new to kindle need help with my pdfs

huxter · 02-16-2011, 07:50 PM

so i just got my kindle 3 i tried uploading my pdfs that came with my medical text books (Harrison).

my kindle loads it fine sometimes but then sometimes it just freezes up and i have to turn it off and sometimes it wont turn back on after a while.

my questions are

do i need to convert my files to another form of pdf?
is there a way to make it search able?

tomsem · 02-16-2011, 09:56 PM

Kindle 3's suitability for PDF viewing depends greatly on the PDFs in question. I haven't had many problems with the ones I read in terms of freezing up, etc., but I'm just one data point. I have some PDFs that are perhaps 30Mb and I am able to load them, but some PDFs have high resolution images or complex layout that can cause performance issues.

Conversion works ok with some PDFs and not others. Again, it depends on the PDF.

When a PDF is open, you can do a text search, but Kindle doesn't index them for search from the home screen. If text search doesn't work, it is because the PDF wasn't properly prepared. For example, it may just be a scanned image, without having had OCR to generate searchable text. I've also come across some that were created by something in a way that made the text unsearchable (e.g. what looks like a word is structurally composed of separate, unassociated letters).

Finally the small screen may be an issue. You can sometimes eke out a little more usability by cropping headers and page numbers off, but in the end, you really need a larger screen for a better experience.

Barneyabz · 02-17-2011, 03:39 AM

Don't like reading PDFs on the Kindle, it really doesn't render them well since you can't simply increase text size just as a zoom function (Sony is better for PDFs)

What I do is use mobipocketcreator to convert PDF books and it does a great job (I use Calibre for almost everything but for converting PDF books mobipocket is better)

Cheers

Barney

02-16-2011, 07:50 PM	#1
huxter Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3	new to kindle need help with my pdfs so i just got my kindle 3 i tried uploading my pdfs that came with my medical text books (Harrison). my kindle loads it fine sometimes but then sometimes it just freezes up and i have to turn it off and sometimes it wont turn back on after a while. my questions are do i need to convert my files to another form of pdf? is there a way to make it search able?

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02-16-2011, 09:56 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Kindle 3's suitability for PDF viewing depends greatly on the PDFs in question. I haven't had many problems with the ones I read in terms of freezing up, etc., but I'm just one data point. I have some PDFs that are perhaps 30Mb and I am able to load them, but some PDFs have high resolution images or complex layout that can cause performance issues. Conversion works ok with some PDFs and not others. Again, it depends on the PDF. When a PDF is open, you can do a text search, but Kindle doesn't index them for search from the home screen. If text search doesn't work, it is because the PDF wasn't properly prepared. For example, it may just be a scanned image, without having had OCR to generate searchable text. I've also come across some that were created by something in a way that made the text unsearchable (e.g. what looks like a word is structurally composed of separate, unassociated letters). Finally the small screen may be an issue. You can sometimes eke out a little more usability by cropping headers and page numbers off, but in the end, you really need a larger screen for a better experience.

02-17-2011, 03:39 AM	#3
Barneyabz Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 17602 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Glo and Kindle 3	Don't like reading PDFs on the Kindle, it really doesn't render them well since you can't simply increase text size just as a zoom function (Sony is better for PDFs) What I do is use mobipocketcreator to convert PDF books and it does a great job (I use Calibre for almost everything but for converting PDF books mobipocket is better) Cheers Barney

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