PDF to Sony PRS-505 issues

codrutoctavian · 09-07-2009, 07:10 PM

1. I have some pdfs which I would really like to read on my Sony PRS-505. These are some books from Apress which contain images and are complex formatted. Zooming on my Sony does not work since the pages contain images, so reflow does not work. I am using a Mac and I am thinking to use the built-in pdf support (Print -> Save as PDF). Is this a viable option? Can I define a custom defined printer in order to format the document more suitable to be read on the device? If so, how?

2. Also, is there any way to edit the metadata in Sony Ebook Library on Mac? Is ther any text file that needs to be edited? Or do I need to edit the pdf for this? If so, does it worth buying PDFpen (the most affordable pdf editor for Mac which I have found, as Adobe Acrobat is pretty expensive for what I want to achieve)?

Thanks,
Codrut

DDHarriman · 09-08-2009, 03:32 PM

Hi

First thing, if you can open your PDF files, try to rotate them in the 505 and see if you can read it in landscape mode (the 505 presents the page in two half’s).

Second thing: normally PDF’s have big white margins, get a tool that lets you crop those margins so the 505 will have not to zoom in so much when presenting the pages, check it in landscape mode (the rotating explained above).
For a tool or ways to do this in a Mac, check the PDF forum.

I have no help for you concerning your second question.

Best regards,

Elfwreck · 09-08-2009, 03:48 PM

Printing existing PDFs to new PDFs won't help; all that does is put the entire current page in (potentially) a new-sized page. It won't shrink the margins, and it certainly won't adjust the text for a new page layout.

If you can find a tool for the Mac that will let you save out as HTML, RTF or Doc, you could then edit the formatting and make a new PDF (or other format of ebook), but that's quite a bit of hassle. (Assume 1/2 hour of formatting for a very simple, well-formatted book with a program you're very comfortable with; 1 hour on average, 2-4 hours for anything involving tables or images with captions.)

No idea about editing metadata on a Mac; I hope someone gets back to you about that.

frabjous · 09-08-2009, 03:59 PM

I would try SoPDF and/or PDFLRF on these PDFs to see if they help at all. (These include cropping the margins and cutting up the pages into appropriately sized chunks.)

EDIT: Oops, just saw that you were on a mac. Try PDFread, perhaps?

pthwaite · 09-08-2009, 05:58 PM

Preview on the Mac can crop either singly or the whole lot. Just save it as a different file. (or open up a blank one and paste the results in.)
Generally it doesn't help much as a lot of pdfs have images or drawings and you will spend ages cutting and pasting, by which time you could have read the book on a computer.

codrutoctavian · 09-09-2009, 05:13 PM

I have tried to convert the PDF to RTF using deskUNPDF, in order to reformat it, but the document is not opened completely in Pages (iWorks '09) and shows lots of garbage characters. I have even installed Microsoft Office 2008 trial for Mac and Word can open the .doc file, but still there are lots of formatting problems.

It seems that for "complex" PDFs the only option is to stick with the PRS-505 built-in PDF reading option. The PDFs are opened correctly, only the font is a little bit too small, even in landscape mode.

The ideal solution for reading PDFs would be probably to buy the expensive IREX digital reader (10.2 inch screen size), but I cannot afford it for the moment... And this is not so ideal, it is not so portable as the Sony PRSs.

acidzebra · 09-10-2009, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codrutoctavian

It seems that for "complex" PDFs the only option is to stick with the PRS-505 built-in PDF reading option. The PDFs are opened correctly, only the font is a little bit too small, even in landscape mode.

I needed to do a lot of studying for my Cisco CCNA, those were pretty complex PDF documents. Conversion sucked.

I found a couple of tools which convert the PDF to (split) images which look okay and made it readable.

- pdflrf - this tool was great but had some licensing issues so was removed from MR. I understand it is still findable on the, shall we say less respectable, p2p networks.

- pdfread (haven't tried this myself)

- sopdf (haven't tried this)

There are probably more tools out there. Play around a little. But ultimately PDFs which were not specifically formatted for a given screen size will disappoint, IMHO (PDFs specially formatted for the 6" screen look freaking spectacular).

09-07-2009, 07:10 PM	#1
codrutoctavian Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bucharest, Romania Device: Kindle 3	PDF to Sony PRS-505 issues 1. I have some pdfs which I would really like to read on my Sony PRS-505. These are some books from Apress which contain images and are complex formatted. Zooming on my Sony does not work since the pages contain images, so reflow does not work. I am using a Mac and I am thinking to use the built-in pdf support (Print -> Save as PDF). Is this a viable option? Can I define a custom defined printer in order to format the document more suitable to be read on the device? If so, how? 2. Also, is there any way to edit the metadata in Sony Ebook Library on Mac? Is ther any text file that needs to be edited? Or do I need to edit the pdf for this? If so, does it worth buying PDFpen (the most affordable pdf editor for Mac which I have found, as Adobe Acrobat is pretty expensive for what I want to achieve)? Thanks, Codrut

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09-08-2009, 03:32 PM	#2
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Hi First thing, if you can open your PDF files, try to rotate them in the 505 and see if you can read it in landscape mode (the 505 presents the page in two half’s). Second thing: normally PDF’s have big white margins, get a tool that lets you crop those margins so the 505 will have not to zoom in so much when presenting the pages, check it in landscape mode (the rotating explained above). For a tool or ways to do this in a Mac, check the PDF forum. I have no help for you concerning your second question. Best regards,

09-08-2009, 03:48 PM	#3
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,185 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	Printing existing PDFs to new PDFs won't help; all that does is put the entire current page in (potentially) a new-sized page. It won't shrink the margins, and it certainly won't adjust the text for a new page layout. If you can find a tool for the Mac that will let you save out as HTML, RTF or Doc, you could then edit the formatting and make a new PDF (or other format of ebook), but that's quite a bit of hassle. (Assume 1/2 hour of formatting for a very simple, well-formatted book with a program you're very comfortable with; 1 hour on average, 2-4 hours for anything involving tables or images with captions.) No idea about editing metadata on a Mac; I hope someone gets back to you about that.

09-08-2009, 03:59 PM	#4
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	I would try SoPDF and/or PDFLRF on these PDFs to see if they help at all. (These include cropping the margins and cutting up the pages into appropriately sized chunks.) EDIT: Oops, just saw that you were on a mac. Try PDFread, perhaps?

09-08-2009, 05:58 PM	#5
pthwaite Fanatic Posts: 597 Karma: 430 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ellesmere Port, UK Device: DR1000S Sony PRS505 iPad iPhone	Preview on the Mac can crop either singly or the whole lot. Just save it as a different file. (or open up a blank one and paste the results in.) Generally it doesn't help much as a lot of pdfs have images or drawings and you will spend ages cutting and pasting, by which time you could have read the book on a computer.

09-09-2009, 05:13 PM	#6
codrutoctavian Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bucharest, Romania Device: Kindle 3	I have tried to convert the PDF to RTF using deskUNPDF, in order to reformat it, but the document is not opened completely in Pages (iWorks '09) and shows lots of garbage characters. I have even installed Microsoft Office 2008 trial for Mac and Word can open the .doc file, but still there are lots of formatting problems. It seems that for "complex" PDFs the only option is to stick with the PRS-505 built-in PDF reading option. The PDFs are opened correctly, only the font is a little bit too small, even in landscape mode. The ideal solution for reading PDFs would be probably to buy the expensive IREX digital reader (10.2 inch screen size), but I cannot afford it for the moment... And this is not so ideal, it is not so portable as the Sony PRSs.

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