Quote:
Originally Posted by evwool
I want to be able to load Word docs with 2-column tables onto an ereader (Italian in one column, the English translation, side by side in the second column).
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As you have already found, support for Word Docs on portable devices is spotty at best.
I would look at converting your DOC files to appropriately formated two column PDFs.
Unlike EPUB (and most other portable reader document formats) PDF's are designed to rigidly maintain page formatting (like the 2 column pages you require for example.)
EPUB is a great format for fiction, and other material with fairly simple formatting, because EPUB is specifically designed to allow text to be rescaled on the fly in a reflowable format.
Unfortunately, EPUB is not as suitable for documents which require very accurate page formatting.
On the other hand, PDFs that are specifically formatted for viewing on an eInk Reader's smaller screen will look great, and will maintain their page layout perfectly when displayed as PDFs at their default size.
PDF will allow all kinds of sophisticated formatting, like multi column layout and navigation hyper-links, while maintaining accurate and consistent page rendering on your reader.
There are literally a dozen different commercial solutions for converting MS Word DOCs to PDF format, but one of my favorite methods is to simply load the document into the free OpenOffice Writer (now LibreOffice Writer) and then export it in PDF format.
Once you get used to a few minor differences in the User Interface, LibreOffice is at least as easy to use as MSWord, and it's PDF export works quite well.
LibreOffice's PDF export does a good job of maintaining 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' page formatting, and also includes support for PDF TOC (Table Of Contents) and internal and external document navigation hyper-links.
Using LibreOffice, I have created PDF files with professional quality TOC and navagation hyper-links which work perfectly on my PRS-650 Sony reader.
The Sony PRS-x50 series readers include support for PDF annotations, but the export is fairly limited. You can export text annotations, but not as a fully marked up PDF document. Also on the Sony, when you have several hundred annotations, things get slow and twitchy.
If you need to do a lot of annotations, and share your marked up PDF docs, I would consider the B&N Nook STR or Nook Color. The built in PDF viewer on the Nooks is no hot shakes, but because these readers are Android based, you can choose from several alternative commercial PDF reader Apps that are MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER, and which will let you seamlessly re-export your annotated PDF's in standard PDF format (readable on any PC, Mac, or Linux box).
Hope this helps...
