PDF to Kindle 3?

stormridersp · 08-09-2011, 12:05 PM

I recently bought a Kindle 3 from Amazon expecting to be able to read my PDF books on it straight away. Unfortunatly my pdf ebooks are bigger than Kindle's 6" display, and fitting them to screen turns out to be basicly unreadable.
I've tried Calibre, but it was unimaginable complicated to set it up right.

I've spent about an hour after registering here, looking for ways to possible fix them, but I've found more suggestions than solutions and a bit too complicated to try them all out. I know this question was probably answered many times, but I couldnt find the definite answer, and since technology evolves by the hour, new solutions may have been found.

I would like to know how do you guys manage to fix your PDFs, so they are as close and readable as possible to them funcional ebooks sold by amazon. I'm currently running the lasted Mac OS/X although if I really need to, I can bootcamp Win7 and work from there.

Cheers

crich70 · 08-09-2011, 12:30 PM

One thing that might work is using a program like PDF to Epub. They had a period where they were offering it for free not long ago though that may well be over now. I'm not sure what the program costs but it can convert PDF files to HTML, epub or Kindle directly. No working TOC with the file if you convert directly to Kindle as far as I know, but it may work. The only thing is that it's a one at a time conversion so if you have a number of PDF files to convert it may take a while.

thomass · 08-09-2011, 02:51 PM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=184

pidgeon92 · 08-09-2011, 05:20 PM

Reading PDFs on the Kindle and other 6" readers is not a great experience. There's not much you can do with your docs if they are full of pics and charts, you'll never get a great conversion. A larger e-ink screen would be better, but still not a perfect experience.

JeremyR · 08-09-2011, 06:03 PM

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but you really should have researched this before you bought a kindle (or e-reader).

6" screens and PDFs just don't work well. PDFs were meant to replicate the printed page exactly, while 6" e-readers are meant for re-flowable text that can vary upon whatever the reader wants.

That's why they make the bigger DX model, though that's far from perfect...

charmian · 08-10-2011, 12:05 AM

The reason why you can't find an easy solution is because there isn't one, unfortunately.

Easy solutions (that might not work well).

1. The easiest one is to put your PDF in landscape mode on your Kindle, possibly after clipping it with the Briss program.

2. Or, you can email the document to Amazon for conversion, but results might be mixed.

3. You can use Calibre to convert it (I find the results for this to be unsatisfactory)

4. Use a program like k2pdf or PDFmasher.
(Caveat: k2pdf creates excess margins for some PDF documents, though it works fine with others. I haven't used PDFmasher yet because it's so complicated I don't understand how to use it) These will probably give you the best results, but they will require a lot of fiddling.

The more complex the PDF, the more difficult the conversion will be. Footnotes, page numbers, headers, all of these will make the conversion worse.

stormridersp · 08-10-2011, 10:17 AM

Thanks everybody who helped, I've tried a few suggestion and the one which worked best was crich70's, PDFtoEpub.

This software is available for free due to a 20.000 free copies currently being offered. Its very easy and user friendly.

The result was good, very readable, with pictures and everything but the document ended untitled and with unknown author despite the pdf file having had this data.

Is there anyway I can edit the mobi file to fix that?

Cheers

Noughty · 08-10-2011, 10:24 AM

Couldn't you add title and author with Calibre?

I tried that program too, works perfectly as far as I can see with one convert (I mostly hate author, title on every page in epub).

The only minus is the cover, why can't it take first page as cover? Title and author disappears. Will try to fix with calibre

stormridersp · 08-10-2011, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noughty

Couldn't you add title and author with Calibre?

I tried that program too, works perfectly as far as I can see with one convert (I mostly hate author, title on every page in epub).

The only minus is the cover, why can't it take first page as cover? Title and author disappears. Will try to fix with calibre

I tried to fix it with calibre, tho I'm sure quite sure I know how to use it.
I've edited and then used the save to disk button, finally re-uploading it to Kindle. The name is back, but one thing i've noticed now is that Tables structures were lost when using PDFtoEpub.

Noughty · 08-10-2011, 11:27 AM

I only tried convert to epub. The only problem is the cover. Don't know if it is possible to add it to the file. maybe with calibre or some other program.

What do you mean by Tables structures? Simple tables in pdf file? I doubt there is a good converter for pdfs with pictures, tables and etc. For me the most important is simple text, although for studying I might need more complicated text, but doubt I'll try to convert it (tables, graphics... no way that will work).

mayoi · 08-12-2011, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

One thing that might work is using a program like PDF to Epub.

