.pdf text size

jimndeb · 11-27-2009, 11:49 AM

Can someone help me understand how pdf works on the new kindle firmware?
I assumed that since I could previously convert pdf files to the .azw or .prc or .mbp that they must be text based.

I was excited to try out native pdf files on my new 2.3 us Kindle. Most however, have text that is too small to read.

I've not been able to increase the text size (without rotating the screen) and am unable to zoom in on the page (which would require scrolling).

Am I missing something or are all .pdf files going to be static "images" on the kindle screen?

Thanks.

wallcraft · 11-27-2009, 12:23 PM

PDF is a format for controlling exactly how text is displayed on the page. Usually the "page" is from a printed book or an A4/letter page sized document. If you try viewing a PDF on a PC, what you see is the actual page and a "zoom" just magnifies the page (perhaps only showing part of the page on the screen). EInk does not zoom and pan very efficiently, because of the time it takes to refresh the screen. What the Kindle does is show the full page either in portrait or landscape mode. In the latter case the margins are removed to give a bit more magnification, but there are only the two views of each page available. This works reasonably well on the Kindle DX but is not as good on the Kindle 2.

The alternative is to extract the text (and images) from the page and try to "reflow" them, i.e. change the font size and also change how the text appears on the page. Most other 6" EInk Readers (e.g. the Sony Readers, and several others all using mobile Adobe Digital Editions) include reflow options in addition to the full page options available on the Kindles. Reflow does not always work, but it can make some PDFs usable on a 6" screen.

Amazon is using mobile Adobe Digital Editions to display PDFs, but they have not implemented its reflow mode for native PDFs. What they have instead is the email-based PDF to MOBI (AZW) conversion that was the original way the Kindle 2 implemented PDF viewing. This is reflowing the PDF, but using a server rather than the Kindle to do the processing. The advantage of this method is that in principle a better reflow can be done off-line, but the disadvantage is that you don't get to see the original PDF pages. Note that there are other off-line reflow options: Calibre can convert PDF to MOBI for example.

PDFs formatted for a small page (or for large print on a standard page) will work well using the native PDF option on a Kindle 2. Otherwise, the PDF to MOBI method may be a better option.

Revolutionarybum · 11-28-2009, 04:18 AM

Thanks I was going to ask the same thing. All the books on my Kindle are from PDF converts using Stanza or Calibre (witch is GREAT) So I've just re-converted them and things are fine :-D Wonderful job your all doing here BTW !!! It's helped allot ! Thanks again...

HarryT · 11-28-2009, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revolutionarybum

Thanks I was going to ask the same thing. All the books on my Kindle are from PDF converts using Stanza or Calibre (witch is GREAT) So I've just re-converted them and things are fine :-D Wonderful job your all doing here BTW !!! It's helped allot ! Thanks again...

Wonderful though Calibre is, it does a rather poor job when it comes to PDF conversion. Mobipocket Reader generally produces significantly better results.

11-27-2009, 11:49 AM	#1
jimndeb Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle	.pdf text size Can someone help me understand how pdf works on the new kindle firmware? I assumed that since I could previously convert pdf files to the .azw or .prc or .mbp that they must be text based. I was excited to try out native pdf files on my new 2.3 us Kindle. Most however, have text that is too small to read. I've not been able to increase the text size (without rotating the screen) and am unable to zoom in on the page (which would require scrolling). Am I missing something or are all .pdf files going to be static "images" on the kindle screen? Thanks.

11-27-2009, 12:23 PM	#2
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	PDF is a format for controlling exactly how text is displayed on the page. Usually the "page" is from a printed book or an A4/letter page sized document. If you try viewing a PDF on a PC, what you see is the actual page and a "zoom" just magnifies the page (perhaps only showing part of the page on the screen). EInk does not zoom and pan very efficiently, because of the time it takes to refresh the screen. What the Kindle does is show the full page either in portrait or landscape mode. In the latter case the margins are removed to give a bit more magnification, but there are only the two views of each page available. This works reasonably well on the Kindle DX but is not as good on the Kindle 2. The alternative is to extract the text (and images) from the page and try to "reflow" them, i.e. change the font size and also change how the text appears on the page. Most other 6" EInk Readers (e.g. the Sony Readers, and several others all using mobile Adobe Digital Editions) include reflow options in addition to the full page options available on the Kindles. Reflow does not always work, but it can make some PDFs usable on a 6" screen. Amazon is using mobile Adobe Digital Editions to display PDFs, but they have not implemented its reflow mode for native PDFs. What they have instead is the email-based PDF to MOBI (AZW) conversion that was the original way the Kindle 2 implemented PDF viewing. This is reflowing the PDF, but using a server rather than the Kindle to do the processing. The advantage of this method is that in principle a better reflow can be done off-line, but the disadvantage is that you don't get to see the original PDF pages. Note that there are other off-line reflow options: Calibre can convert PDF to MOBI for example. PDFs formatted for a small page (or for large print on a standard page) will work well using the native PDF option on a Kindle 2. Otherwise, the PDF to MOBI method may be a better option. Last edited by wallcraft; 11-27-2009 at 12:26 PM.

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11-28-2009, 04:18 AM	#3
Revolutionarybum Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle	Thanks I was going to ask the same thing. All the books on my Kindle are from PDF converts using Stanza or Calibre (witch is GREAT) So I've just re-converted them and things are fine :-D Wonderful job your all doing here BTW !!! It's helped allot ! Thanks again...

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