PDFRead 1.8.2 released!

[maurices5000]

I'm very frustrated here. I don't know what the file formats are or what they are for. I've read all the documentation that came with the software. I've also read the first page or so of this thread.

Here is the problem, I have a fully searchable PDF. Everything time i convert my PDF to mobi, i get static text which I cannot select or search. This is not what i expected. Is this the only way that this software converts? Is there other software that will allow me to maintain a fully searchable file? I want to be able to highlight text and add notes just as i would a regular Kindle or Sony file.

Many of my PDFs do contain Greek and Hebrew characters. This one only contains a few Greek words.

Thanks!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by maurices5000

I'm very frustrated here. I don't know what the file formats are or what they are for. I've read all the documentation that came with the software. I've also read the first page or so of this thread.

The output file formats (.imp, .prc, .lrf) are older proprietary ebook formats that can be read on certain dedicted ebook readers. If you had an ebook reader that supported one of those formats, that's the 'Out Format' you would select for your ebook conversion.

Here is the problem, I have a fully searchable PDF. Everything time i convert my PDF to mobi, i get static text which I cannot select or search. This is not what i expected. Is this the only way that this software converts?

At the top of the first post in this thread, I describe long-windedly that:

PDFRead is a tool for converting non-DRMed PDF and DJVU documents for reading on eBook devices. It does this by creating an image out of each page, enhancing the image and then collating the images in a device-specific format.

So, in essence, PDFRead creates an image of the .pdf page, not searchable/OCR'ed text and assembles those images/pictures into an ebook format of your choosing. That's what it does and solely what it's for.

Is there other software that will allow me to maintain a fully searchable file? I want to be able to highlight text and add notes just as i would a regular Kindle or Sony file.

Yes, you have several options to do this; the most popular being conversion using (1) calibre or (2) Mobipocket Creator. I prefer to convert "text-based" .pdf's using the freely available Mobipocket Creator, especially if the intended ebook target format is .prc (aka .mobi)! In the end, though, the ebook device that you have, it's supported ebook formats and it's ability to add notes will ultimately determine the success/use of ANY conversion.

However, when you need to convert "image" based .pdf's (like Google Books scans) then your only hope is an OCR program or PDFRead. (I'm biased)

Many of my PDFs do contain Greek and Hebrew characters. This one only contains a few Greek words.

Thanks!

I hope this helps explain when (and when not) to use PDFRead.

[maurices5000]

Are all Google Books scanned? I just saw a video on Mobipocket Creator and it destroys all the table formatting--unless that was an older version.

How much hope is there for me using Calibre? I'm starting to feel i've wasted several days of my time researching eBooks now. I was told that I could easily convert any book into a Kindle Format. I understood at in PDF format i could not search or highlight text, but based on waht i was told i thought that I was getting a fully functional Kindle file just like regular ebooks with the right conversion tool.

How good is OCR software now? Years ago at least, it was pretty good with a lot of errors. I really don't think of a file with 20% errors as being good. that's a lot of work.

Thanks! (If this can't be resolved, I may be sticking with paper.)

[maurices5000]

Your program by the way is really nice. I'm not knocking it. Especially for something that is free. It allows the user to view everything he wants with the same appearance it has in the original book. It is just that this isn't what i'm looking for.

I'm trying to find a way to better store and reference my notes. I can just keep my physical copies if this is my only option.

[kolala]

Also, while I was recompiling pdfread.exe I fixed a LONG time irk for me, the expansion of small crops into huge images. This time around, any small cropped image will not increase in size more than 10% of the original image.

-Nick

Hi,

could you please publish up to date sources which include this change? I would need the sources in order to disable histogram checking in SAVE.

Thanks!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by kolala

Hi,

could you please publish up to date sources which include this change? I would need the sources in order to disable histogram checking in SAVE.

Thanks!

I've committed these changes to the Mobileread Development Hub (click "Dev Hub" at the top of the page beside the Wiki link). Don't be too concerned about that message "This Connection is Untrusted", it's just probably an expired certificate.

Latest revisions 1.8.3 include:
- leading zeros on temp files allows proper sorting.
- limits the expansion of small cropped pages to a more reasonable level; up to 10% increase only.
- FOR SONY USERS: fixed that Sony .lrf bug that stretched short pages!

Go to the PDFRead repository here and then click "Browse Source" in the top-right header bar to see the source code. Those latest changes are also listed here.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by maurices5000

Are all Google Books scanned?

Most of them.

I just saw a video on Mobipocket Creator and it destroys all the table formatting--unless that was an older version.

