Ebook for Kindle with pictures/graphics???

[arash84]

Hi i am trying to convert a book to a kindle readable file.

It has lots of pictures and i'm having trouble figuring out how to achieve this.

I'm using a mac but if necessary can access windows.

[JSWolf]

What is the original format?

[geekmaster]

You can probably use calibre. There is a forum here for that.

[arash84]

The original format is pdf and i've tried using calibre but it messes up

I can upload the file if necessary.

[terencek]

The freebie Mobibook Reader is sometimes better at converting PDFs than Calibre. Worth giving it a try.

[arash84]

Hmm i'm gonna try that one out

Mobibook reader is pc though right?

Do you mean mobipocket??

Do you have a link for it?

I have however tried converting the pdf from Acrobat into htm
and inputted the htm into calibre. Calibre then turned it into a zip file (don't know why) if i then convert that file into .mobi or anything else the pictures won't show up.

But i'm gonna take a look at the Mobibook reader.

Thanks

[headsy]

you could also try 3D Issue. They normally focus on PDF to page turning flash and HTML5 but they also have a component that will allow you to create an eBook.

The problem with converting a PDF to a eBook is that there is no extraction alrogithm that will take the text and images out in the write sequence because the design of PDFs is done by hand so to speak.

Whatever app you choose there will be a certain amount of work involved.

[Marcellus]

You could also let Amazon do it for you. Send an email to your username@free.kindle.com address with the word 'convert' in the subject line, and your book should be delivered to your device the next time you have a wifi connection.

[HarryT]

PDFs will rarely convert well. PDF is not an eBook format, but a digital representation of a printed page. A PDF file doesn't contain "text", but instructions of the form "draw such-and-such a shape at these coordinates".

If you really MUST convert a PDF file into another format, an OCR program will generally achieve the best results.

[JSWolf]

I have a 100% foolproof way to convert PDF to ePub in five steps.

1. Pick a program to use to convert the PDF to ePub
2. Use this program and do the conversion
3. Load the PDF in Adobe Reader and the ePub in Sigil
4. 100% A/B compare the PDF to the ePub fixing any errors & formatting as needed in the process
5. Done!

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

PDFs will rarely convert well. PDF is not an eBook format, but a digital representation of a printed page. A PDF file doesn't contain "text", but instructions of the form "draw such-and-such a shape at these coordinates".

If you really MUST convert a PDF file into another format, an OCR program will generally achieve the best results.

Text searching in a PDF reader does not do OCR. It searches the embedded text in the PDF file. Of course that fails for "image only" PDF files (such as some zero-day pirate ebooks). PDF files can contain embedded fonts in which to render the embedded text.

The "digital representation" of the printed page is generally ASCII or one of its variants, such as Unicode. These representations of the printed page are called digital "text".

So a PDF is really just a "large format" ebook (especially when it REALLY IS the electronic version of a printed book distributed in PDF format), which can be viewed on a "large format" viewing device such as a host PC display monitor, or on a printed page (where it is no longer a PDF file).

And the PDF files that I often use, which contain thesis and research papers, generally DO convert nicely to other ebook formats. So your statement is rather limited in scope and does not apply in the general case as implied.

Some PDF viewer apps (such as one I used on my PDA), do a fine job of reflowing text and resizing images to fit the PDA screen. And some can split multi-column text into single columns when viewing PDF files. It all depends on the toolset that you choose to use.

[Namekuseijin]

buy a kindle fire or another tablet/smartphone

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

buy a kindle fire or another tablet/smartphone

I have a Nexus 7, but I prefer reading on eink.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

Text searching in a PDF reader does not do OCR. It searches the embedded text in the PDF file. Of course that fails for "image only" PDF files (such as some zero-day pirate ebooks). PDF files can contain embedded fonts in which to render the embedded text.

The "digital representation" of the printed page is generally ASCII or one of its variants, such as Unicode. These representations of the printed page are called digital "text".

So a PDF is really just a "large format" ebook (especially when it REALLY IS the electronic version of a printed book distributed in PDF format), which can be viewed on a "large format" viewing device such as a host PC display monitor, or on a printed page (where it is no longer a PDF file).

We are talking at cross-purposes. A searchable PDF file does indeed, as you say, contain a hidden text "layer" which is used for searching. But that text layer is not what you "see" on the screen. The visual image does not contain text; it's a series of PostScript instructions of the "draw this shape at these coordinates" variety. This has nothing to do with "image only" PDFs; it's true for all PDFs. A conversion program like Calibre will not use the searchable text layer; it will attempt to assemble the text from the PDF drawing instructions but, since these can be in a pretty random order, the results can be less than optimal. That's why I say that an OCR program is often the best way to create a convertable file from a PDF, especially if the layout of the PDF is complex.

Certainly some PDFs will convert reasonably, but the fact remains that PDF was not designed to be an eBook format, and generally speaking is the worst possible choice of format if you want to convert to something reflowable.

To read PDFs well you ideally need a device which has a screen equal to (or close to) the size of the page that the PDF is formatted for. The iPad is a superb PDF reader.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

... But that text layer is not what you "see" on the screen. The visual image does not contain text; it's a series of PostScript instructions of the "draw this shape at these coordinates" variety. This has nothing to do with "image only" PDFs; it's true for all PDFs. ...

Although your PDF knowledge is probably vastly superior to my own, it does not mesh with what I understand about PDF. According to (what I remember from) the PDF specs, PostScript instructions are used for page layout and vector art. And PDF files can contain embedded fonts used to render TEXT when it is being displayed. Unless the displayed content consists of pre-rendered text made up of vector artwork, it makes no sense to embed fonts. What are the fonts USED for if the text has already been converted to pre-rendered lines and curves?

Is it true for "all" PDFs? You are confusing me. Now I have to go find and read a PDF spec again...