Best PDF Converter for Kindle - Rasterfarian?

[zeellig]

Looks like rasterfarian is the best pdf to LRS converter out there. LRS is the format sony ebook uses; since it has the same screen as the kindle I'm thinking we can get this to work on it with some effort.

The project was abandoned due to copyright concerns - the developer packaged commercial sw with rasterfarian but this has since been corrected by a developer at http://kmfstudio.com/rasterfarian_252_patch.html

I'm hoping one of you egg-heads can help resurrect this sw and modify it for the kindle.

See post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...353#post172353

In order for it to be practical for kindle, I think we need someone with some know-how and interest to do the following:

1. Modify rasterfarian to actually CUT the pages in half rather than use LRF landscape mode. It already performs cuts in quarter page mode so I assume this is possible.

2. Modify rasterfarian to output a reformatted PDF or better, a kindle supported format (PRC/MOBI, AZW).

[DaleDe]

Today I think the easiest and likely best is MobiPocket for a PC. Just drop the PDF on it and you have a .mobi file that is readable on your device. It is not perfect but most fiction eBooks will convert fine while some fancy formatted text books may not look so good.

Dale

[zeellig]

mobi publisher works fine for text only pdfs. but if you have ebooks with embedded graphics or made from scanned pages, you'll need something like rasterfarian.

[soilwork]

PDFLRF does similar jobs as Rasterfarian and it can save the result as zipped PNG files.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13135
If you find a way to convert a set of PNG files into one mobipocket file, using PDFLRF might solve your problem.
PDFLRF can cut the PDF pages to fit 6 inch sony reader screen either in landscape or portrait mode. I don't think you can cut the screen in half exactly, though. I would recommend you to try the program and how it performs.

[zeellig]

pdflrf looks good, except how would we handle TOC creation?

[soilwork]

TOC can be a problem since you will get a bunch of PNGs in a zip file without any information on document structure. If you need automatically created TOC, generating PNGs from PDFLRF cannot be of help, I am afraid.

[zeellig]

ok.. thanks for suggestions, guys. it seems that raster has it all: TOC, auto-crop, color correction, batch processing and does them all reasonably well.

Hopefully all that's needed is someone with the know-how and time to modify it for the kindle.

Look forward to your responses.

[Marjorie]

Hi,
I am not a programmer, but I know a little (the dangerous little?) about e-book formats from reading Wikipedia.
Comparison of e-book formats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._Z39.86_Format
and the DAISY Digital Talking Book (aka NISO Z39.86-2005 Format) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAISY_Digital_Talking_Book

NISO Z39.86-2005 comes in 3 flavors: See http://www.daisy.org/about_us/dtbooks.shtml

Quoted without discussion here:
1. Audio with NCX: DTB with structure.
2. Audio and full text: DTB with structure and complete text and audio.
3. Text and no audio: DTB without audio.

I think you would be very interested in #2 above as it would be a structured file (not sure if it is pdf, but it may be) of a text book that can be both read and heard within a structure for learning. TOC is basic. They have ways for a blind person to look up words in the glossary, use maps, figures, indexes, and so on.

The point is that a structure is added to the book -- the kind of structure that you need for text books so that blind and learning disabled or dyslexic students can get high school and college educations.

If you know someone who is blind, learning disabled, or dyslexic, then you can get a look at these e-books and reader free and the US government allows free postage for the delivery to the qualified person. This might be more profitable to your project to reverse engineer since they have worked out the structure needed and have been using it for years.

Believe me, the people who distribute the books in the USA are terribly careful about copyright. Check out Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (Princeton, NJ).
http://www.rfbd.org/

Also, a student can submit their textbooks (mail them in) in requesting that they be read and formatted so the student can read the book for their school work (a two-month process). And students have been doing this for some 60 years, so that they have on file many text books for high school and college already prepared.

See also http://www.daisynow.net/core/onlineP...k/Default.aspx
This link may be a better way for you to look at some files.

Keep these thoughts on your back burner.

[ErikAlbany]

hi,
ok.. thanks for suggestions, guys. it seems that raster has it all: TOC, auto-crop, color correction, batch processing and does them all reasonably well.

Hopefully all that's needed is someone with the know-how and time to modify it for the kindle.

Look forward to your responses.

www.staffingpower.com

www.sentersoftech.com

[CheriePie]

I realize the initial post in this thread is old, but since it's been bumped back up by others, I thought I'd mention that PDFRead is being actively supported here in this forum. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21906

[tylerdurden51]

Originally Posted by CheriePie

I realize the initial post in this thread is old, but since it's been bumped back up by others, I thought I'd mention that PDFRead is being actively supported here in this forum. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21906

LOL year old post.

Thanks for the link though!