converting PDF for kindle reading

joselitux · 05-31-2010, 01:00 PM

hi all

I need some advice on good conversion tool from pdf to kindle reading.
I usually read programming books with screen captures and different text-styles (one for code, one for normal text)

My hope is to find a good conversion tool in order to use features as useful as highlighting and clipping, not available in the actual state of the art in kindle software if you use PDF format.

hope in the coming months the Kindle Apps would provide such a great feature as marks and clipping in pdf books.

In the meantime, I'll convert pdf to any format allow me to do so

any suggestion?

susan_cassidy · 05-31-2010, 03:15 PM

The complicated formatting and images will probably not convert well for Kindle. You can try Mobipocket Creator, Publisher edition, or Calibre (both free downloads), but I wouldn't get my hopes up. Things like novels in pdf tend to convert pretty well.

tomsem · 05-31-2010, 04:47 PM

A lot depends on how the PDF was authored. If it is tagged well, the conversion will be better.

joselitux · 06-01-2010, 04:13 AM

Calibre is not suitable for PDF conversion. Removes all the charts and pictures.

Mobipocket creator does a better job but some strange font formatting is done in the final MOBI output.

any other suggestion?

katzenstreik · 06-01-2010, 05:49 AM

I always use Mobipocket creator for the conversion from pdf to prc, add the prc to calibre and convert it there to mobi. The calibre conversion does a better job in converting prc to mobi than mobipocket creator.

joselitux · 06-01-2010, 06:52 AM

I will try thas process katzenstreik.
Many steps but Better than nothing.

thanks

joselitux · 06-01-2010, 02:05 PM

tested passing the prc from Mobipocket to Calibre creates the MOBI output.
katzenstreik was right. The mobi generated via Calibre is better than the Mobipocket Creator but I got some issues maybe anyone can help:

- bullets are replaced by two characters (NU)

Everywhere when a list is preceded by dots or bullets, the bullets are replaced by "NU"
is there any way to replace this in the final MOBI by "-" or "_" ?

- Header and footer are not deleted and I found it everywhere in the text.

any suggestion?

PS: maybe this worth another thread.

katzenstreik · 06-01-2010, 09:48 PM

Well, the first thing mobipocket creator does in creating the prc is reading the pdf out to a html file. You will find the html file in the same folder as the prc. Then you open the html file with sigil http://code.google.com/p/sigil (it takes a while to load the html) and go to 'Edit/Replace' - a dialogbox will pop up with a 'Find X - Replace with Y' possibility. Sigil will save the html file as an epub, that means you'll still have to convert it to mobi but it's the best tool to make your ebooks shine.

joselitux · 06-02-2010, 10:59 AM

Ok, that's fairly straightforward, but....the header and footer issue?

notice it's a different header/footer for every chapter or section making impossible to follow a find/replace procedure

katzenstreik · 06-02-2010, 12:45 PM

Hm, I don't have a solution for the header/footer problem - you can correct it per hand in sigil, but maybe somebody in the sigil or calibre section has an idea how to automate the process...

tomsem · 06-02-2010, 02:42 PM

Sigil doesn't seem the best tool just to do a search and replace - any text editor will do that, without adding a requirement to convert ePub to mobi.

Calibre has some options for detecting and removing header/footer using regular expressions (see 'Structure Detection' conversion options). The default setting is not to remove them. Turn on Remove, and see if that works better. If not you may need to tweak the regexp..

johndoesecond · 06-03-2010, 10:43 AM

I had the same problem and after extensively exploring different solutions, workflows and softwares, I found Abbyy PDF transformer (ver. 3) to be the most suitable and practical.

This is how I do it:

1. If necessary I "pre-crop" the PDF with Adobe Acrobat (take off useless header, footers, page numbers etc.)
2. pass it through Abbyy PDF transformer to get MS Word file (if necessary fix the image/text areas to get figures/charts right)
3. convert it to HTML (with Word, simple "filtered" HTML mode)
4. convert to MOBI with Mobipocket or Kindlegen

Good luck.

P.S. Unfortunately, neither Acribat (at step 1) nor ABBYY transformer (at step 2) and MS Word (step 3) are free.

pboss · 06-03-2010, 11:03 AM

Really nice, thanks for sharing! It must take some time to get the infrastructure for this up and running.

