Epub Vs. PDF

[crich70]

A very interesting article about the pros and cons of both formats. Here:Click

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by crich70

A very interesting article about the pros and cons of both formats. Here:Click

Sorry but the article simply made me wonder about the qualifications of the author to be writing such an article.

To quote: "And if you’re expecting your readers to own a natty device such as a Kindle or a Nook (or to be reading it via the apps), you’ll definitely need to consider publishing your ebooks in EPUB format."

Eeyup, he seems to think that a Kindle ereader will allow you to read an epub format ebook.

I won't discuss his inability to notice anything other than Amazon and B&N products since that is pretty much standard for American publications.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by crich70

A very interesting article about the pros and cons of both formats. Here:Click

PDF was a proprietary format but it's now open source. ISO is not a company, it's an organization to set standards. (ISO stands for International Organization for Standards.) Adobe relinquished control of the PDF format on July 1st, 2008 (almost eleven years ago). They made the specification available free of charge in 1993, I think the same year they created PDF. I'm guessing the writer is confusing Adobe encrypted PDFs with PDF documents in general.

[HarryT]

The article is full of errors. Extremely poorly researched. I really wouldn’t waste my time reading it.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The article is full of errors. Extremely poorly researched. I really wouldn’t waste my time reading it.

I must have missed them (the errors) on my read through. It did point out the differences between the two format though. I much prefer epub to pdf if I have to choose between the two. At least a document converted from epub (to kindle in Calibre) is easy to read on a Kindle ereader. PDF's don't always convert very well I've found.

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by crich70

I must have missed them (the errors) on my read through. It did point out the differences between the two format though. I much prefer epub to pdf if I have to choose between the two. At least a document converted from epub (to kindle in Calibre) is easy to read on a Kindle ereader. PDF's don't always convert very well I've found.

That is why it is advisable to buy 8" 300 dpi eink reader with good pdf reading modes, if we want to read a lot of pdfs using eye-friendly eink.

Even on 6" readers we don't usually have to convert pdf into a mobi/epub because we can read A5 sized pdf books either in portraite (margins cropped) or in landscape, as well as A4 two-column pdfs (using multi-column mode).

For A4 single column pdf documents we should use a reflow mode in landscape.

If our eink reader doesn't have those reading modes or a good pdf reflow capability and if we can't install Koreader app thereon, we can still use k2pdfopt to adjust pdf for our eink screen beforehand, using laptop/pc.

https://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/

As it is necessary to simultaneously use tablet when there is a need for color recognition or for annotation & drawing (if our reader doesn't make good use of pencil or finger), so it is a good idea to also use it for tables, pictures etc. if our pdf reading modes make them too small, cut through them, don't show them at all or if reading would be considerably slower that way.

Hopefully, in 18-24 months time, we can just say, buy yourself a 8" or 10" Clearink tablet.

[MarjaE]

Originally Posted by Marinolino

That is why it is advisable to buy 8" 300 dpi eink reader with good pdf reading modes, if we want to read a lot of pdfs using eye-friendly eink.

I have 9.7" and it is MUCH easier for me to read mobi than pdf.

I have a severe astigmatism, that may be part of it. I can rely on Calibre to automatically pre-process epubs to mobis, but I have to use other software to pre-process pdfs to kindle-readable pdfs. Depending which software, either I have cramped jagged text or slow-to-load and sometimes frozen pages.

[harriska2]

Books with graphs, sidebars, and lots of pictures I much prefer pdf. Novels or fiction, epub/mobi.

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by MarjaE

I have 9.7" and it is MUCH easier for me to read mobi than pdf.

I have a severe astigmatism, that may be part of it. I can rely on Calibre to automatically pre-process epubs to mobis, but I have to use other software to pre-process pdfs to kindle-readable pdfs. Depending which software, either I have cramped jagged text or slow-to-load and sometimes frozen pages.

