Quote:
|
Just realize that it isn't always an easy conversion, and may require a bit of cleanup. Good luck!
|
This is a little bit of an understatement in my experience.
Here's the deal:
EPUb is a basically a website zipped up into a package. The files can be HTML or XML and they have an index and an image folder and can have links, etc. The files are "Text-Based" and can be searched and re-flowed on any browser or eBook reader that reads the EPUB format.
PDF is basically a picture of a document. Some PDF's are searchable and the text can be copied and pasted. If they are not searchable you will have a hard time converting them. The "For Dummies" series of books is a good example of a PDF that will not convert well. With all the side-bars and graphics, it makes conversion extremely difficult.
So, I assume your real question is "How can I
EASILY convert PDF's to EPUB's?"
The short answer is, "You can't".
I just got done converting my family's genealogy book into an EPUB.
Here is the process:
Scan the book into PDF's or JPG's.
OCR the book with OCR software into RTF format.
Correct all the spelling errors introduced by the OCR software.
Reformat the text into HTML.
Load the HTML into Calibre and convert into an EPUB.
300 page book = approximately 40 hours of labor
So, Archon's Rule #1 about eBooks: Never, ever, ever get a PDF when there is ANY other format available. (This does not hold for magazines and comics as they are essentially picture-based communications.)
PDF's are NOT re-flowable and are only displayed as pictures on your device. You can zoom in but you CANNOT increase the size of the font, change fonts, change background colors, or many other things you can do to an eBook in any "text" format.
So, go back and take a look at your books and see if there is any other format available. If PDF is the ONLY format then your stuck with it. You can view them on a computer or other LCD based reader like your iPad or iPhone. Or you can try to convert them with Adobe Acrobat (pro not reader) or Calibre and spend hours correcting them. (In my experience neither will do a very good job on this conversion and may fail outright.) If it is a book you truly cherish, and it means a lot to you, it may be worth it. For the latest novel, it will probably not be worth it unless you look at it as a pure learning experience. In that case; Welcome to the world of eBooks!
Happy Humpday