PDF Increase Text size

Zorz · 01-11-2010, 11:06 PM

I have a few pdf's and wanted to know if there is a way to just increase the font size. Id like to keep the overall structure of the documents, but just want the text boxes to become bigger or longer. I even have Adobe Acrobat (non reader)and still cant find a way to do this. Is there a way?

frabjous · 01-12-2010, 04:29 PM

A PDF document basically contains exact coordinates for the location on the page for each individual character. If you increased the font size without changing those coodinates, the characters would overlap one another, and that would unreadable.

I think it would be better to know why you want to do this: is the PDF displayed too small to be read on your device? You have "device: none" by your profile, so it's hard to guess what your needs are. If you are just reading on a computer screen, surely you can use your PDF software's zoom feature to make it look bigger. Or are you trying to make it better when printed?

If you're reading on a device, probably it is already zooming it to the largest it can be zoomed and still have a page fit on the screen. Your best bet to make the individual characters look larger without affecting the structure of the PDF would be to remove the whitespace margins from the borders of the document, and or cutting the PDF pages into chunks appropriately sized for your device.

A program like sopdf is ideal for this if your device screen is similar to a Sony Reader's (which many others are). You might want to give it a try.

What other options there are would depend on your device, and whether or not this PDF is the sort that can be converted well to another format, which would depend on whether it's mainly plain text, or has things like mathematical symbols, images, columns, tables, etc., in it. (These make conversion from PDF to another format difficult.)

Zorz · 01-12-2010, 05:51 PM

I have a kindle 2 and soPDF pretty much already does what adobe acrobat crop feature does. I have taken out the white space, but the text is still just too small. I really wish the kindle had some sort of zoom feature like my cell phone.

frabjous · 01-12-2010, 07:25 PM

Cropping in Adobe Acrobat isn't a true crop, and doesn't work for all readers. IT does work for Kindle 2, eh? That's good to know.

You'll have to bug Amazon if you want a zoom feature on the reader itself.

You could try converting the PDF through calibre, etc., but that doesn't often lead to good results.

01-11-2010, 11:06 PM	#1
Zorz Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 36 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle 2i	PDF Increase Text size I have a few pdf's and wanted to know if there is a way to just increase the font size. Id like to keep the overall structure of the documents, but just want the text boxes to become bigger or longer. I even have Adobe Acrobat (non reader)and still cant find a way to do this. Is there a way?

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01-12-2010, 04:29 PM	#2
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	A PDF document basically contains exact coordinates for the location on the page for each individual character. If you increased the font size without changing those coodinates, the characters would overlap one another, and that would unreadable. I think it would be better to know why you want to do this: is the PDF displayed too small to be read on your device? You have "device: none" by your profile, so it's hard to guess what your needs are. If you are just reading on a computer screen, surely you can use your PDF software's zoom feature to make it look bigger. Or are you trying to make it better when printed? If you're reading on a device, probably it is already zooming it to the largest it can be zoomed and still have a page fit on the screen. Your best bet to make the individual characters look larger without affecting the structure of the PDF would be to remove the whitespace margins from the borders of the document, and or cutting the PDF pages into chunks appropriately sized for your device. A program like sopdf is ideal for this if your device screen is similar to a Sony Reader's (which many others are). You might want to give it a try. What other options there are would depend on your device, and whether or not this PDF is the sort that can be converted well to another format, which would depend on whether it's mainly plain text, or has things like mathematical symbols, images, columns, tables, etc., in it. (These make conversion from PDF to another format difficult.)

01-12-2010, 05:51 PM	#3
Zorz Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 36 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle 2i	I have a kindle 2 and soPDF pretty much already does what adobe acrobat crop feature does. I have taken out the white space, but the text is still just too small. I really wish the kindle had some sort of zoom feature like my cell phone.

01-12-2010, 07:25 PM	#4
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	Cropping in Adobe Acrobat isn't a true crop, and doesn't work for all readers. IT does work for Kindle 2, eh? That's good to know. You'll have to bug Amazon if you want a zoom feature on the reader itself. You could try converting the PDF through calibre, etc., but that doesn't often lead to good results.

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