text and images in a "linear" fashion (i.e. as we would read it). For the PDF text to "reflow": a) it must exist as text (i.e. not for scans), and b) the software must be able to determine the reading order on the page. If a PDF is sold as a Adobe PDF ebook, then it probably reflows. PDFs made directly from a word processor also probably reflow, but more complex PDFs might or might not reflow. Sometimes just a single page does not reflow. An example of a hard page to reflow would be a two column article with a figure that extends over the full extent of the page.

If you want to try a few PDFs, the Sony eBook Library (Windows or Mac) treats PDFs just like a mobile Adobe Digital Editions EInk device with reflow would do. If the Nook has PDF reflow this is exactly how it will look in portrait mode (usually there is also a landscape mode).
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