Can you convert PDFs on a Kindle?

[Heathside Boy]

I know absolutely nothing about the Kindle but I do have hundreds of books in PDF format.

Can I in some way add them to a Kindle and convert them within the Kindle to read?

If not, is there a way to do it and if so, how?

Thanks

HB

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Heathside Boy

I know absolutely nothing about the Kindle but I do have hundreds of books in PDF format.

Can I in some way add them to a Kindle and convert them within the Kindle to read?

If not, is there a way to do it and if so, how?

Thanks

HB

A Kindle will read PDF natively; there is, strictly spoken, no need to convert them to anything. However, no 6" device will work well with PDFs meant for printing (which are often US Letter or A4 sized).

Get a 9.7" or 10.1" tablet or if you want E-ink, look at the Kindle DX or Onyx Boox M92 (both 9.7" E-ink devices).

[Heathside Boy]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

A Kindle will read PDF natively; there is, strictly spoken, no need to convert them to anything. However, no 6" device will work well with PDFs meant for printing (which are often US Letter or A4 sized).

Get a 9.7" or 10.1" tablet or if you want E-ink, look at the Kindle DX or Onyx Boox M92 (both 9.7" E-ink devices).

Thanks for the advice

HB

[susan_cassidy]

There is software available (like Calibre) to convert PDFs to .mobi format, but the conversion does not always work well, due to the way pdfs work. Plain text files usually convert all right.

[yoho]

Originally Posted by Heathside Boy

I know absolutely nothing about the Kindle but I do have hundreds of books in PDF format.

Can I in some way add them to a Kindle and convert them within the Kindle to read?

If not, is there a way to do it and if so, how?

Thanks

HB

kindle supports PDF

[terencek]

If they are uncomplicated books (e.g. novels etc.) rather than ones with fancy formatting, diagrams, photos etc., then the free Calibre application usually does a reasonable job of converting them to what you need, a .mobi file. There are ways of editing out any resulting anomalies, but they can be quite complicated and usually not worth the effort.

[Synamon]

If the PDFs are mostly text, then Amazon does a decent job of converting them. Email the files in batches to the [name]@kindle.com address associated with your Kindle with convert in the subject line.

[Heathside Boy]

Originally Posted by Synamon

If the PDFs are mostly text, then Amazon does a decent job of converting them. Email the files in batches to the [name]@kindle.com address associated with your Kindle with convert in the subject line.

I haven't actually got a Kindle yet. I use my laptop to read e-books. What I would actually like to do is send the PDFs to someone who has got a Kindle. I just wondered whether she would be able to put the PDFs from her computer onto her Kindle and be able to read it on the Kindle.

I have got Calibre, so I could convert the PDFs to Mobi.

Is the general consensus that the Mobi format is the proper format to be used with a Kindle?

Once on your computer, can a Mobi then easily be uploaded onto a Kindle?



HB

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by Heathside Boy

I haven't actually got a Kindle yet. I use my laptop to read e-books. What I would actually like to do is send the PDFs to someone who has got a Kindle. I just wondered whether she would be able to put the PDFs from her computer onto her Kindle and be able to read it on the Kindle.

I have got Calibre, so I could convert the PDFs to Mobi.

Is the general consensus that the Mobi format is the proper format to be used with a Kindle?

Once on your computer, can a Mobi then easily be uploaded onto a Kindle?



HB

Reading PDF's on a 6" eReader is pretty awful, it involves teeny print or zooming in and out which is a pain. If the PDFs are text, then the best thing would probably be to convert them to MOBI, which is the proper format for a Kindle. As everyone has said, you can convert the files yourself using calibre (although the conversion will not be error free, PDFs don't convert well). Once on a computer a MOBI file can be easily dragged and dropped via USB into the documents folder of a Kindle.

The email option I mentioned is still available, you can email and convert the PDF files via Amazon if you know her Kindle email address and she approves the email address you are sending from on her Personal Document Settings page of her Amazon account. All she'd have to do is connect to wifi and the books you sent would download directly to her Kindle.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Heathside Boy

I haven't actually got a Kindle yet. I use my laptop to read e-books. What I would actually like to do is send the PDFs to someone who has got a Kindle. I just wondered whether she would be able to put the PDFs from her computer onto her Kindle and be able to read it on the Kindle.

I have got Calibre, so I could convert the PDFs to Mobi.

Is the general consensus that the Mobi format is the proper format to be used with a Kindle?

Once on your computer, can a Mobi then easily be uploaded onto a Kindle?



HB

Are these PDFs you are creating? if so, consider generating .mobi files from your source material instead.

The easiest way to get things on a Kindle is generally to use the Personal Documents service to deliver wirelessly. If your friend adds your email address to 'approved senders', then you can email .PDF, .doc, .mobi, .txt, .html, or even .zip (containing image files) attachments directly to her Kindle. With PDF you can have the service convert to mobi, or just deliver as is. Non mobi files will be converted to mobi format.