Recommend e-reader that allows me to export highlights and notes easily

ets · 05-10-2020, 11:52 AM

I've just bought my first e-reader - pocketbook touch lux 4, and I'm very disappointed with it's inability to export book highlights. When I used tablet to read, I highlighted as I read and then saved my notes in Evernote for quick reference. It was an important part of my reading process and I'm considering returning the e-reader because of it

Do other e-reader brands have same issue with highlight export or is it just Pocketbook? Any help is welcome.

Quoth · 05-10-2020, 12:48 PM

Some are useless, Kindle is useable, Kobo is best:

Kobo, any model with current firmware.
Calibre (free on Mac, Windows or Linux, but you can use Paypal to show appreciation)
Then Kobo utilities plug in per book into clipboard copy / paste. The Annotations plug in scans multiple books and supports Kindle (though not as well, limitation is Kindle) but it adds the annotations to the Calibre database of Metadata (though you can export that too).

I used the Kobo H2O original for a few years and now use the Kobo Libra.

I found the Kindle limited and the Sony PRS350 needs the awkward Windows program, it's obsolete anyway. The Nook Simple Touch seems useless for annotation.

I've saved over €1000 of toner & paper on proofing. I've used the Kindle PW3, Kindle DXG, briefly the Sony PRS350 (horrid) and three models of kobo. I had a S/H Kobo Touch for a while and it had a poor screen but did annotation the same as the two Kobos I regularly used.
I pretty much now use the Kobo Libra exclusively to read and proof/annotate. I use the other ereaders to test ebook formatting. Far superior to the Kindle and the speed to select has really improved on recent Firmware.

stumped · 05-10-2020, 01:33 PM

Even the kobo is crap, out of the box. But it's fixable as stated by installing utilities stuff.
None of the makers are motivated to make it easy for you to take your notes and annotatons out of their eco system
Amazon does give fairly easy access to stuff via their web pages

JSWolf · 05-10-2020, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumped

Even the kobo is crap, out of the box. But it's fixable as stated by installing utilities stuff.
None of the makers are motivated to make it easy for you to take your notes and annotatons out of their eco system
Amazon does give fairly easy access to stuff via their web pages

Given that the question is being asked on Mobileread, the answer as given by @Quoth works and makes the Kobo no longer crap but quite good.

Quoth · 05-10-2020, 05:09 PM

I used the Kindle a lot for annotations. It used to be much easier to actually highlight on it than on the Kobo, Kobo fixed the text selection being slow. The only useful thing Amazon does is "Sync", which is worthless to extract from their ecosystem and pointless with only one reader.
The Kindle is poor compared to the kobo for Annotation export. You don't need ANY patches on the Kobo, or modifications. There is a line you can add to reader.conf that adds an extra menu item for a book, "Export highlights", which works. But with Calibre you don't need it and the Kobo Utilities on Calibre is far superior. There is nothing useful on Amazon's web site to get annotations (inc context) into a text editor and if there was, that's a privacy failure.

I've never gone back to using the Kindle PW3 for annotations since getting the original Kobo H2O and the Libra cost less but has a better screen.

The only advantage of the Kindle is to be able to put its serial number in a Calibre Plugin and then if I buy an Amazon book (less than 1/4 of my book spending and a fraction of my reading as read many "PD classics") then I can convert it to epub and read on the Kobo Libra.

There is no need to do anything to the Kobo. Unlike Amazon it doesn't even need a payment method or registration, a totally fake email unlocks it out of the box, though on the Kindle you can use a real email address an Amazon $1 Gift voucher has been sent to to unlock it.

No need to EVER use the Internet with the Kobo, for Annotations or anything else once registered with fake email address. Or you can use a real one. Less bad than giving it to Amazon.

pazos · 05-10-2020, 05:37 PM

Isn't the my_clippings text file still available on amazon devices?. It is as easy as it sounds, a good old text file with your highlights and annotations.

rcentros · 05-10-2020, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pazos

Isn't the my_clippings text file still available on amazon devices?. It is as easy as it sounds, a good old text file with your highlights and annotations.

Just tested both. The advantage of the Kobo method is that you can name the file when saving it. The Kindle uses one file for all highlights, but it does label each entry with the book title, page number and the date and time of the highlighting.

I didn't know about the Kobo feature (happy I read this thread). I had known (but had forgotten) about the Kindle feature. Both are good.

EDIT: The Tolinos work almost exactly like the Kindles. So that's another option, especially if you live in Europe.

ets · 05-12-2020, 02:28 PM

Thanks a lot for valuable info guys. I looked into both Kobo and Tolinos. The Kobo + Calibre workflow looks perfect, I love Calibre and I keep my whole digital library there. As a dabbling programmer, I wonder if it would be possible to create a Calibre plugin that would download annotations from Pocketbook... That would be perfect solution.

DNSB · 05-13-2020, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ets

Thanks a lot for valuable info guys. I looked into both Kobo and Tolinos. The Kobo + Calibre workflow looks perfect, I love Calibre and I keep my whole digital library there. As a dabbling programmer, I wonder if it would be possible to create a Calibre plugin that would download annotations from Pocketbook... That would be perfect solution.

