Adobe Digital Editions DRM

[owl123]

You could also try using a screenshot program like SnagIt and automate page turning with some task scheduler. I used PanSoft's Runner (their web page from around 2000/2001 is available at archive.org) pretty successfully although not with Adobe Digital Editions.

[daesdaemar]

Originally Posted by owl123

You could also try using a screenshot program like SnagIt and automate page turning with some task scheduler. I used PanSoft's Runner (their web page from around 2000/2001 is available at archive.org) pretty successfully although not with Adobe Digital Editions.

Copistar does this.

[chorpler]

Originally Posted by daesdaemar

Copistar does this.

Yep, and the nice thing about Copistar is, it will automatically scroll both vertically AND horizontally, then stitch together the results seamlessly. Very cool. With Acrobat 7.0's ability to display Digital Editions books and set the resolution to an arbitrary value, you can have Copistar automatically create you images that are perfectly OCR-able.

[chorpler]

It now appears that Adobe's DRM might have been broken, according to this blog post...

http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com...-for-epub.html

[JSWolf]

The correct URL is http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com...1_archive.html and it does work. I just removed the DRM from a DRM infected ePub and it worked.

[chorpler]

Yeah, the actual page has disappeared, but the archive is still there, and the pastebin files are there.

Of course, it doesn't help for PDF files ... but last night I discovered there's a decent way to export all the pages of a DRM-encrypted PDF file to a new no-security file, so the Copistar method, at least, is no longer necessary.

Unfortunately, you do lose "named destinations" in the new file, so you may have to redo those to make links work.

ETA: Oh, and the big inconvenience of it is, you must have Acrobat Professional 6.0 installed, but not 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, or Digital Editions. Then it's a simple hex-edit and a few steps, and you're golden.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by chorpler

Of course, it doesn't help for PDF files ... but last night I discovered there's a decent way to export all the pages of a DRM-encrypted PDF file to a new no-security file, so the Copistar method, at least, is no longer necessary.

Unfortunately, you do lose "named destinations" in the new file, so you may have to redo those to make links work.

ETA: Oh, and the big inconvenience of it is, you must have Acrobat Professional 6.0 installed, but not 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, or Digital Editions. Then it's a simple hex-edit and a few steps, and you're golden.

Maybe you could write up a small guide and post it somewhere on the net?

[chorpler]

Originally Posted by Valloric

Maybe you could write up a small guide and post it somewhere on the net?

Actually, there is one already. That's how I learned it -- I was talking about the epub DRM stripper on another ebook-related forum, and I said I hoped that it would be adapted for PDF too, and somebody said "PDFs have been strippable for months," and gave me a link to this text file describing the process.

What he said isn't entirely true, because it isn't a simple DRM removal; you have to have Acrobat Pro 6.0 installed, and what you do is disable the DRM and then export all the pages to a new, DRM-free PDF file. This is superior to the old Copistar/screenshot method because it gives you the original PDF structure, with text and images intact; however, you lose bookmarks and "named destinations" in the file, which means links in the file often break. But it's definitely a step up from the previous Copistar/screenshot method of converting DRM'd PDFs. Now all we need is Topaz and things will really be rollin'!

The original tutorial is here:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gal...zon-remedy.txt

The main thing to remember is that when it says Acrobat 6.0, it means it. If you even install a plugin, it will break this. Virtual machines sure are nice for this kind of thing.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by chorpler

The main thing to remember is that when it says Acrobat 6.0, it means it. If you even install a plugin, it will break this. Virtual machines sure are nice for this kind of thing.

Any idea if it works with Acrobat 5? (I suppose I'll have to acquire a DRM'd file and check.)

[chorpler]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Any idea if it works with Acrobat 5? (I suppose I'll have to acquire a DRM'd file and check.)

Nope, Acrobat 5.0 doesn't support Adobe's DRMed PDF ebooks. See, when you download a DRMed book, they send you a file called ebx.etd, which tells the viewer (Acrobat 6.0, Acrobat 7.0, or Digital Editions) where to download the actual book (either a PDF or an ePub). Acrobat 5.0 doesn't support this. 6.0 does. 7.0 does as well, but the DRM workaround doesn't work with it (I tried, since I had 7.0 installed and hoped it would work, but just as the document says, 7 doesn't work).

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Any idea if it works with Acrobat 5? (I suppose I'll have to acquire a DRM'd file and check.)

For Adobe 5 you can perfectly use the Advanced eBook Processor (and it supported Adobe DRM as well)... if you can't find it PM.

[chorpler]

I don't think the Advanced eBook Processor will work on current Adobe DRM, though.

[MidknytOwl]

It specifically has to be Acrobat Pro 6? Did you pay for an old Pro version, or where you able to find it somewhere? (Not having luck myself and I think places charging $50 for it is a bit absurd, since they're on version 9 now and all).

[joblack]

Originally Posted by chorpler

I don't think the Advanced eBook Processor will work on current Adobe DRM, though.

No it doesn't, but he asked specifically for that version ...

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by joblack

For Adobe 5 you can perfectly use the Advanced eBook Processor (and it supported Adobe DRM as well)... if you can't find it PM.

I have (and use, pretty much daily) Acro Pro 7. I have 5 installed on a second machine, because I have a couple of plugins for it that I don't have in 7. (Can't afford them, and one--Compose--may no longer be available.)

I have a copy of 6, which I used briefly until I got 7. I could (shudder, twitch) install it somewhere. What I remember of 6 was that it took almost a minute to open.