Thanks for this, just downloaded the program.

08-09-2011, 12:05 PM	#1
stormridersp Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kindle 3	PDF to Kindle 3? I recently bought a Kindle 3 from Amazon expecting to be able to read my PDF books on it straight away. Unfortunatly my pdf ebooks are bigger than Kindle's 6" display, and fitting them to screen turns out to be basicly unreadable. I've tried Calibre, but it was unimaginable complicated to set it up right. I've spent about an hour after registering here, looking for ways to possible fix them, but I've found more suggestions than solutions and a bit too complicated to try them all out. I know this question was probably answered many times, but I couldnt find the definite answer, and since technology evolves by the hour, new solutions may have been found. I would like to know how do you guys manage to fix your PDFs, so they are as close and readable as possible to them funcional ebooks sold by amazon. I'm currently running the lasted Mac OS/X although if I really need to, I can bootcamp Win7 and work from there. Cheers

08-10-2011, 10:17 AM	#7
stormridersp Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Thanks everybody who helped, I've tried a few suggestion and the one which worked best was crich70's, PDFtoEpub. This software is available for free due to a 20.000 free copies currently being offered. Its very easy and user friendly. The result was good, very readable, with pictures and everything but the document ended untitled and with unknown author despite the pdf file having had this data. Is there anyway I can edit the mobi file to fix that? Cheers Last edited by stormridersp; 08-10-2011 at 10:19 AM.

08-10-2011, 10:24 AM	#8
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	Couldn't you add title and author with Calibre? I tried that program too, works perfectly as far as I can see with one convert (I mostly hate author, title on every page in epub). The only minus is the cover, why can't it take first page as cover? Title and author disappears. Will try to fix with calibre Last edited by Noughty; 08-10-2011 at 10:46 AM.

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08-09-2011, 12:30 PM	#2
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	One thing that might work is using a program like PDF to Epub. They had a period where they were offering it for free not long ago though that may well be over now. I'm not sure what the program costs but it can convert PDF files to HTML, epub or Kindle directly. No working TOC with the file if you convert directly to Kindle as far as I know, but it may work. The only thing is that it's a one at a time conversion so if you have a number of PDF files to convert it may take a while.

08-09-2011, 02:51 PM	#3
thomass Wizard Posts: 1,669 Karma: 2300001 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Türkiye Device: Kindle 5.3.7	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=184

08-09-2011, 05:20 PM	#4
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	Reading PDFs on the Kindle and other 6" readers is not a great experience. There's not much you can do with your docs if they are full of pics and charts, you'll never get a great conversion. A larger e-ink screen would be better, but still not a perfect experience.

08-09-2011, 06:03 PM	#5
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	I don't want to sound like a jerk, but you really should have researched this before you bought a kindle (or e-reader). 6" screens and PDFs just don't work well. PDFs were meant to replicate the printed page exactly, while 6" e-readers are meant for re-flowable text that can vary upon whatever the reader wants. That's why they make the bigger DX model, though that's far from perfect...

08-10-2011, 12:05 AM	#6
charmian Addict Posts: 386 Karma: 1814548 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle 3, Kindle PW2	The reason why you can't find an easy solution is because there isn't one, unfortunately. Easy solutions (that might not work well). 1. The easiest one is to put your PDF in landscape mode on your Kindle, possibly after clipping it with the Briss program. 2. Or, you can email the document to Amazon for conversion, but results might be mixed. 3. You can use Calibre to convert it (I find the results for this to be unsatisfactory) 4. Use a program like k2pdf or PDFmasher. (Caveat: k2pdf creates excess margins for some PDF documents, though it works fine with others. I haven't used PDFmasher yet because it's so complicated I don't understand how to use it) These will probably give you the best results, but they will require a lot of fiddling. The more complex the PDF, the more difficult the conversion will be. Footnotes, page numbers, headers, all of these will make the conversion worse.

08-10-2011, 11:27 AM	#10
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	I only tried convert to epub. The only problem is the cover. Don't know if it is possible to add it to the file. maybe with calibre or some other program. What do you mean by Tables structures? Simple tables in pdf file? I doubt there is a good converter for pdfs with pictures, tables and etc. For me the most important is simple text, although for studying I might need more complicated text, but doubt I'll try to convert it (tables, graphics... no way that will work).

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