PDF -> AZW conversion, weird character spacing

beacher · 08-17-2010, 12:33 AM

I'm sure this has been asked, probably a million times, but for the life of me I could not find it, maybe I'm using the wrong search terms.

Any how, I've tried converting PDF with calibre, and with amazon's service, and in both scenarios, I get weird space in a lot of the text (with 2 books now), something like:

T h i s is a n ex a m p le.

Then when I try to have the kindle do text-to-speech it reads the letters to me rather then the words.

I'm hoping there are some things I can try to rectify this?

dmin7th · 08-17-2010, 01:37 PM

Although I've only tried converting a few PDFs to mobi for my Kindles so far, I've had much better luck with Mobipocket Creator than with Calibre. I haven't come across the issue you're having yet, though.

JSWolf · 08-17-2010, 02:04 PM

Actually, you cannot go PDF > AZW. AZW does not actually exist as a format when there is no DRM. If you strip the DRM from AZW, you get Mobipocket. So AZW without DRM is actually PRC/Mobi.

beacher · 08-17-2010, 02:51 PM

Ok, I'll try Mobi Pocket Creator, thanks!

I emailed Amazon a PDF, and they sent back an AZW.. what that means I don't know, but I believe it said "AZW" in it.

AnemicOak · 08-17-2010, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, you cannot go PDF > AZW. AZW does not actually exist as a format when there is no DRM. If you strip the DRM from AZW, you get Mobipocket. So AZW without DRM is actually PRC/Mobi.

Sure it does (exist when there is no DRM). Non-DRM'd books purchased from Amazon are still .azw format. It may be the same thing as mobi, but it's got an AZW extension, making it an AZW file.

beacher · 08-17-2010, 06:45 PM

I tried the software suggested, as well as another, seems as soon as it's converted from PDF to anything, there is double spacing in between characters, almost randomly.

Maybe it's only these couple ebooks I'm trying (maybe they are OCR scans)...but it sure stinks. If I don't find any software, I might attempt writing a script that will remove the spaces.

dmin7th · 08-17-2010, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beacher

If I don't find any software, I might attempt writing a script that will remove the spaces.

That's probably your best bet if it's something in the PDF that's weird. I edited some stuff in the HTML file that Mobipocket Creator generated before I built the .mobi file, and that worked pretty well for me.

tomsem · 08-17-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beacher

I tried the software suggested, as well as another, seems as soon as it's converted from PDF to anything, there is double spacing in between characters, almost randomly.

Maybe it's only these couple ebooks I'm trying (maybe they are OCR scans)...but it sure stinks. If I don't find any software, I might attempt writing a script that will remove the spaces.

Could be, and as you suspect, it's dumping text that was generated with OCR from scanned images. Or it might be some form of copy protection (inserting random invisible whitespace to make conversion less attractive). Load it into Adobe Reader (free), try searching for some text and see if it can find things as expected, or see if copy/paste has the same issue.

Also, Adobe has a free PDF-to-text and PDF-to-HTML service. You might try it for another data point. I suspect the points will continue to all line up however.

Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents

08-17-2010, 12:33 AM	#1
beacher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	PDF -> AZW conversion, weird character spacing I'm sure this has been asked, probably a million times, but for the life of me I could not find it, maybe I'm using the wrong search terms. Any how, I've tried converting PDF with calibre, and with amazon's service, and in both scenarios, I get weird space in a lot of the text (with 2 books now), something like: T h i s is a n ex a m p le. Then when I try to have the kindle do text-to-speech it reads the letters to me rather then the words. I'm hoping there are some things I can try to rectify this?

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08-17-2010, 01:37 PM	#2
dmin7th Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2, 3, DX, Voyage, Paperwhite 1 & 3	Although I've only tried converting a few PDFs to mobi for my Kindles so far, I've had much better luck with Mobipocket Creator than with Calibre. I haven't come across the issue you're having yet, though.

08-17-2010, 02:04 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,938 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Actually, you cannot go PDF > AZW. AZW does not actually exist as a format when there is no DRM. If you strip the DRM from AZW, you get Mobipocket. So AZW without DRM is actually PRC/Mobi.

08-17-2010, 02:51 PM	#4
beacher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	Ok, I'll try Mobi Pocket Creator, thanks! I emailed Amazon a PDF, and they sent back an AZW.. what that means I don't know, but I believe it said "AZW" in it.

08-17-2010, 06:45 PM	#6
beacher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	I tried the software suggested, as well as another, seems as soon as it's converted from PDF to anything, there is double spacing in between characters, almost randomly. Maybe it's only these couple ebooks I'm trying (maybe they are OCR scans)...but it sure stinks. If I don't find any software, I might attempt writing a script that will remove the spaces.

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