How to get best result with SonyReader

MosFet · 06-17-2007, 05:28 AM

Hi,

I have a SonyReader since few days and I am new in this world.

I got the RasterFarian (thanks to Alex_d for the good job) in order to use Pdf on my reader, an potentially read thousand of books.
So with this single step I belive I opened a big door and I belive I can get a lot of satisfactions from the reader.

Do you think I need other tools, in order to use the reader at best of its potentially?

Bye Byte.

HarryT · 06-17-2007, 05:48 AM

PDF is not a good format for eBooks; that's not what it was intended for, and not what it's good at (although I know Hadrien would disagree

).

Best format for the Sony Reader is its native format of "LRF". It is efficiently compressed, resizable (which PDF isn't), and supports all the features of the Reader such as a table of contents, pictures, and hyperlinks within a document.

There are a number of excellent free tools available for converting other formats to LRF; the most popular are probably "Book Designer" (a GUI tool which will convert most other formats to LRF), and "html2lrf", a largely command-line tool for converting HTML to LRF; there are a number of other tools available too.

You'll find a tutorial on using Book Designer here, and information about using all the other tools in the Reader Contents sub-forum.

Have fun!

MosFet · 06-17-2007, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

PDF is not a good format for eBooks; that's not what it was intended for, and not what it's good at (although I know Hadrien would disagree

).
...
You'll find a tutorial on using Book Designer here, and information about using all the other tools in the Reader Contents sub-forum.

Have fun!

Hi Harry,
thanks for your reply and for your guide.

I see that other format than pdf can be converted in an efficiently lrf format.
I see that RasterFarian also produce an lrf output (probably it is not resizable, in the sense that a zoom in ther reader will crop the rest of the page).
But, always regarding Pdf, do you think that RasterFarian is the best tool for the reader?

Do you think it is better to find a tool to convert Pdf to another format, and then reconvert with BD to Lrf ?

I have also another question for this thread:
"Are you satisfied to use reader with a normally light conditions, or do you suggest to use a lamp on the reader?"

Bye!

HarryT · 06-17-2007, 07:05 AM

Other people are far better qualified to talk about PDF on the Reader than myself - it's a format I try to avoid. I'll leave the PDF experts to discuss the pros and cons of the different tools available for PDF.

As far as light goes - the Reader is fine in normal daylight. In dim light, using a light makes it a lot better. Personally I prefer to use a reading lamp rather than a light on the Reader itself.

dhbailey · 06-17-2007, 07:25 AM

In my experience, which is admittedly not deep, I find RasterRarian to be an excellent tool for converting PDF files, when something I can't find anywhere else in any other form is only available in PDF format.

Another terrific tool is Web2Book which can convert many (but not all) web pages into .lrf format.

Another terrific resource for getting books onto the reader is the vast library at Project Gutenberg. You can download for free any books out of their 20,000 already scanned and converted to .txt files or available with illustrations as html files (web2book works wonderfully with these illustrated html files!). The only problem with the PG books is that each line ends with a hard-return, with an extra hard-return to separate paragraphs. For people who have Word on their computers, they can run the macro which is discussed in the wiki on conversions in this forum. But for people who don't have Word, or who don't want to convert from within Word for any reason, there is a wonderful utility found at the librie group at groups.yahoo.com -- it's the librie_text_assistant and is found in the Files section in the Content Generation folder. It will very quickly and easily remove the extra hard-returns from each line, leaving the double hard-returns for paragraph separation. On older PG files, with the lengthy legalese at the start of each file, it also offers to strip out the PG legalese.

There are lots of ways to get terrific content onto the Reader without paying a penny! And we haven't even begun to point out the wonderful work being done by members of this forum, converting books into .lrf files with tables of contents and lots of great features!

As for lighting the reader, I've found that I can ready it very well in any situation where I would normally be able to read a paperback. That means that it needs a booklight some of the time. There are threads in the Accessories subforum on which book lights are best, but I've found the Z-light to be very good and it packs up quite flat and conveniently when not in use.

But I am intrigued by the new Mighty-Bright lights with the double-antennae LEDs. I may buy one of those this week and see which I prefer.

