Help with converting .pdb files

yuuyuu818 · 12-10-2011, 12:05 AM

I download a .pdb file from an open forum (it's a magazine with pictures) and I can read it using iSilo on my PC. I want to convert it to pdf (or other format), mainly because I want to read it on my blackberry playbook. Currently, iSilo does not have a version that support the playbook, they have one for smartphone. So I thought it's easiest to convert it to pdf and read it on the playbook.

I read through quite a few posts on this forum and tried various softwares people suggested (ABC Amber Palm Converter, Calibre, Hamster eBook Converter etc) and none of them seems to work. ABC converter freezes after 1 minute or so, Calibre returns some sort of conversion error saying "No reader available for format within container. Identity is SDocSilX. Book type is iSilo 3". I also tried some online conversion utility website but they don't want either.

I would appreciate any help or suggestion. The main objective is to be able to read this on playbook, it doesn't have to convert to pdf, if you can let me know which format to convert to and if there is an app from playbook that can read that format, I am fine. Sorry that I don't own a eReader and I am not too familiar with all the format out there, maybe there is some sort of restriction on this file that I don't know about, thanks for you patience and help.

HarryT · 12-10-2011, 04:03 AM

See this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75338

It appears as though there are no tools for converting from iSilo format.

DSpider · 12-10-2011, 04:50 AM

If you can read it on a computer and you really really REALLY wanna convert it, you could use the print screen function on the computer (or a program that uses a hotkey and can rapid-fire the snapshots inside a folder), then OCR the images with ABBYY FineReader. After that comes the fun part. You proofread it in FineReader and save it as whatever the heck you want:

.docx/.rtf for Word/LibreOffice and PDF output

.html for Sigil and ePub output (and Mobi converted from ePub, if you want)

Then you proofread the final product again (this time on your BlackBerry if you want), in case there were some layout issues with Word/LibreOffice/Sigil/etc. Every time I seem to find something out of place the second time around.

yuuyuu818 · 12-10-2011, 05:34 PM

Thanks for the feedback, this is unfortunate that there is no tool to convert iSilo format !!! Appreciate your help and suggestion.

12-10-2011, 12:05 AM	#1
yuuyuu818 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Blackberry playbook	Help with converting .pdb files I download a .pdb file from an open forum (it's a magazine with pictures) and I can read it using iSilo on my PC. I want to convert it to pdf (or other format), mainly because I want to read it on my blackberry playbook. Currently, iSilo does not have a version that support the playbook, they have one for smartphone. So I thought it's easiest to convert it to pdf and read it on the playbook. I read through quite a few posts on this forum and tried various softwares people suggested (ABC Amber Palm Converter, Calibre, Hamster eBook Converter etc) and none of them seems to work. ABC converter freezes after 1 minute or so, Calibre returns some sort of conversion error saying "No reader available for format within container. Identity is SDocSilX. Book type is iSilo 3". I also tried some online conversion utility website but they don't want either. I would appreciate any help or suggestion. The main objective is to be able to read this on playbook, it doesn't have to convert to pdf, if you can let me know which format to convert to and if there is an app from playbook that can read that format, I am fine. Sorry that I don't own a eReader and I am not too familiar with all the format out there, maybe there is some sort of restriction on this file that I don't know about, thanks for you patience and help. Last edited by yuuyuu818; 12-10-2011 at 12:09 AM.

12-10-2011, 04:50 AM	#3
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	If you can read it on a computer and you really really REALLY wanna convert it, you could use the print screen function on the computer (or a program that uses a hotkey and can rapid-fire the snapshots inside a folder), then OCR the images with ABBYY FineReader. After that comes the fun part. You proofread it in FineReader and save it as whatever the heck you want: .docx/.rtf for Word/LibreOffice and PDF output .html for Sigil and ePub output (and Mobi converted from ePub, if you want) Then you proofread the final product again (this time on your BlackBerry if you want), in case there were some layout issues with Word/LibreOffice/Sigil/etc. Every time I seem to find something out of place the second time around. Last edited by DSpider; 12-10-2011 at 05:00 AM.

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12-10-2011, 04:03 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	See this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75338 It appears as though there are no tools for converting from iSilo format.

12-10-2011, 05:34 PM	#4
yuuyuu818 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Blackberry playbook	Thanks for the feedback, this is unfortunate that there is no tool to convert iSilo format !!! Appreciate your help and suggestion.

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