BookDesigner help please

[lizzielou]

I am installing BookDesigner onto my new PC and have Word 2003 also. I am getting errors when trying to load an .rtf file and when I do a system check it says Word is not installed. It is! I have tried reinstalling it but no change. This computer is exactly the same as my other one where it works perfectly so I am completely stuck. I know BD is very old now but it is my best friend when it comes to formatting my lrf books and I prefer it to Calibre.

If anyone can help me out that would be absolutely wonderful.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lizzielou

I am installing BookDesigner onto my new PC and have Word 2003 also. I am getting errors when trying to load an .rtf file and when I do a system check it says Word is not installed. It is! I have tried reinstalling it but no change. This computer is exactly the same as my other one where it works perfectly so I am completely stuck. I know BD is very old now but it is my best friend when it comes to formatting my lrf books and I prefer it to Calibre.

If anyone can help me out that would be absolutely wonderful.

I would not bother with BookDesigner. I would install Calibre and maybe Sigil. Calibre can convert your Word document to ePub and Calibre and Sigil can let you edit the ePub. But when you are editing your Word document, you really should use styles. Do not highlight and use the toolbar to add styles. That's all wrong and will make your Word document a mess.

I don't know of anyone who uses BookDesigner. Most use Calibre and maybe Sigil.

[lizzielou]

Thank you very much for your reply. I have always used BookDesigner to convert rtf files to lrf files. Epub files do not have correct page numbers on my Sony Reader and Calibre does not allow me to have the same control over formatting that BookDesigner has. I use styles in Word for my books and have hundreds I have converted over the years. I just don't know why I am getting this error when trying to load rtf files now, this computer is just the same as the one I usually use but when I try to load an rtf file into BookDesigner I get an error saying MS Word is not loaded.

Hopefully someone else will be able to help with this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lizzielou

Thank you very much for your reply. I have always used BookDesigner to convert rtf files to lrf files. Epub files do not have correct page numbers on my Sony Reader and Calibre does not allow me to have the same control over formatting that BookDesigner has. I use styles in Word for my books and have hundreds I have converted over the years. I just don't know why I am getting this error when trying to load rtf files now, this computer is just the same as the one I usually use but when I try to load an rtf file into BookDesigner I get an error saying MS Word is not loaded.

Hopefully someone else will be able to help with this.

The thing is, you do have control over the formatting using Calibre or Sigil. You just have to edit the code. Calibre can convert the ePub (once done) to LRF. I used to use Calibre to convert MS LIT format to LRF but once Sony added ePub, I converted to ePub as I don't like the fake italic and fake bold that Sony uses in LRF.

Editing the code HTML/CSS gives you full control over the formatting.

[Quoth]

I've Word 2003, but I've used Libre Office Writer for the last approx 7 years. Edit in odt, but an extra Save As in docx for Calibre.

I've made mobi, 2 kinds palm doc, LRF, azw3/KF8, epub etc with Calibre. With the proper styles in Word (or LO Writer) I don't need to edit the HTML/CSS at all. I import the docx to Calibre and make an epub2. I then delete the imported copy of docx and make all other formats in Calibre from the epub2.

Was using Word for Windows from maybe 1992 and making ebooks from 2006.

Older Sonys don't have epub, but if your Sony eReader has the epub format it's superior.

You can import Word doc or docx to LO Writer, but then you need to fix headings, styles etc and should only re-edit an odt version, doing an extra Save As in docx for Calibre. The docx format, if styled correctly, works better than odt or doc or RTF for Calibre input.

Also LO Writer and Calibre are on Mac, Windows and Calibre. I still have Word 2003, Word 2002/XP and Word 2007, but they are all inferior for ease of use of styles and document navigation compared to LO Writer. The only reason now to use MS Word is if you are daily collaborating on documents with other Word users.

I do read epub on a Sony PRS-350, but I think the previous model had to be sent to Sony to get epub compatible upgrade and the models before that are LRF only based.