The MobiPocket format is essentially an encapsulated subset of HTML with a Mobi wrapper. Mobi Creator works by ripping the source material to HTML, them building the Mobi volume from that. You don't have to build the Mobi volume immediately. You can rip to HTML, then edit the generated HTML before building the Mobi book.

How much hope is there for me using Calibre? I'm starting to feel i've wasted several days of my time researching eBooks now. I was told that I could easily convert any book into a Kindle Format. I understood at in PDF format i could not search or highlight text, but based on waht i was told i thought that I was getting a fully functional Kindle file just like regular ebooks with the right conversion tool.

You are at the mercy of the input file.

I've played a bit with PDF conversion. PDFs created from clean source text, in single column layouts with in line graphics convert fairly well. Beyond that, things get ugly fast. In general, I get PDF and attempt conversion only if there is no other option.

How good is OCR software now? Years ago at least, it was pretty good with a lot of errors. I really don't think of a file with 20% errors as being good. that's a lot of work.

It's much better, but not perfect. Expect to do proofreading and cleanup, depending on what you're willing to settle for in the output file.

Thanks! (If this can't be resolved, I may be sticking with paper.)

Good luck.
______
Dennis

[Jozawun]

First, thanks to all involved in this terrific program, just what I have been looking for to read my large collection of History and Biography PDFs on my Cybook Gen3 and, shortly, on my prospective Kindle 3.

After jiggling around a bit with the settings (guided by all the posts in this thread), I have got the conversion to work perfectly on a couple of trial books, both of which look like very good original scans.

However, when I read the conversions in Mobipocket Reader (and in the Calibre Reader), there is one major problem, namely that each line of text looks like it has been printed on an irregular band of grey. It actually looks like the effect you get when you photocopy a page of text where the individual lines have been marked manually with a yellow highlighter.

I have used the "no dilation" option, colorspace "gray"; and it is the same in either portrait or landscape, and with either 4 or 16 colors.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by JOZAWUN

After jiggling around a bit with the settings (guided by all the posts in this thread), I have got the conversion to work perfectly on a couple of trial books, both of which look like very good original scans.

Can you post the settings you changed (from the default profile) or at least a screenshot of the GUI screen prior to Converting? Post a sample converted ebook if you can or just one page to visualize your issue.

I have used the "no dilation" option, colorspace "gray"; and it is the same in either portrait or landscape, and with either 4 or 16 colors.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

It appears that dithering may blend the background screening into the text creating that effect.

My suggestion would be to not limit the color to 4 or 16 and use the full color spectrum allowed by the program i.e. 256 colors. This way the hardware ebook reader can render that ebook the best way it can and hopefully it eliminates that "noise".

Also, try lowering the the Edge Level to 3 or 1 or even try selecting "no edge enhance".

You can try increasing the resolution of the Dilation DPI to 600 or even use the "pdfread-MinFilter5-mod-bin.zip " executable as explained in the Note at the bottom of the first post in this thread.

[Jozawun]

Thank you, Nick, for your prompt and helpful response. I would have got back to you sooner, but I was jiggling with all the settings in order to see if I came across any other problems or questions.

In short, I incorporated your suggestions by increasing colours to 256, with "no edge enhance", dpi 600, plus using the "pdfread-MinFilter5-mod-bin.zip " executable, and "no dilation".
The result was that the shading was only very faintly visible to the naked eye on both Mobipocket and Calibre Readers, barely visible on a screenshot and, more importantly, not noticeable on my Cybook.
So that's a practicable solution.

As a separate issue, I had to use "landscape-half" to make the fonts readable on the Cybook; am I correct in assuming that this will vary from book to book? And is there any way of over-riding the preset categories in "Layout Mode" to provide more precise gradations from book to book?

One final query: I specified the "Size" as "H480V620"; is this the correct way to do it for the Cybook?

And one final comment; I can't help feeling that all the problems may stem from the GUI's miss-spelling of the words "colour" (TWICE!) and "grey".

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by JOZAWUN

The result was that the shading was only very faintly visible to the naked eye on both Mobipocket and Calibre Readers, barely visible on a screenshot and, more importantly, not noticeable on my Cybook.
So that's a practicable solution.

Great that you got it to work for you! Enjoy your new found volumes of reading materials!

As a separate issue, I had to use "landscape-half" to make the fonts readable on the Cybook; am I correct in assuming that this will vary from book to book?

That's the way I convert MOST .pdf ebooks so that they are legible on smaller screens, that is, until I got a hardware reader that could actually display/zoom .pdf ebooks natively! I still read .pdf ebooks thereon landscape!

