Help wanted please.

dawson · 06-25-2007, 08:03 AM

Just bought a PRS500 today.
and unless I get some help soon, I will have a very expensive doorstop on my hands.

How can I download books on to this thing from gutenberg say.
I don't understand all the jargon with the file names etc, can anybody help in plain english?
Will I have to convert them?
How do you convert the files?
Please help, cos I'm pulling my hair out here.

Thank you.............Ian

HarryT · 06-25-2007, 08:27 AM

You don't HAVE to do any conversion - you can just copy a PG text file directly onto the Reader, and it will display.

However, as I explained to you in my reply to the Private Message which you sent me, you will get much better results if you do a little conversion, such as using Stingo's "Word" macro to convert the file to RTF, or a tool such as "Book Designer" to convert to the Reader's "native" file format of LRF.

JSWolf · 06-25-2007, 08:51 AM

Does the Word macro save the line spaces that are supposed to be there? Does it do the quotes and apostrophes to the curly versions?

HarryT · 06-25-2007, 08:56 AM

The word macro removes all the hard line breaks within a paragraph, leaving either indented paragraphs or paragraphs with a blank line between them, as one prefers. It also sets the font size to something sensible on the Reader - by default I think it sets it to 18pt, but that's easily changed.

It doesn't touch quotes, etc.

It's NOT intended to be a fancy conversion tool - just a quick "tidy up" to make a PG text file look pretty nice on the Reader. Take a look for yourself - there's a link to it on the Wiki page. It's what we all used before BD came along and it's still useful for "quick and dirty" processing.

JSWolf · 06-25-2007, 11:03 AM

Actually, I do it myself manually in Word to clean up things. And that does include prettying up the quotes. And fixing line spaces and line ends as needed

HarryT · 06-25-2007, 12:24 PM

The Word macro was a "collaborative effort". Stingo wrote it initially, and then lots of people added stuff to it. It works really well!

JSWolf · 06-25-2007, 12:37 PM

What I might do is have a look at this macro and see if I can tweak it to be even better.

HarryT · 06-25-2007, 12:38 PM

Please do - that's exactly what it's there for!

dawson · 06-25-2007, 03:24 PM

Been tinkering all day, finally getting it sorted,
thank you harry

Ian.

RWood · 06-25-2007, 05:09 PM

Back to the Word Macro for a moment, I use it to prepare books before I load them into BookDesigner. I feel I have more control over the text and that it does a better job of fixing the paragraphs than BookDesigner alone.

Patricia · 06-25-2007, 05:53 PM

I do exactly the same when downloading text files, or anything with scanning errors. I find it easier to make the initial edit in Word, then load the material into BD for a final edit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Back to the Word Macro for a moment, I use it to prepare books before I load them into BookDesigner. I feel I have more control over the text and that it does a better job of fixing the paragraphs than BookDesigner alone.

HarryT · 06-26-2007, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawson

Been tinkering all day, finally getting it sorted,
thank you harry

Ian.

Ian,

If you get really stuck, I'd be happy to show you in person how to sort things out - I'm local to you.

Meanwhile, please don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have - we're all here to help!

JSWolf · 06-26-2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patricia

I do exactly the same when downloading text files, or anything with scanning errors. I find it easier to make the initial edit in Word, then load the material into BD for a final edit.

If you plan on spell checking the book, Word is definitely better then BD. Word will allow you to ignore a word throughout where BD you either keep ignore every instance or add it to the dictionary. And I like using word for getting the curly quote and apostrophe. They just look nicer.

06-25-2007, 08:03 AM	#1
dawson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Manchester Device: Sony PRS500	Help wanted please. Just bought a PRS500 today. and unless I get some help soon, I will have a very expensive doorstop on my hands. How can I download books on to this thing from gutenberg say. I don't understand all the jargon with the file names etc, can anybody help in plain english? Will I have to convert them? How do you convert the files? Please help, cos I'm pulling my hair out here. Thank you.............Ian

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06-25-2007, 08:27 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You don't HAVE to do any conversion - you can just copy a PG text file directly onto the Reader, and it will display. However, as I explained to you in my reply to the Private Message which you sent me, you will get much better results if you do a little conversion, such as using Stingo's "Word" macro to convert the file to RTF, or a tool such as "Book Designer" to convert to the Reader's "native" file format of LRF.

06-25-2007, 08:51 AM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Does the Word macro save the line spaces that are supposed to be there? Does it do the quotes and apostrophes to the curly versions?

06-25-2007, 08:56 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The word macro removes all the hard line breaks within a paragraph, leaving either indented paragraphs or paragraphs with a blank line between them, as one prefers. It also sets the font size to something sensible on the Reader - by default I think it sets it to 18pt, but that's easily changed. It doesn't touch quotes, etc. It's NOT intended to be a fancy conversion tool - just a quick "tidy up" to make a PG text file look pretty nice on the Reader. Take a look for yourself - there's a link to it on the Wiki page. It's what we all used before BD came along and it's still useful for "quick and dirty" processing.

06-25-2007, 11:03 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Actually, I do it myself manually in Word to clean up things. And that does include prettying up the quotes. And fixing line spaces and line ends as needed

06-25-2007, 12:24 PM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The Word macro was a "collaborative effort". Stingo wrote it initially, and then lots of people added stuff to it. It works really well!

06-25-2007, 12:37 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What I might do is have a look at this macro and see if I can tweak it to be even better.

06-25-2007, 12:38 PM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Please do - that's exactly what it's there for!

06-25-2007, 03:24 PM	#9
dawson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Manchester Device: Sony PRS500	Been tinkering all day, finally getting it sorted, thank you harry Ian.

06-25-2007, 05:09 PM	#10
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Back to the Word Macro for a moment, I use it to prepare books before I load them into BookDesigner. I feel I have more control over the text and that it does a better job of fixing the paragraphs than BookDesigner alone.

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