Calibre from epub2 is the best way to to make an LRF now.

[JSWolf]

Yes, the PRS-505 does have ePub. That's the first Sony to get ePub.

[lizzielou]

Thank you both very much.

I just wanted to know why I was getting an error loading an rtf file to BookDesigner in the initial 'converting rtf to html' stage.

I am still none the wiser.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lizzielou

Thank you both very much.

I just wanted to know why I was getting an error loading an rtf file to BookDesigner in the initial 'converting rtf to html' stage.

I am still none the wiser.

I don't think anyone will know the answer as I don't think anyone here still uses BookDesigner. Most of us use Calibre and Sigil.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by lizzielou

I am installing BookDesigner onto my new PC and have Word 2003 also. I am getting errors when trying to load an .rtf file and when I do a system check it says Word is not installed. It is! I have tried reinstalling it but no change. This computer is exactly the same as my other one where it works perfectly so I am completely stuck. I know BD is very old now but it is my best friend when it comes to formatting my lrf books and I prefer it to Calibre.

If anyone can help me out that would be absolutely wonderful.

Is it exactly the same? The same version of Windows? Have you checked if the path where Word 2003 is exactly the same as on the new one (e.g. "Program Files" vs. "Program Files (x86)".

[lizzielou]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, it is. I have restored the computer to as new, same as my existing one was when I installed it then - it is the same model. I have done all the tweaks I did before and am getting a bit further but now it is stopping on the transformation process. I had this before and needed to give access to the BookDesigner folder which I have done, but this does not solve the problem. I don't want to use epub as I like to see the correct page number when I read so I know how far to the next chapter. As a last resort I will try another method to create them.

[lizzielou]

To all who replied, thank you very much for your input.

Someone suggested using docx format for conversion. I have never used it before but I converted one of my rtf files to docx and run it through Calibre and hey presto it produced a perfect lrf file - so easy.

Whenever I have bought a new computer I have always had problems getting BookDesigner to work, now I am going to have the pleasure of removing it from all of them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lizzielou

To all who replied, thank you very much for your input.

Someone suggested using docx format for conversion. I have never used it before but I converted one of my rtf files to docx and run it through Calibre and hey presto it produced a perfect lrf file - so easy.

Whenever I have bought a new computer I have always had problems getting BookDesigner to work, now I am going to have the pleasure of removing it from all of them.

If you find some problem with the formatting, you can convert to ePub, fix it and then convert to LRF. However, you can forgo LRF and just go with ePub as (IMHO) ePub gives you true bold and true italics.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you find some problem with the formatting, you can convert to ePub, fix it and then convert to LRF. However, you can forgo LRF and just go with ePub as (IMHO) ePub gives you true bold and true italics.

Older Sony models don't have epub. One range of models before it was included as standard could only have a factory upgrade. Earlier ones didn't even have that option.

Still better than any of the formats on the Palm PDA with 160 x 160 pixel screen. The later 320 x 320 may just have had more resolution.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Older Sony models don't have epub. One range of models before it was included as standard could only have a factory upgrade. Earlier ones didn't even have that option.

Still better than any of the formats on the Palm PDA with 160 x 160 pixel screen. The later 320 x 320 may just have had more resolution.

The 505 had ePub added in a firmware update. The 500 was the one that had to be sent in to have ePub added to it.

The OP has a 505 so I would hope that it's updated and has ePub.

[Quoth]

Sony USA and Sony UK only have manuals and old Mac & PC programs, no firmware updates for the PRS505.
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/s...series/prs-505

Unless it's already got epub or someone has a copy or it's on archive.org the OP is stuck on LRF.

I agree epub is far better.

Maybe this will help
https://archive.org/details/ebook-applications-firmware

I wanted a S/H 5" and my research suggested that the oldest safe-to-buy Sonys where the PRS-350 and related models (PRS650 etc). I got a PRS-350 and battery is still reasonable.