My textbook is a PDF, help please

s1mp13m4n · 01-11-2011, 06:27 PM

Hello everyone. I am taking an accounting class at my local college. I am waiting for my digital copy of the book through my disabilities dept. I have a printed copy of the book which I can not read due to my eyesite, so I can get a digital copy which is always a pdf file. I can read that file on my computer and use it to do homework and such. What I want to try and do is read that file on my Kindle. I think it would be easier to read my textbook while being comfy. Can this be done? If I convert the file, which is the best format to use for this? I am not so much interested in all this pictures, charts, and graphs. I just want the text for casual reading and then use the computer for my detailed reading and homework. How do I go about this? Can this even be done?

moyogi2 · 01-11-2011, 07:10 PM

I know 2 ways - first, email the file as an attachment to your kindle email address (your user name)@kindle.com with convert in the subject line.

A second way is to download calibre (lots of info in these forums) and convert the PDF to a mobi file, then upload to your Kindle using the USB cable.

Both of these may have translation issues - graphics don't always work well. I was able to figure calibre out pretty fast.

=X= · 01-11-2011, 08:10 PM

The easiest step is to email yourself the PDF. If you want it converted to the Kindle format (so you can increase the font). Type "Convert" in the subject of the email. If you ommit the "Convert" you will just email the PDF as is to your device.

Also the K3 negatively reads and annotates on the PDF so you will not have to convert the PDF.

=X=

s1mp13m4n · 01-11-2011, 08:53 PM

I know this sounds a bit dumb, but what is my Kindle username....how do I find this out so I can send that file to the Kindle?

DMSmillie · 01-11-2011, 08:56 PM

If you log into Amazon and then go to your account, you'll find a link to "Manage my Kindle" (link is also provided near the top of the page in the Kindle Store). Your Kindle's email address is listed on that page. That's also where you can, if necessary, add "trusted" email addresses from which you can email documents to your kindle - by default, that list will start out containing just the email address you have registed with Amazon, but if you want to be able to use other email addresses to send documents to your Kindle, you can add them on this page.

s1mp13m4n · 01-11-2011, 09:07 PM

Thank you, I got it to work now.

This is a great place. I sent a sample pdf file to see how it works and it worked fine.

DMSmillie · 01-11-2011, 09:20 PM

Excellent!

Something to be aware of (if you already are, then my apologies for stating the obvious

) - if you have or are given a PDF that is simply images of book pages, rather than containing actual text, you may have difficulties viewing it on your Kindle, since the text size settings (and text-to-speech) won't work. You'd have to get it OCR'd (and ideally proofread to eliminate OCR errors) so that you can import the actual text content, rather than simply importing a collection of images of text. Hopefully, though, the disability dept that provides you with the PDF versions of textbooks would be aware of these issues and provide PDFs containing reflowable text.

s1mp13m4n · 01-11-2011, 09:28 PM

The text books come from the book publisher. I have to sign a paper saying that I will not sell, give out, etc the file. The .pdf comes into the tech dept for the school which they then place on a CD and then give to me. I got this info from my counselor two days ago. It is a simple PDF file that has not DRM on it and only takes a pdf viewer to read. I know you can copy and paste from these files and print them. Does any of that help?

DMSmillie · 01-11-2011, 09:32 PM

If you can copy text from these PDFs to paste into something else, then it sounds like they contain actual text, not just images of text, so you should be fine.

curstpriest · 01-12-2011, 01:27 AM

Using acrobat reader you can try to export the document as a txt/rtf file, and use that on kindle or put it through calibre. If you have acrobat pro try exporting it as HTML.

You can try mobipocket creator to convert PDF to .prc (mobi) for kindle as well, it's free, sometimes works, sometimes does not.

If you can copy/paste the text it should work, but formatting may be strange. You'll have to test these programs to see.

