PDF's conversion for DXG

rickomuer · 07-02-2011, 06:42 AM

Hi All,

My DXG has arrived & i love the device! I mainly purchased it to read technical documents. And it (nearly) delivers.

I have a ton PDF's . They all more or less display well , the font is a little smaller than i would like. I do not enjoy reading in landscape, I have tried pdf reflow (duokan - smart layout) and it is plain pants. And i do not like the idea of zooming upto a comfortable leve and using keys to navigate.

The developer in me says , one should be able to convert these to a more friendly format. I am thinking of CHM's.

Can you guys please share the wizardry performed to get them up and running.

Cheers!

HarryT · 07-02-2011, 07:00 AM

You can of course have a go at converting to other formats, but the results are likely to be disappointing. PDF is not an eBook format; a PDF file does not contain paragraphs, sentences, and words, but merely "draw this shape at these coordinates" instructions.

If you really must convert your PDFs to another format, using an OCR program is often the best way to do it.

rickomuer · 07-02-2011, 07:19 AM

I agree , it is not an eReader friendly format.

I tried caliber to change pdf's to mobi/epub. The result is not bad to be honest. Apart from a few things like chapter names cropping up and source pages referenced in the flow. And some minor formatting issues.

Where does one go after an OCR output ? Any programs i can try?

I might even consider professional tools if some one can give me a rough idea of what is involved.

Cheers!

HarryT · 07-02-2011, 07:27 AM

Abbey Finereader is one of the best OCR programs around.

rickomuer · 07-02-2011, 08:00 AM

Can you please elaborate ? What does running the pdf via an OCR generate ? Does this go straight onto the kindle or you play around with a few things to maintain the formatting?

Cheers!

HarryT · 07-02-2011, 08:08 AM

An OCR program will generate a file - typically a Word "doc" file - from which you can then create an eBook.

TenaciousBadger · 07-02-2011, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickomuer

Can you please elaborate ? What does running the pdf via an OCR generate ? Does this go straight onto the kindle or you play around with a few things to maintain the formatting?

Cheers!

Yeah, depending on how well formatted the PDF is, which will influence how well Abbyy will convert it, you might need to play around with quite a few things.

HarryT · 07-02-2011, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousBadger

Yeah, depending on how well formatted the PDF is, which will influence how well Abbyy will convert it, you might need to play around with quite a few things.

Very likely some amount of manual editing will be required, but probably less than that required by a conversion from PDF to ePub (or whatever), if the PDF's layout is complex.

Billi · 07-02-2011, 08:21 AM

Rickomuer, have you tried cropping the margins of your pdf files? It normally makes a remarkable difference and saves you a lot of work trying other ways to improve your files.

HarryT · 07-02-2011, 08:24 AM

What tool would you recommend for cropping the margins, Billi?

rickomuer · 07-02-2011, 08:31 AM

HarryT, if you install duokan on your kindle, you can select a part of the pdf which needs to be trimmed. That should be good enough. You can try pdfscissors.

@Billi : Yes , i have tried that. It definitely helps, but i feel it still falls a little short.

Cheers!

Billi · 07-02-2011, 08:36 AM

Harry, I personally would use the professional versions of Adobe Acrobat or Foxit Phantom, but I think BRISS from the first thread in the pdf-subforum should work well, too. Or you follow Rickomuer's suggestions in the post above.

SkyDream · 07-02-2011, 02:14 PM

Have you tried calibre to convert to PDF to mobi or any other format running on kindle / duokan ?

I used calibre to convert PDF to ePub in the past. Results are not the best but easy enough for reading...

07-02-2011, 06:42 AM	#1
rickomuer Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	PDF's conversion for DXG Hi All, My DXG has arrived & i love the device! I mainly purchased it to read technical documents. And it (nearly) delivers. I have a ton PDF's . They all more or less display well , the font is a little smaller than i would like. I do not enjoy reading in landscape, I have tried pdf reflow (duokan - smart layout) and it is plain pants. And i do not like the idea of zooming upto a comfortable leve and using keys to navigate. The developer in me says , one should be able to convert these to a more friendly format. I am thinking of CHM's. Can you guys please share the wizardry performed to get them up and running. Cheers!

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07-02-2011, 07:00 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You can of course have a go at converting to other formats, but the results are likely to be disappointing. PDF is not an eBook format; a PDF file does not contain paragraphs, sentences, and words, but merely "draw this shape at these coordinates" instructions. If you really must convert your PDFs to another format, using an OCR program is often the best way to do it.

07-02-2011, 07:19 AM	#3
rickomuer Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	I agree , it is not an eReader friendly format. I tried caliber to change pdf's to mobi/epub. The result is not bad to be honest. Apart from a few things like chapter names cropping up and source pages referenced in the flow. And some minor formatting issues. Where does one go after an OCR output ? Any programs i can try? I might even consider professional tools if some one can give me a rough idea of what is involved. Cheers!

07-02-2011, 07:27 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Abbey Finereader is one of the best OCR programs around.

07-02-2011, 08:00 AM	#5
rickomuer Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	Can you please elaborate ? What does running the pdf via an OCR generate ? Does this go straight onto the kindle or you play around with a few things to maintain the formatting? Cheers!

07-02-2011, 08:08 AM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	An OCR program will generate a file - typically a Word "doc" file - from which you can then create an eBook.

07-02-2011, 08:21 AM	#9
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Rickomuer, have you tried cropping the margins of your pdf files? It normally makes a remarkable difference and saves you a lot of work trying other ways to improve your files.

07-02-2011, 08:24 AM	#10
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What tool would you recommend for cropping the margins, Billi?

07-02-2011, 08:31 AM	#11
rickomuer Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	HarryT, if you install duokan on your kindle, you can select a part of the pdf which needs to be trimmed. That should be good enough. You can try pdfscissors. @Billi : Yes , i have tried that. It definitely helps, but i feel it still falls a little short. Cheers!

07-02-2011, 08:36 AM	#12
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Harry, I personally would use the professional versions of Adobe Acrobat or Foxit Phantom, but I think BRISS from the first thread in the pdf-subforum should work well, too. Or you follow Rickomuer's suggestions in the post above.

07-02-2011, 02:14 PM	#13
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	Have you tried calibre to convert to PDF to mobi or any other format running on kindle / duokan ? I used calibre to convert PDF to ePub in the past. Results are not the best but easy enough for reading...

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