Although they are still not as fast as average tablets, new 8" and 10" eink readers have got a lot better hardware and software than an old Kindle DX, 300 dpi touch screens with better contrast and warm light, faster processors, more RAM memory, newer & quicker software etc.

Have you tried using Adobe Acrobat's Clearscan mode ?

I've found many scanned pdfs from Archive.org to be very slow on Kindle DX (even first iPads) because of their compression method used, and also those produced with newer Abby Finereaders were slower, but after reOCRing them with Clearscan they were good & fast enough for me.

I can still read comfortably majority of my A5 & A4 sized pdfs on Kindle DX (both white and newer graphite model with better 10:1 contrast) outside the house or under a good lamp light, using only KPV viewer installed thereon (older non-touch version of Koreader), but I have a normal eyesight (with laser corrected mediocre nearsightedness fifteen years ago), so, I think that new eink readers should solve many problems you've been encountering with various pdfs.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Marinolino

Have you tried using Adobe Acrobat's Clearscan mode ?

Acrobat is a pretty expensive piece of software. I very much doubt that many home users have it!

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Acrobat is a pretty expensive piece of software. I very much doubt that many home users have it!

Some might, if they bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap before they stopped bundling Acrobat with the scanner. The small extra cost for the bundled version with Acrobat vs. scanner without Acrobat made it a no-brainer for me. Was able to transfer the software to my new computer as well. Whether it'll make it to the next computer after this, who knows? But then again, I'm still using my old Photoshop CS5 with no issues, hedging against the future with Affinity Photo tho....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Marinolino]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Acrobat is a pretty expensive piece of software. I very much doubt that many home users have it!

Yep, it's pretty pricy pdf editor for an average user, but there was a free (fully functional) one month trial period and we can also buy an used older version of Acrobat Pro IX, X, XI at a more affordable price.

I'm not using (newer) Acrobat DC, but those who would like to try it out, can find the newest version of Clearscan OCR option therein, renamed as "Editable text and images".

Understanding OCR options in Adobe Acrobat
https://superuser.com/questions/1276...earchable-imag

Clearscan
http://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/2009/...rscan_is_smal/

Clearscan (Acrobat XI) vs "Editable text and images" (Acrobat DC)
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1810210

[MarjaE]

Originally Posted by Marinolino

Although they are still not as fast as average tablets, new 8" and 10" eink readers have got a lot better hardware and software than an old Kindle DX, 300 dpi touch screens with better contrast and warm light, faster processors, more RAM memory, newer & quicker software etc.

Have you tried using Adobe Acrobat's Clearscan mode ?

Thank you.

I don't have Adobe Acrobat, and I don't know of any newer button-based e-ink devices.

I have a lot of trouble with touch devices, and haven't been able to avoid accidental tapping, accidental gestures, or deliberate tapping but in the wrong place. In particular, I would need some way to disable pinch-to-zoom because zooming animation is one of my migraine triggers.

I tried an Icarus Illumina, and had a lot of trouble trying to avoid accidental pinch-to-migraine. Then it broke, I contacted them and sent it in for repairs following all their directions and they sent it back unopened because of the customs fee.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by MarjaE

Thank you.

I don't have Adobe Acrobat, and I don't know of any newer button-based e-ink devices.

I have a lot of trouble with touch devices, and haven't been able to avoid accidental tapping, accidental gestures, or deliberate tapping but in the wrong place. In particular, I would need some way to disable pinch-to-zoom because zooming animation is one of my migraine triggers.

I tried an Icarus Illumina, and had a lot of trouble trying to avoid accidental pinch-to-migraine. Then it broke, I contacted them and sent it in for repairs following all their directions and they sent it back unopened because of the customs fee.

Have you tried the Forma or the Oasis? Both have buttons, and the Oasis has the option of turning off the touch screen while reading.

Shari

[harriska2]

After many years (35) with a dos/windows pc I’ve moved to mac. I use a mac now with built in preview that lets you create and modify pdfs. I also use abbyy finereader on windows 7 machine that I occassionally fire up and it ocrs pretty well for me.