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Old 09-23-2010, 07:31 AM   #46
Rothbardian
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I think the ultimate goal is PDF reflow so that PDF files can be viewed equally well on devices of various sizes.
I hope not. Or at least, it better be switchable. The whole point of PDF is to look exactly how the typesetter intended. "Reflow" = broken.

(At least if you have proper ebooks, and not the crappy-looking word-processor (or even worse: web browser) output that often goes by the name...)
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Old 09-24-2010, 01:20 AM   #47
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You won't be getting pdf reflow (I don't know who came up with the word), People are really asking for pdf conversion. Even the best programs do a crappy job so how is a kobo with a tiny weeny processor going to do any better huh, huh

I ordered a kindle dx graphite on monday and received it friday (in darwin) - now that is a pdf reader (no reflow!). I have about 15 of so pdf reference books, they are huge. Now I have 70 reference books in the kindle. I wished they had invented it at a much earlier stage of my life - my back wouldn't be stuffed. You can go to pages look for words, rotate it make the pdf bigger. It's a real blast
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Old 09-24-2010, 01:40 AM   #48
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The very nature of pdf is somewhere else. People use it for almost
everything nowadays. Reading is not intended to be one of tasks.
Printing is. So, it has to be always the same to fulfill that need. If
one makes document in that format, he/she wants it to be printed.
I assume that it should be done in other format, open if possible,
for text only files. What's wrong with ascii? For diagrams and pic-
tures? FBReader supports chm, which is proprietary unluckily. I'm
sure epub, as html, with css, makes even that readable.
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Old 09-24-2010, 01:47 AM   #49
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Sorry Kobo, but we have now promiscuously opted for a Nook.
PDF's appear much more sensibly (and quickly) on this device. There's no landscape mode but, hey - we agree with Zoran - vat you vant?
The capabilties of the Nook for virtually the same price as the Kobo here in NZ is a no-brainer.
Still we now don't have to share!
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Old 09-24-2010, 01:53 AM   #50
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Originally Posted by 51Bush View Post
PDF's appear much more sensibly (and quickly) on this device. There's no landscape mode but
What are those pdf files? If text only, Calibre could convert it with a
little luck. Depends on the end of line.
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Old 09-24-2010, 02:58 AM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by masona8 View Post
You won't be getting pdf reflow (I don't know who came up with the word), People are really asking for pdf conversion. Even the best programs do a crappy job so how is a kobo with a tiny weeny processor going to do any better huh, huh
Earlier in the thread, SameerH mentions how their team tried to get PDF reflow included for the 1.4 firmware, but couldn't do so in time as the functionality was occasionally buggy. It seems to me then that PDF reflow is a likely possibility for future firmware updates, if not the next itself.

Admittedly however, I've stopped reading PDFs on the Kobo. I've read several PDFs on my 350 which supports PDF reflow, and am very happy with the experience (portrait mode with font resizing, yessss). All of those PDFs I read are just fiction in an inconvenient format however -- my library loves buying vampire and crime fiction in PDF, apparently -- and I agree something like the Kindle DX would be better for those big reference or scanned PDFs.

EDIT: Also @51Bush, does B&N sell the Nook to NZ, or did you have to use a mail forwarding service to get it? Just curious.

Last edited by viviena; 09-24-2010 at 03:02 AM. Reason: A Q
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Old 09-26-2010, 09:30 PM   #52
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Most of my PDF's are of computer books where they supplied a CD with the book that contained program samples and a PDF of the book. I don't think the publisher expected anyone to print the book from the PDF, instead they included it so people could easily search the PDF and maybe copy and paste sample code.

In these instances PDF reflow would be nice to have. I don't need the PDF document to look 100% identical to the printed book, I just would like to read the text without having to scroll left and right as well as up and down. I wouldn't even mind too much if all of the images were stripped out.

I think there's definitely a need for PDF reflow, and people aren't expecting it to be perfect.

Of course if the screen was larger then we wouldn't need reflow, as the PDF viewer works fine. It's just for us that need to zoom in a bit in order to read the text, and that's where the left to right scrolling kicks in because the Kobo is trying to keep the document looking the same.
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Old 10-04-2010, 08:21 PM   #53
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Hi Viviena,
Nope B&N aren't here in Hobbitland - we imported the Nook thru USUnlocked. We found the Kobo to be a little like an entree - briefly great but ultimately you want more..........
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Old 10-04-2010, 09:56 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zoran View Post
The very nature of pdf is somewhere else. People use it for almost
everything nowadays. Reading is not intended to be one of tasks.
Printing is.
This is the issue which I wonder about the most, being something many people get so hung up about. PDF is a format that has been created for documents to be easily portable, able to be read on a computer monitor and to be printed on A4 paper for reading off-computer.

A small handheld reading device is not really the best device to read a PDF file per the reasons above. Because the document size is predominently set to A4/A3 (letter/fulscap) readability becomes a real issue.

Not many dedicated ereaders are really capable of displaying such PDF's without issues of reflow, zooming and panning.

If you use a lot of PDF's then perhaps a tablet device such as the iPad are a better option.
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Old 10-05-2010, 03:21 AM   #55
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Because the document size is predominently set to A4/A3 (letter/fulscap) readability becomes a real issue.
Really? Most books are 6x9 inches or smaller. Which fits nicely on the Kobo in landscape mode (with some of the margin off the page).

What are you reading in A4?
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Old 10-05-2010, 03:40 AM   #56
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Originally Posted by Rothbardian View Post
Really? Most books are 6x9 inches or smaller. Which fits nicely on the Kobo in landscape mode (with some of the margin off the page).

What are you reading in A4?

I am talking about PDF documents here, not ebooks. I convert pure text PDF to ePUB btw.

I deal with PDF documents continuously with my engineering day job and I read them on my desktop PC monitor or my notebook, not my ereader.

Adobe designed the PDF system for PC's and laptops (larger screens) not ereaders.

I understand the desire of ereader owners to want to read PDF text or reference books. However a bigger screened device such as an iPad or KindleDX is far better to display such format documents.

IMHO, ereaders are geared towards reading ebooks, which I do not consider a PDF document to be.
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Old 10-05-2010, 03:55 AM   #57
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.
Adobe designed the PDF system for PC's and laptops (larger screens) not ereaders.
You are correct for A4 and bigger. For books? I see no place for
pdf files, except on PC, which kobo is not.
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Old 10-05-2010, 04:03 AM   #58
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I don't need the PDF document to look 100% identical to the printed book, I just would like to read the text without having to scroll left and right as well as up and down. I wouldn't even mind too much if all of the images were stripped out.
Use Calibre to convert to ePub. This is working out very well for me.
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Old 10-05-2010, 04:16 AM   #59
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Use Calibre to convert to ePub. This is working out very well for me.
Usually. For some pretty important files it fails, since original
file was formatted with end of line and it shows as:

This is the way I see my favorite files
when I do
want them in epub.

End of line is on "I do". It could be changed manually or with
little shell script, but one has to find all instances and avoid
changing what has to be like that. I'm not an expert for pdf,
so I might be wrong.
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Old 10-05-2010, 04:47 AM   #60
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You are correct for A4 and bigger. For books? I see no place for
pdf files, except on PC, which kobo is not.
Precisely what I was saying... PDF documents do not translate well for display on ereaders.
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