does kindle indexing pdf books

saint · 09-05-2021, 09:44 AM

like awz3 or mobi

Quoth · 09-05-2021, 10:27 AM

PDF is a sort of envelope with page size(s). It's primarily designed to proof and print. It can commonly have images of each page, either from a scan of a physical document or deliberately rather than text. Some are also only intended to be rendered on a screen or printed.

So even if the Kindle does try to index PDFs many would fail. I have no idea if it does attempt it. Most PDFs are actually unsuitable for 6" Kindles, especially the Basic 167 dpi model.

Ebooks are a kind of zip file with internal index, HTML file, font files and CSS files. They are thus easier to index.

Some PDFs have an OCR layer (for search), even if image based and in theory that could be used for indexing. PDFs are electronic documents, not ebooks.

j.p.s · 09-05-2021, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint

like awz3 or mobi

Based on a check of some PDFs that have been on a K2, K4NT, and an Oasis 2 for years, it is possible to search PDFs while reading them, but the PDFs are not indexed by kindles.

This question was asked in 2010 and never answered.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=105297

After I figured out that the kindles were searching and not looking up in an index, I vaguely remembered seeing this in a post in the past, but I can not find one.

tomsem · 09-05-2021, 11:17 PM

The answer is No: it does not index PDFs. You can search for text when it is open (if it has text layer).

09-05-2021, 09:44 AM	#1
saint Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2021 Device: Kindle PW4	does kindle indexing pdf books like awz3 or mobi

09-05-2021, 10:27 AM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,025 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	PDF is a sort of envelope with page size(s). It's primarily designed to proof and print. It can commonly have images of each page, either from a scan of a physical document or deliberately rather than text. Some are also only intended to be rendered on a screen or printed. So even if the Kindle does try to index PDFs many would fail. I have no idea if it does attempt it. Most PDFs are actually unsuitable for 6" Kindles, especially the Basic 167 dpi model. Ebooks are a kind of zip file with internal index, HTML file, font files and CSS files. They are thus easier to index. Some PDFs have an OCR layer (for search), even if image based and in theory that could be used for indexing. PDFs are electronic documents, not ebooks. Last edited by Quoth; 09-05-2021 at 10:30 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Kindle not indexing books?	n3wb	Amazon Kindle	39	02-23-2022 08:32 PM
Kindle Oasis3 indexing all books again	Waylander	Amazon Kindle	8	09-07-2020 05:25 PM
PDF/epub contents indexing on iPad or Android tablet?	paaThaka	Which one should I buy?	12	06-19-2019 04:35 AM
Questions about indexing books	ezy_ryder88	Amazon Kindle	0	12-11-2010 12:50 PM
Classic Inkmesh not indexing books at B&N?	bearymore	Barnes & Noble NOOK	0	09-23-2010 07:54 PM

09-05-2021, 11:17 PM	#4
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,939 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	The answer is No: it does not index PDFs. You can search for text when it is open (if it has text layer).

Advert