Newbie needs help, please...

[Athos]

Hi,

Please would somebody help me? When I download bboks from Project Gutenburg in Plain Text format, they're hard to read on my eReader, because the layout seems strange - lines break in strange places, such that some lines have just one word on them.

Is there anything that can be done, please?

Thanks,

Athos

[babyd]

Yes, you can download Calibre and convert them to LRF files that will be better formatted. Or you can use Book Designer and then you can edit them yourself and then create an LRF file from that too......if you do a search on here for those you will find where to download them plus lots of information to help you use them

Plus Im sure lots of people will be along soon with even more ideas

[Athos]

Originally Posted by babyd

Yes, you can download Calibre and convert them to LRF files that will be better formatted. Or you can use Book Designer and then you can edit them yourself and then create an LRF file from that too......if you do a search on here for those you will find where to download them plus lots of information to help you use them

Plus Im sure lots of people will be along soon with even more ideas

Wow! That was quick, and very helpful. I did as you suggested and it has worked a treat. Thanks.

Will I be able to use Calibre to convert books I buy from Mobipocket into the LRF format?

Regards,

Athos

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Athos

Hi,

Please would somebody help me? When I download bboks from Project Gutenburg in Plain Text format, they're hard to read on my eReader, because the layout seems strange - lines break in strange places, such that some lines have just one word on them.

Is there anything that can be done, please?

Thanks,

Athos

Hi, Athos, and welcome to MobileRead:

What you need -- IF you have Microsoft Word -- is BookCreator Tool, available here on MobileRead.

Here's the link:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...okcreator+tool

This will cure most of the headaches associated with those weird line breaks. I assemble books here on MobileRead (as do many others), so I know exactly what I'm talking about in regard to this program.

Also, there are many more conversion tools available for the Sony.

Also, because you are somewhat new to the site, I want to recommend the download area here. There's more than 6,000 books available - not exclusively for the Sony, but the majority are indeed for our favorite ebook Reader.

Suggestion: Try to find HTML files on Gutenberg, as they give the least headache in conversion; but the use of BookCreator Tool for those pesky text files gives absolutely excellent results.

Once you've gotten rid of those horrible line breaks, you can import them into BookDesigner or calibre for conversion into lrf files. (There's a steep learning curve on BookDesigner, but many of us use this program.)

Let us know if you need any help on your Reader. There are plenty of members here who will be happy to give assistance.

Don

[babyd]

Yes, as long as they are DRM free.......

[Athos]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Hi, Athos, and welcome to MobileRead:

What you need -- IF you have Microsoft Word -- is BookCreator Tool, available here on MobileRead.

Here's the link:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...okcreator+tool

This will cure most of the headaches associated with those weird line breaks. I assemble books here on MobileRead (as do many others), so I know exactly what I'm talking about in regard to this program.

Also, there are many more conversion tools available for the Sony.

Also, because you are somewhat new to the site, I want to recommend the download area here. There's more than 6,000 books available - not exclusively for the Sony, but the majority are indeed for our favorite ebook Reader.

Suggestion: Try to find HTML files on Gutenberg, as they give the least headache in conversion; but the use of BookCreator Tool for those pesky text files gives absolutely excellent results.

Once you've gotten rid of those horrible line breaks, you can import them into BookDesigner or calibre for conversion into lrf files. (There's a steep learning curve on BookDesigner, but many of us use this program.)

Let us know if you need any help on your Reader. There are plenty of members here who will be happy to give assistance.

Don

Thanks. That's really helpful.

[Athos]

Originally Posted by babyd

Yes, as long as they are DRM free.......

How will I know?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by babyd

Yes, as long as they are DRM free.......

"Project Gutenburg[sic] in Plain Text format" are all DRM-free, since they are in the public domain in many countries.

[Athos]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

"Project Gutenburg[sic] in Plain Text format" are all DRM-free, since they are in the public domain in many countries.

But what about ones I buy from Mobipocket? Will I be able to convert them with Calibre, or will it be impossible because they are DRM?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Athos

But what about ones I buy from Mobipocket? Will I be able to convert them with Calibre, or will it be impossible because they are DRM?

Let me give you my very biased opinion on this:

I would stay away from DRM-protected files of books that you buy for the Sony, with the exception of titles you purchase from Sony.

You CAN buy DRM protected LIT files and unlock them if you own them, and then convert them to Sony's file format. However, that's another topic of discussion. (I don't convert DRM protected files for the Sony that I've bought, for the simple reason that I do not purchase DRM protected LIT files.)

Fictionwise - a place that sells ebooks in many, many different formats - has books available for the Sony. I've bought over 100 titles from them in about 3 months' time.

Our Readers cannot read Mobipocket. For that you probably need the Cybook Gen3.

Don

[Athos]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Let me give you my very biased opinion on this:

I would stay away from DRM-protected files of books that you buy for the Sony, with the exception of titles you purchase from Sony.

You CAN buy DRM protected LIT files and unlock them if you own them, and then convert them to Sony's file format. However, that's another topic of discussion. (I don't convert DRM protected files for the Sony that I've bought, for the simple reason that I do not purchase DRM protected LIT files.)

Fictionwise - a place that sells ebooks in many, many different formats - has books available for the Sony. I've bought over 100 titles from them in about 3 months' time.

Our Readers cannot read Mobipocket. For that you probably need the Cybook Gen3.

Don

That makes sense. Thanks, again.

Athos

[Dr. Drib]

You're welcome, Athos.

Some of the information I gave you is very opinionated, so try to also get other members' opinions for a good balance of information.

Again, welcome to the site. I think you'll have a lot of fun here.

Don

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Athos

But what about ones I buy from Mobipocket? Will I be able to convert them with Calibre, or will it be impossible because they are DRM?

Note that mobipocket.com is typically the most expensive place to buy MOBI ebooks. There are many other sites selling MOBI, and the two most often recommended are FictionWise and BooksOnBoard. See What are the top 5 ebook stores and why?.

Like LIT DRM, the MOBI DRM is crackable (in this case using mobidedrm) and once a MOBI ebook is DRM-free Calibre can convert it to LRF. Note that the legal status of removing DRM and format shifting varies from place to place, however doing so for personal use on ebooks that you bought harms no one.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Athos

When I download bboks from Project Gutenberg in Plain Text format, they're hard to read on my eReader

If you don't want to format them yourself, try: a) the upload forum (click on E-Books at the top of the page above) for hand-crafted versions, b) Feedbooks for good quality versions, or c) manybooks.net for machine generated versions of all US PG books in many formats.

[Athos]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

If you don't want to format them yourself, try: a) the upload forum (click on E-Books at the top of the page above) for hand-crafted versions, b) Feedbooks for good quality versions, or c) manybooks.net for machine generated versions of all US PG books in many formats.

Thank you, Wallcraft - very informative.