MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - You can make ebooks with the darndest things

Nate the great · 01-22-2010, 11:18 PM

I didn't think of this until I was at CES, but it turns out that a lot of us have an ebook maker in the office. It's not your computer; I don't know about you but I can't install any software on mine. No, the ebook maker in your office is:

the copy machine.

Bear with me. Do you have a high end copier/printer/scanner/etc? If it was made in the last few years there is a good chance that it can copy and print to a PDF file instead of paper. Admittedly, it's not very useful for anyone with a small screen ebook reader, but there is still some value in it because you can use the PDF with your computer.

I spent a few minutes looking, and it turns out I was wrong about how much the equipment costs. Brother has a couple dozen multi-function devices and all can export a PDF, even the one that retails for $80. Canon's website has hints that some of the cheaper multi-function units can export PDFs, but Canon is doing a very good job of keeping it a secret.

Given how easy it was to find units capable of exporting PDFs, I'd be surprised if any manufacturer released a devie this year that didn't export PDFs.

01-22-2010, 11:18 PM	#1
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	You can make ebooks with the darndest things I didn't think of this until I was at CES, but it turns out that a lot of us have an ebook maker in the office. It's not your computer; I don't know about you but I can't install any software on mine. No, the ebook maker in your office is: the copy machine. Bear with me. Do you have a high end copier/printer/scanner/etc? If it was made in the last few years there is a good chance that it can copy and print to a PDF file instead of paper. Admittedly, it's not very useful for anyone with a small screen ebook reader, but there is still some value in it because you can use the PDF with your computer. I spent a few minutes looking, and it turns out I was wrong about how much the equipment costs. Brother has a couple dozen multi-function devices and all can export a PDF, even the one that retails for $80. Canon's website has hints that some of the cheaper multi-function units can export PDFs, but Canon is doing a very good job of keeping it a secret. Given how easy it was to find units capable of exporting PDFs, I'd be surprised if any manufacturer released a devie this year that didn't export PDFs.