And is there any way of over-riding the preset categories in "Layout Mode" to provide more precise gradations from book to book?

Any option YOU select on the GUI will override the preset values and those selected values should be remembered.

One final query: I specified the "Size" as "H480V620"; is this the correct way to do it for the Cybook?

Yes, that's the way I refer to the screen dimensions: Horizontal x Vertical i.e. width x height (488 x 620).

And one final comment; I can't help feeling that all the problems may stem from the GUI's miss-spelling of the words "colour" (TWICE!) and "grey".

I'm Canadian so I too spell it "colour" and "grey" though I don't mind using "gray" interchangeably. "Color" is prevalent in my world as I am so close to the US that it's the way I see it spelt for the most part.

I'm not to fussy about using one way or another, especially given this is an International forum and the US out numbers Canada 10 to 1!

[willus]

An alternative to pdfread for optimizing PDF's for the 6-inch kindles is k2pdfopt (google it). It's fully automatic and only requires the additional installation of Ghostscript. Runs on Linux or Windows. I wrote it because I wanted to be able to read 2-column PDF articles on my kindle.

[jjost]

I posted this on the Kindle Developer's Corner, but realized that perhaps I should have posted here. I am having problems using PDFRead 1.8.2 to convert pdf files for my Kindle 1. When I use the prc-mobie profile, the dos box indicates that the program converts each page of the pdf, but then the program hangs on the line "creating mobi ebook . . ." When I use the prc-mobie-p profile with the layout mode set to landscape-half, the program completes the conversion process, the output is in landscape on the Kindle, but the print is too small and instead of each pdf page being cut in half, almost all of the pdf page is on the first Kindle page with only a few lines on the second.

My first question is why does the conversion process hang when using the prc-mobie profile, but not the prc-mobie-p profile? My second question is what is the difference between the prc-mobie profile and the prc-mobie-p profile with the latter's layout mode set to landscape-half?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, John

[RamonS]

Hope posting this inquiry here is OK.
I'm using PDFRead 1.8.2 with generally good success. The conversion is almost the way I like it, except that once uploaded to the Kindle 3 the pages are microscopic. I can use the zoom feature on the Kindle and get one page to look the way I want (as in full screen), but jumping to the next page goes back to tiny.
I've tried a few different settings, but nothing really solved the problem. My next step was to set to the size H and V, but I cannot find any description as to which unit the size is (pixel? inch? cm? percent of full screen?). All I want is to have my PDF pages appear as pages on the Kindle exactly the way they show in the PDF. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Just to stress, this tool is absolutely fantabulous!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by RamonS

Hope posting this inquiry here is OK.
I'm using PDFRead 1.8.2 with generally good success. The conversion is almost the way I like it, except that once uploaded to the Kindle 3 the pages are microscopic. I can use the zoom feature on the Kindle and get one page to look the way I want (as in full screen), but jumping to the next page goes back to tiny.

Unfortunately full screen view of .pdf pages is not very legible on a 6" device, so the approach PDFRead uses is to cut the .pdf page into sections that can then be cropped/enhanced to view on the 6" screen's aspect ratio.

Then each section is displayed as consecutive pages for that ONE .pdf page, and the process is repeated with all the rest of the .pdf pages.

There is no OCR going on that converts the .pdf text to ebook fonts that can be enlarged with the kindle reader. The only zoomimg available would be to zoom into an image/picture, not using the font sizes for ebook text.

I've tried a few different settings, but nothing really solved the problem. My next step was to set to the size H and V, but I cannot find any description as to which unit the size is (pixel? inch? cm? percent of full screen?).

The H stand for Horizontal pixel count and the V stands for Vertical pixel count, so a 600x800 display device would be H: 600 and V: 800. Please note that first dimension number (600) represents the width of the device left to right and the second dimension number (800) represents the height of the device's usable space top to bottom including any status bar area. This status bar height may then be deducted from your required dimension, so that the cropped area will fill up the usable space perfectly!

All I want is to have my PDF pages appear as pages on the Kindle exactly the way they show in the PDF. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Even on 7", 8" or 9" devices this cannot be done without some margin cropping or increased screen resolution/dpi. Don't be worried that a letter/A4 .pdf page cannot be squished into a 6" screen, it's just a natural limitation.

Just to stress, this tool is absolutely fantabulous!

Thanks, for a time, it was my only way to read scanned images, but with .pdf ebook reader support of larger eink devices like the iLiad or LCD devices like the Nook Color as well as android tablets, I find I rarely convert from .pdf and just use it natively!!!