PDF to doc/odt preserving table of contents

Tonttu · 05-06-2012, 05:22 AM

Is there a converter that is able to take a TOC in a PDF file and bring it to a doc/odt? I tried a crapload of converters and none did this automatically.

DSpider · 05-06-2012, 07:36 AM

I would probably set a style for each chapter title and generate a TOC based on that style. Word 2010 can do this, and I'm pretty sure that LibreOffice can, as well.

Oh, and Sigil too, if you intend to go for ePub (or ePub then converted to Mobi).

Tonttu · 05-06-2012, 01:56 PM

Sure, I'll do that manually, if I have to (and when no TOC data exists in a PDF), but I'm interested in an automatic solution

DSpider · 05-07-2012, 06:39 AM

Good luck finding one. PDF converts badly enough as it is. It's been discussed many, MANY times on these forums why PDF is a *bad* format to convert from. It should always be a final destination. Especially if it wasn't saved as a tagged PDF.

It takes about 10 minutes to scroll through a 300 page book and press a button to set a style. If you have more books, try to set aside 10 minutes a day (you're probably not reading them back-to-back anyway). Listen to some music or something while you go through it.

Tonttu · 05-12-2012, 06:10 AM

Heh, I found one soft, which does PDF to ePub and manages to preserve the ToC/bookmarks, but unfortunately it also managed to mangle the lines of the book and order of chapters..

edit: not so fast, Tonttu: I tried without the option "Paragraph check" and that prevented it from mangling shit up. Of course the lines look silly in a wide resolution, BUT it's perfectly fine for my small-ass Kindle Touch! Brilliant!
Well the mangled chapters are still a problem, but I have to take a look at Sigil for a possible easy fix..
edit2: ok it was a case of unzipping the epub and looking at the structure: chapter one had been split and the end part had been put under a non-referenced bookmark. Also content.opf had the first itemref as linear="no" and one idref was missing .html extension. After fixing those, everything is fine.

05-06-2012, 05:22 AM	#1
Tonttu Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: Kindle touch	PDF to doc/odt preserving table of contents Is there a converter that is able to take a TOC in a PDF file and bring it to a doc/odt? I tried a crapload of converters and none did this automatically.

05-12-2012, 06:10 AM	#5
Tonttu Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: Kindle touch	Heh, I found one soft, which does PDF to ePub and manages to preserve the ToC/bookmarks, but unfortunately it also managed to mangle the lines of the book and order of chapters.. edit: not so fast, Tonttu: I tried without the option "Paragraph check" and that prevented it from mangling shit up. Of course the lines look silly in a wide resolution, BUT it's perfectly fine for my small-ass Kindle Touch! Brilliant! Well the mangled chapters are still a problem, but I have to take a look at Sigil for a possible easy fix.. edit2: ok it was a case of unzipping the epub and looking at the structure: chapter one had been split and the end part had been put under a non-referenced bookmark. Also content.opf had the first itemref as linear="no" and one idref was missing .html extension. After fixing those, everything is fine. Last edited by Tonttu; 05-12-2012 at 07:06 AM.

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05-06-2012, 07:36 AM	#2
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	I would probably set a style for each chapter title and generate a TOC based on that style. Word 2010 can do this, and I'm pretty sure that LibreOffice can, as well. Oh, and Sigil too, if you intend to go for ePub (or ePub then converted to Mobi).

05-06-2012, 01:56 PM	#3
Tonttu Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: Kindle touch	Sure, I'll do that manually, if I have to (and when no TOC data exists in a PDF), but I'm interested in an automatic solution

05-07-2012, 06:39 AM	#4
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	Good luck finding one. PDF converts badly enough as it is. It's been discussed many, MANY times on these forums why PDF is a bad format to convert from. It should always be a final destination. Especially if it wasn't saved as a tagged PDF. It takes about 10 minutes to scroll through a 300 page book and press a button to set a style. If you have more books, try to set aside 10 minutes a day (you're probably not reading them back-to-back anyway). Listen to some music or something while you go through it.