Conversion from PDF

[FranzG]

Hi,
I have a collection of huge pdfs that I would like to be able to read on my PRS505. The book is this one:
http://www.archive.org/download/camb...05actouoft.pdf

It's a huge book, with a broken OCR (if you just copy/paste the words, the result is full of errors). Is there a way to convert it and make it readable?

On the other side, I've a little collection of Osprey books that I have scanned (I'm an history professor and use to read them on my laptop). Is there a way to keep their images and look for the 505?
Thank you

[slm]

I had trouble converting large pdfs with Kindle.

There are probably lots of tools that work but the one that seems to do best for me is Mobipocket Reader for the PC. This will convert PDFs to Mobipocket files (of course). From there the Kindle conversion tools will probably do a pretty good job.

You may have some trouble finding out where Mobipocket reader puts its converted files--you need to look at the advanced settings to see what directory it is using.

[ddavtian]

Originally Posted by slm

There are probably lots of tools that work but the one that seems to do best for me is Mobipocket Reader for the PC. This will convert PDFs to Mobipocket files (of course).

I also recommend Mobipocket Creator for extracting from pdf. Before creating a Mobipocket file, it saves the output in html file, you can use it to convert to any other format.

[FranzG]

Thank you, but i need a more "extended" work to read the Osprey.
In short, I have to "cut" every page in 2 half (up and down), then turn'em of 90° to read them on the 505... otherwise the font it's too small, and I cannot zoom. Cna I do that with calibre?

[DDHarriman]

Hi

You are right; your example book is quite huge!

I have taken the liberty to extract the first 50 pages and uploaded them here.
See if it’s what you are looking for.

[FranzG]

Thanks DDHarriman, that's great! How do you made it?

[DDHarriman]

Ha… ha...

The book you refer to is a PDF with two layers, image on top and text under.
The text is resulting from a OCR without proof reading.

This type of result is very normal in the business (archiving) environment (workflow systems).

A two layer PDF will not be readable (besides trying to turn it into landscape) in the Sony.

To get the results you see here, you have to use a good OCR program: in the market, there are Omnipage Pro 16 and Finereader Pro 9.
From these two, just Finereader Pro 9 gives a PDF output that gives reflowing in the 505.
That’s the one I used in your example.

Best regards,

[roger64]

Hi, DD Harriman

I have many two-column PDF books. I tried using papercrop software. The end result is a very readable, image-quality file. BUT it's huge. If the original pdf file is about one meg, the output papercrop file will be 18 megs.

But you gave me one idea. I could use OCR to transcribe these images to text again. Could you confirm me this is possible without any scanner, only with the OCR software or I misunderstood something ?

Thanks for your help.