You might want to take a look at the Annotations plugin, the current supporter (davidfor) is quite willing to offer help with adding new devices if their annotations can be fetched connected to USB or exported to email. There was a thread 3 or so years back about extracting annotations from the Pocketbook ereader database but I can't remember much about it other than it was in the Pocketbook Developer's Corner forum.

mtreader · 05-16-2020, 12:39 AM

I've been trying to learn if there's a work-around to highlight and add notes to articles saved to Pocket on my Kobo Clara. A couple of folks commenting here seemed to have deeper knowledge than i've found, so I'd appreciate any help on whether that's possible and, if so, how (I'm totally unfamiliar with modifying built-in functionality).

05-10-2020, 11:52 AM	#1
ets Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: none	Recommend e-reader that allows me to export highlights and notes easily I've just bought my first e-reader - pocketbook touch lux 4, and I'm very disappointed with it's inability to export book highlights. When I used tablet to read, I highlighted as I read and then saved my notes in Evernote for quick reference. It was an important part of my reading process and I'm considering returning the e-reader because of it Do other e-reader brands have same issue with highlight export or is it just Pocketbook? Any help is welcome.

05-10-2020, 12:48 PM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,010 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Some are useless, Kindle is useable, Kobo is best: Kobo, any model with current firmware. Calibre (free on Mac, Windows or Linux, but you can use Paypal to show appreciation) Then Kobo utilities plug in per book into clipboard copy / paste. The Annotations plug in scans multiple books and supports Kindle (though not as well, limitation is Kindle) but it adds the annotations to the Calibre database of Metadata (though you can export that too). I used the Kobo H2O original for a few years and now use the Kobo Libra. I found the Kindle limited and the Sony PRS350 needs the awkward Windows program, it's obsolete anyway. The Nook Simple Touch seems useless for annotation. I've saved over €1000 of toner & paper on proofing. I've used the Kindle PW3, Kindle DXG, briefly the Sony PRS350 (horrid) and three models of kobo. I had a S/H Kobo Touch for a while and it had a poor screen but did annotation the same as the two Kobos I regularly used. I pretty much now use the Kobo Libra exclusively to read and proof/annotate. I use the other ereaders to test ebook formatting. Far superior to the Kindle and the speed to select has really improved on recent Firmware. Last edited by Quoth; 05-10-2020 at 12:56 PM.

05-10-2020, 05:09 PM	#5
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,010 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	I used the Kindle a lot for annotations. It used to be much easier to actually highlight on it than on the Kobo, Kobo fixed the text selection being slow. The only useful thing Amazon does is "Sync", which is worthless to extract from their ecosystem and pointless with only one reader. The Kindle is poor compared to the kobo for Annotation export. You don't need ANY patches on the Kobo, or modifications. There is a line you can add to reader.conf that adds an extra menu item for a book, "Export highlights", which works. But with Calibre you don't need it and the Kobo Utilities on Calibre is far superior. There is nothing useful on Amazon's web site to get annotations (inc context) into a text editor and if there was, that's a privacy failure. I've never gone back to using the Kindle PW3 for annotations since getting the original Kobo H2O and the Libra cost less but has a better screen. The only advantage of the Kindle is to be able to put its serial number in a Calibre Plugin and then if I buy an Amazon book (less than 1/4 of my book spending and a fraction of my reading as read many "PD classics") then I can convert it to epub and read on the Kobo Libra. There is no need to do anything to the Kobo. Unlike Amazon it doesn't even need a payment method or registration, a totally fake email unlocks it out of the box, though on the Kindle you can use a real email address an Amazon $1 Gift voucher has been sent to to unlock it. No need to EVER use the Internet with the Kobo, for Annotations or anything else once registered with fake email address. Or you can use a real one. Less bad than giving it to Amazon. Last edited by Quoth; 05-10-2020 at 05:13 PM.

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05-10-2020, 01:33 PM	#3
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	Even the kobo is crap, out of the box. But it's fixable as stated by installing utilities stuff. None of the makers are motivated to make it easy for you to take your notes and annotatons out of their eco system Amazon does give fairly easy access to stuff via their web pages

05-10-2020, 05:37 PM	#6
pazos cosiñeiro Posts: 1,406 Karma: 2451781 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: BQ Cervantes 4	Isn't the my_clippings text file still available on amazon devices?. It is as easy as it sounds, a good old text file with your highlights and annotations.

05-12-2020, 02:28 PM	#8
ets Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: none	Thanks a lot for valuable info guys. I looked into both Kobo and Tolinos. The Kobo + Calibre workflow looks perfect, I love Calibre and I keep my whole digital library there. As a dabbling programmer, I wonder if it would be possible to create a Calibre plugin that would download annotations from Pocketbook... That would be perfect solution.

05-16-2020, 12:39 AM	#10
mtreader Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Bozeman, MT Device: Onyx Nova 2, Kobo Clara	I've been trying to learn if there's a work-around to highlight and add notes to articles saved to Pocket on my Kobo Clara. A couple of folks commenting here seemed to have deeper knowledge than i've found, so I'd appreciate any help on whether that's possible and, if so, how (I'm totally unfamiliar with modifying built-in functionality).

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