And don't hesitate to ask lots of questions -- this is a terrific bunch of people on this forum!

RWood · 06-17-2007, 08:05 AM

Like Harry, I use a reading lamp indoors. I read a lot on airplanes and the overhead light is fine for that. I tried a clip-on and it unbalanced the Reader and made uncomfortable to hold and read.

You may also want to check out libprs500 and its html2lrf conversion program.

06-17-2007, 05:28 AM	#1
MosFet Member Posts: 21 Karma: 81 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: Sony Reader	How to get best result with SonyReader Hi, I have a SonyReader since few days and I am new in this world. I got the RasterFarian (thanks to Alex_d for the good job) in order to use Pdf on my reader, an potentially read thousand of books. So with this single step I belive I opened a big door and I belive I can get a lot of satisfactions from the reader. Do you think I need other tools, in order to use the reader at best of its potentially? Bye Byte.

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06-17-2007, 05:48 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	PDF is not a good format for eBooks; that's not what it was intended for, and not what it's good at (although I know Hadrien would disagree ). Best format for the Sony Reader is its native format of "LRF". It is efficiently compressed, resizable (which PDF isn't), and supports all the features of the Reader such as a table of contents, pictures, and hyperlinks within a document. There are a number of excellent free tools available for converting other formats to LRF; the most popular are probably "Book Designer" (a GUI tool which will convert most other formats to LRF), and "html2lrf", a largely command-line tool for converting HTML to LRF; there are a number of other tools available too. You'll find a tutorial on using Book Designer here, and information about using all the other tools in the Reader Contents sub-forum. Have fun!

06-17-2007, 07:05 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	Other people are far better qualified to talk about PDF on the Reader than myself - it's a format I try to avoid. I'll leave the PDF experts to discuss the pros and cons of the different tools available for PDF. As far as light goes - the Reader is fine in normal daylight. In dim light, using a light makes it a lot better. Personally I prefer to use a reading lamp rather than a light on the Reader itself.

06-17-2007, 07:25 AM	#5
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	In my experience, which is admittedly not deep, I find RasterRarian to be an excellent tool for converting PDF files, when something I can't find anywhere else in any other form is only available in PDF format. Another terrific tool is Web2Book which can convert many (but not all) web pages into .lrf format. Another terrific resource for getting books onto the reader is the vast library at Project Gutenberg. You can download for free any books out of their 20,000 already scanned and converted to .txt files or available with illustrations as html files (web2book works wonderfully with these illustrated html files!). The only problem with the PG books is that each line ends with a hard-return, with an extra hard-return to separate paragraphs. For people who have Word on their computers, they can run the macro which is discussed in the wiki on conversions in this forum. But for people who don't have Word, or who don't want to convert from within Word for any reason, there is a wonderful utility found at the librie group at groups.yahoo.com -- it's the librie_text_assistant and is found in the Files section in the Content Generation folder. It will very quickly and easily remove the extra hard-returns from each line, leaving the double hard-returns for paragraph separation. On older PG files, with the lengthy legalese at the start of each file, it also offers to strip out the PG legalese. There are lots of ways to get terrific content onto the Reader without paying a penny! And we haven't even begun to point out the wonderful work being done by members of this forum, converting books into .lrf files with tables of contents and lots of great features! As for lighting the reader, I've found that I can ready it very well in any situation where I would normally be able to read a paperback. That means that it needs a booklight some of the time. There are threads in the Accessories subforum on which book lights are best, but I've found the Z-light to be very good and it packs up quite flat and conveniently when not in use. But I am intrigued by the new Mighty-Bright lights with the double-antennae LEDs. I may buy one of those this week and see which I prefer. And don't hesitate to ask lots of questions -- this is a terrific bunch of people on this forum!

06-17-2007, 08:05 AM	#6
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Like Harry, I use a reading lamp indoors. I read a lot on airplanes and the overhead light is fine for that. I tried a clip-on and it unbalanced the Reader and made uncomfortable to hold and read. You may also want to check out libprs500 and its html2lrf conversion program.

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