01-11-2011, 06:27 PM	#1
s1mp13m4n Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 1278 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Kindle Oasis	My textbook is a PDF, help please Hello everyone. I am taking an accounting class at my local college. I am waiting for my digital copy of the book through my disabilities dept. I have a printed copy of the book which I can not read due to my eyesite, so I can get a digital copy which is always a pdf file. I can read that file on my computer and use it to do homework and such. What I want to try and do is read that file on my Kindle. I think it would be easier to read my textbook while being comfy. Can this be done? If I convert the file, which is the best format to use for this? I am not so much interested in all this pictures, charts, and graphs. I just want the text for casual reading and then use the computer for my detailed reading and homework. How do I go about this? Can this even be done?

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01-11-2011, 07:10 PM	#2
moyogi2 ereader apprentice guru Posts: 44 Karma: 300000 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: the Great Midwest Device: Kindle 3, Sony PRS-T1, Sony 300 (so far)	I know 2 ways - first, email the file as an attachment to your kindle email address (your user name)@kindle.com with convert in the subject line. A second way is to download calibre (lots of info in these forums) and convert the PDF to a mobi file, then upload to your Kindle using the USB cable. Both of these may have translation issues - graphics don't always work well. I was able to figure calibre out pretty fast.

01-11-2011, 08:10 PM	#3
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	The easiest step is to email yourself the PDF. If you want it converted to the Kindle format (so you can increase the font). Type "Convert" in the subject of the email. If you ommit the "Convert" you will just email the PDF as is to your device. Also the K3 negatively reads and annotates on the PDF so you will not have to convert the PDF. =X=

01-11-2011, 08:53 PM	#4
s1mp13m4n Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 1278 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Kindle Oasis	I know this sounds a bit dumb, but what is my Kindle username....how do I find this out so I can send that file to the Kindle?

01-11-2011, 08:56 PM	#5
DMSmillie Enquiring Mind Posts: 562 Karma: 42350 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3 (WiFi)	If you log into Amazon and then go to your account, you'll find a link to "Manage my Kindle" (link is also provided near the top of the page in the Kindle Store). Your Kindle's email address is listed on that page. That's also where you can, if necessary, add "trusted" email addresses from which you can email documents to your kindle - by default, that list will start out containing just the email address you have registed with Amazon, but if you want to be able to use other email addresses to send documents to your Kindle, you can add them on this page.

01-11-2011, 09:07 PM	#6
s1mp13m4n Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 1278 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Kindle Oasis	Thank you, I got it to work now. This is a great place. I sent a sample pdf file to see how it works and it worked fine.

01-11-2011, 09:20 PM	#7
DMSmillie Enquiring Mind Posts: 562 Karma: 42350 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3 (WiFi)	Excellent! Something to be aware of (if you already are, then my apologies for stating the obvious ) - if you have or are given a PDF that is simply images of book pages, rather than containing actual text, you may have difficulties viewing it on your Kindle, since the text size settings (and text-to-speech) won't work. You'd have to get it OCR'd (and ideally proofread to eliminate OCR errors) so that you can import the actual text content, rather than simply importing a collection of images of text. Hopefully, though, the disability dept that provides you with the PDF versions of textbooks would be aware of these issues and provide PDFs containing reflowable text.

01-11-2011, 09:28 PM	#8
s1mp13m4n Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 1278 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Kindle Oasis	The text books come from the book publisher. I have to sign a paper saying that I will not sell, give out, etc the file. The .pdf comes into the tech dept for the school which they then place on a CD and then give to me. I got this info from my counselor two days ago. It is a simple PDF file that has not DRM on it and only takes a pdf viewer to read. I know you can copy and paste from these files and print them. Does any of that help?

01-11-2011, 09:32 PM	#9
DMSmillie Enquiring Mind Posts: 562 Karma: 42350 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3 (WiFi)	If you can copy text from these PDFs to paste into something else, then it sounds like they contain actual text, not just images of text, so you should be fine.

01-12-2011, 01:27 AM	#10
curstpriest Confused Posts: 402 Karma: 5538 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Bay Area Device: Kindle DXG	Using acrobat reader you can try to export the document as a txt/rtf file, and use that on kindle or put it through calibre. If you have acrobat pro try exporting it as HTML. You can try mobipocket creator to convert PDF to .prc (mobi) for kindle as well, it's free, sometimes works, sometimes does not. If you can copy/paste the text it should work, but formatting may be strange. You'll have to test these programs to see.

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