02-11-2009, 02:18 PM | #1 |
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PDF question
From what I've read about pdfs and the kindle, you can convert the pdfs to kindle format, but the conversion doesn't always go so well.
My question is, can you look at pdfs on the kindle without converting them? And if so, can you zoom it, so as to be able to read the print? |
02-11-2009, 02:38 PM | #2 |
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As you said the Kindle doesn't display the PDFs in their native format. You (or Amazon) can convert them into the .AZW format but that format (on the Kindle) doesn't support any zooming of 'images' -- you can set the font size for text. However, Amazon does have another supported file format called Topaz that does provide for zoomable images, but the general public doesn't have access to the software to create Topaz files. Also the Kindle 2 is supposed to support zoomable images up to the size of the screen.
With all of that said, the size of the Kindle screen is simply too small to provide for a decent image of a PDF document. My advice is use the Kindle for reading regular books and wait for a better reader for PDF documents (or get an iRex). |
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02-11-2009, 03:16 PM | #3 |
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02-11-2009, 03:17 PM | #4 | |
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If the PDF is reflowed, then the standard 6 Kindle fonts sizes are available. Otherwise you are stuck with the images. |
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02-11-2009, 03:20 PM | #5 | |
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02-14-2009, 09:32 AM | #6 | |
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02-14-2009, 02:01 PM | #7 |
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Unfortunately this is one of the few places the Kindle falls flat. I'm curious to see if it will be any better with the K2
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02-15-2009, 04:16 PM | #8 |
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If you have a pdf with lots of pictures and diagrams, I don't think you would be happy with any 6" screen reader. You really want something that is a better size to view your PDFs with. Something with a much larger screen like the iRex Digital Reader or Plastic Logic reader (not yet available).
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02-15-2009, 06:00 PM | #9 |
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As has been mentioned, this is a bit of a weak point of the Kindle. I have a feeling that this will be remedied at some point; it only makes sense.
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02-15-2009, 06:46 PM | #10 |
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I'm not sure why a 6" screen would be so bad for .pdf -- currently I view lots of .pdf files on my Palm Tungsten T5 (420 x 380) in their native format using PalmPDF. It's not perfect, but it's usable and legible. A six-inch screen would be a huge improvement!
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02-15-2009, 07:41 PM | #11 | |
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The Sony Reader has native PDF support and can now reflow text on PDFs but I don't know how it compares to the converted Kindle documents. It seems to me that whether you're reflowing natively or converting into another format, you're always going to have trouble with headers and notes on the top and bottom of each page getting caught in between the main text. |
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02-18-2009, 01:57 AM | #12 | |
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Thank you! |
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02-18-2009, 09:54 AM | #13 |
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If you are running Windows and want to see what a PDF looks like on the Kindle, load it into the Mobipocket Desktop software. In my experience, the results are exactly the same as having Amazon do the conversion.
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02-19-2009, 12:53 AM | #14 |
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Thank you. Are you referring to the Mobipocket Publisher?
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Downloa...sp?Language=EN |
02-19-2009, 01:28 AM | #15 | |
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The Publisher can do more things and is useful software if you'll be doing a lot of conversion work, though. |
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