05-31-2010, 01:00 PM	#1
joselitux Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle	converting PDF for kindle reading hi all I need some advice on good conversion tool from pdf to kindle reading. I usually read programming books with screen captures and different text-styles (one for code, one for normal text) My hope is to find a good conversion tool in order to use features as useful as highlighting and clipping, not available in the actual state of the art in kindle software if you use PDF format. hope in the coming months the Kindle Apps would provide such a great feature as marks and clipping in pdf books. In the meantime, I'll convert pdf to any format allow me to do so any suggestion?

06-03-2010, 10:43 AM	#12
johndoesecond Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 2000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle DX, Kindle 4, Kindle PW2	I had the same problem and after extensively exploring different solutions, workflows and softwares, I found Abbyy PDF transformer (ver. 3) to be the most suitable and practical. This is how I do it: 1. If necessary I "pre-crop" the PDF with Adobe Acrobat (take off useless header, footers, page numbers etc.) 2. pass it through Abbyy PDF transformer to get MS Word file (if necessary fix the image/text areas to get figures/charts right) 3. convert it to HTML (with Word, simple "filtered" HTML mode) 4. convert to MOBI with Mobipocket or Kindlegen Good luck. P.S. Unfortunately, neither Acribat (at step 1) nor ABBYY transformer (at step 2) and MS Word (step 3) are free. Last edited by johndoesecond; 06-03-2010 at 10:45 AM.

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05-31-2010, 03:15 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	The complicated formatting and images will probably not convert well for Kindle. You can try Mobipocket Creator, Publisher edition, or Calibre (both free downloads), but I wouldn't get my hopes up. Things like novels in pdf tend to convert pretty well.

05-31-2010, 04:47 PM	#3
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,464 Karma: 25996225 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	A lot depends on how the PDF was authored. If it is tagged well, the conversion will be better.

06-01-2010, 04:13 AM	#4
joselitux Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle	Calibre is not suitable for PDF conversion. Removes all the charts and pictures. Mobipocket creator does a better job but some strange font formatting is done in the final MOBI output. any other suggestion?

06-01-2010, 05:49 AM	#5
katzenstreik Winged Ape Posts: 128 Karma: 290 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kindle 2i	I always use Mobipocket creator for the conversion from pdf to prc, add the prc to calibre and convert it there to mobi. The calibre conversion does a better job in converting prc to mobi than mobipocket creator.

06-01-2010, 06:52 AM	#6
joselitux Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle	I will try thas process katzenstreik. Many steps but Better than nothing. thanks

06-01-2010, 02:05 PM	#7
joselitux Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle	tested passing the prc from Mobipocket to Calibre creates the MOBI output. katzenstreik was right. The mobi generated via Calibre is better than the Mobipocket Creator but I got some issues maybe anyone can help: - bullets are replaced by two characters (NU) Everywhere when a list is preceded by dots or bullets, the bullets are replaced by "NU" is there any way to replace this in the final MOBI by "-" or "_" ? - Header and footer are not deleted and I found it everywhere in the text. any suggestion? PS: maybe this worth another thread.

06-01-2010, 09:48 PM	#8
katzenstreik Winged Ape Posts: 128 Karma: 290 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kindle 2i	Well, the first thing mobipocket creator does in creating the prc is reading the pdf out to a html file. You will find the html file in the same folder as the prc. Then you open the html file with sigil http://code.google.com/p/sigil (it takes a while to load the html) and go to 'Edit/Replace' - a dialogbox will pop up with a 'Find X - Replace with Y' possibility. Sigil will save the html file as an epub, that means you'll still have to convert it to mobi but it's the best tool to make your ebooks shine.

06-02-2010, 10:59 AM	#9
joselitux Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kindle	Ok, that's fairly straightforward, but....the header and footer issue? notice it's a different header/footer for every chapter or section making impossible to follow a find/replace procedure

06-02-2010, 12:45 PM	#10
katzenstreik Winged Ape Posts: 128 Karma: 290 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kindle 2i	Hm, I don't have a solution for the header/footer problem - you can correct it per hand in sigil, but maybe somebody in the sigil or calibre section has an idea how to automate the process...

06-02-2010, 02:42 PM	#11
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,464 Karma: 25996225 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Sigil doesn't seem the best tool just to do a search and replace - any text editor will do that, without adding a requirement to convert ePub to mobi. Calibre has some options for detecting and removing header/footer using regular expressions (see 'Structure Detection' conversion options). The default setting is not to remove them. Turn on Remove, and see if that works better. If not you may need to tweak the regexp..

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06-03-2010, 11:03 AM	#13
pboss Evangelist Posts: 408 Karma: 646 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	Really nice, thanks for sharing! It must take some time to get the infrastructure for this up and running.