Troubleshooting Text reflow – need advice

FabianWG · 08-30-2022, 05:58 AM

I would like to use my PW5 to study for university. However, most of the materials are either PDFs (probably two columns and pictures in different sizes), or PowerPoint slides.

The reflow of KOReader is good, but not perfect. Do you have any advice for what format I should convert this and how to reflow the text and correct for mistakes. Or maybe label/order the textboxes/pictures beforehand?

Kusuri · 08-30-2022, 09:08 AM

my experience with pdfs is: don't. what ever you do, don't.

i tried so many things.. converting it to mobi, azw3, epub.. tried many settings in calibre, even tried custom css settings and a lot of other things like k2pdfopt.. but nothing really made it enjoyable. when i converted it to mobi, azw3 etc. it even killed the whole layout of the document, even really simple pdf's without complex layouts (tables etc). it helped a bit to convert the pdf with k2pdfopt, but even with this.. it just was really annoying to read pdf's on my kindle PW4. because of this, i stopped trying to get pdfs working on my kindle and now just use my smartphone or PC for it. it was just not worth my time and effort anymore. because for every document i wanted to read, it took almost 30-40minutes or so of trying countless times with countless different settings to see what worked the best.. and it never worked good enough & was always a glitchy mess.

so.. if anyone finds a good solution, i would be interested too in this.

DNSB · 08-30-2022, 05:14 PM

I would agree with Kusuri. PDFs are page oriented and do not convert well to other formats. I would recommend a tablet (Android, iOS or Windows), most of which would also allow you to use PowerPoint to open a PowerPoint slideshow. At a minimum, if you must stick with eInk, look for a 10.3" minimum device.

One student friend of mine does convert PDF to epub and then edits them to fix them up but it is very labour intensive and the output generally has little resemblance to the input.

hleo12 · 08-30-2022, 08:14 PM

The average price of a 10 inch e-ink device is more expensive than a decent 10 inch android tablet.

I'd also recommend a tablet rather than sticking to an eink device.

FabianWG · 08-31-2022, 08:49 AM

This wasn’t what i wanted to hear but thanks nonetheless ^^

JSWolf · 08-31-2022, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hleo12

The average price of a 10 inch e-ink device is more expensive than a decent 10 inch android tablet.

I'd also recommend a tablet rather than sticking to an eink device.

Forget Android. An iPad is a better shape for PDF.

Quoth · 08-31-2022, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would agree with Kusuri. PDFs are page oriented and do not convert well to other formats. I would recommend a tablet (Android, iOS or Windows), most of which would also allow you to use PowerPoint to open a PowerPoint slideshow. At a minimum, if you must stick with eInk, look for a 10.3" minimum device..

Agree with all of the snipped post.

Also trivial to convert Powerpoint to a PDF page to suit a 10.3" eink.

08-30-2022, 05:58 AM	#1
FabianWG Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2022 Device: PW5	Text reflow – need advice I would like to use my PW5 to study for university. However, most of the materials are either PDFs (probably two columns and pictures in different sizes), or PowerPoint slides. The reflow of KOReader is good, but not perfect. Do you have any advice for what format I should convert this and how to reflow the text and correct for mistakes. Or maybe label/order the textboxes/pictures beforehand?

08-30-2022, 09:08 AM	#2
Kusuri Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 909418 Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Germany Device: PW4+Fire 7", Onyx Boox Nova Air	my experience with pdfs is: don't. what ever you do, don't. i tried so many things.. converting it to mobi, azw3, epub.. tried many settings in calibre, even tried custom css settings and a lot of other things like k2pdfopt.. but nothing really made it enjoyable. when i converted it to mobi, azw3 etc. it even killed the whole layout of the document, even really simple pdf's without complex layouts (tables etc). it helped a bit to convert the pdf with k2pdfopt, but even with this.. it just was really annoying to read pdf's on my kindle PW4. because of this, i stopped trying to get pdfs working on my kindle and now just use my smartphone or PC for it. it was just not worth my time and effort anymore. because for every document i wanted to read, it took almost 30-40minutes or so of trying countless times with countless different settings to see what worked the best.. and it never worked good enough & was always a glitchy mess. so.. if anyone finds a good solution, i would be interested too in this. Last edited by Kusuri; 08-30-2022 at 09:10 AM.

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08-30-2022, 05:14 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,168 Karma: 168983734 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I would agree with Kusuri. PDFs are page oriented and do not convert well to other formats. I would recommend a tablet (Android, iOS or Windows), most of which would also allow you to use PowerPoint to open a PowerPoint slideshow. At a minimum, if you must stick with eInk, look for a 10.3" minimum device. One student friend of mine does convert PDF to epub and then edits them to fix them up but it is very labour intensive and the output generally has little resemblance to the input.

08-30-2022, 08:14 PM	#4
hleo12 Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 5078890 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kobo Glo (deceased), Kindle 4th, Kindle Basic 10th Generation	The average price of a 10 inch e-ink device is more expensive than a decent 10 inch android tablet. I'd also recommend a tablet rather than sticking to an eink device.

08-31-2022, 08:49 AM	#5
FabianWG Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2022 Device: PW5	This wasn’t what i wanted to hear but thanks nonetheless ^^

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