converting pdf to epub

[superstitious]

I use Calibre to do my conversion. It is not perfect epub rendition but it is pretty close to me. I basically didn't really change anything at all but one thing. In the " line up-wrapping factor" I changed it to 0.45 instead of the default 0.5 I found that advice here somewhere but I can't locate the thread now. It's been so long. The suggestion said to try anywhere from 0.35, 0.45, and 0.55. Mine PDFs looked best with 0.45 IMO. Hope this helps.

[Canorka]

Originally Posted by superstitious

I use Calibre to do my conversion. It is not perfect epub rendition but it is pretty close to me. I basically didn't really change anything at all but one thing. In the " line up-wrapping factor" I changed it to 0.45 instead of the default 0.5 I found that advice here somewhere but I can't locate the thread now. It's been so long. The suggestion said to try anywhere from 0.35, 0.45, and 0.55. Mine PDFs looked best with 0.45 IMO. Hope this helps.

Awesome tip, this works wonders. Some nagging paragraph breaks to deal with but totally manageable stuff. Thanks!

[freddystewert]

while Calibre and other tools like it are grate for free convertions... they just will not have the best quality, so if u are profectonist then u are ether going to have to learn a lot of crappy boring programing stuff, or u could just use a conversion company i like to use pdf to ebook converter

[Toxaris]

Nobody can do perfect automatic conversion of PDF to ePUB. There are some tools which are good, but they all require afterwork.
A lot of those 'conversion companies' use the same tools as we. The quality of those companies is very dependent on the afterwork. Since the afterwork takes time, this will be reflected in the price.

[Wiggle72]

Hello there, this is my first post. I have just purchased a cybook opus, and I use calibre to convert from pdf to epub, I was wondering, should I do this, or should I just take the pdf files and put them in my cybook, this is for storys, star wars etc. I know I could just try but I was wondering if anyone else had any views. Also when I convert from pdf to epub, I get an opf file, should I just transfer the epub file and forget about transfering the opf file. If I just transfer the epub file without opf, what would happen, thanks.

[JSWolf]

You should treat the PDF like they don't exist. Ignore them or delete them. Getting them to look good on a reader with a 6" screen isn't worth your time and hassle.

[frabjous]

Nonsense. There are plenty of ways of try to make them look good, but I wouldn't convert to ePub. Try tools like BRISS, and soPDF to divide the pages into manageable chunks. I've taken scans of triple-column textbooks and made them readable on a 6" screen.

[cakefordinner]

Personally, I've given up on converting PDF to epub. "It's like a box a choclits. You nevah know whatcher gonna git." Forest Gump

It's a total crapshoot if your epub conversion is going to actually have content on the pages or be completely blank.

I did one (pdf > delete all 30+ blank pages and duplicate covers/title pages/split image pages > text > spent hours fixing all the problems (mainly spaces between letters that don't belong) > add to calibre > add book cover and all the metadata > convert.

Once was enough. I have an iPad and iPhone so I just let all the PDFs (all 2 of them, so far) go to their separate shelf. Haven't gotten up the energy to add any of my PDF cookbooks. One thing's for sure; I'm not going to bother trying to convert any of them. Even asking St. Jude to help (patron saint of hopeless cases) didn't work. LOL

[gsp]

Hi,

When converting from pdf to EPUB using calibre the columns are not converted correctly.


In my pdf I am having 3 column format. But after conversion it showing as a single column (3 columns - as one by one).


Please advise.

Thanks

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by gsp

Hi,

When converting from pdf to EPUB using calibre the columns are not converted correctly.


In my pdf I am having 3 column format. But after conversion it showing as a single column (3 columns - as one by one).


Please advise.

Thanks

If keeping the 3 column format is important, then leave it as a PDF. You're not going to be able to convert to any format and retain a multi-column style.

[gsp]

We need to convert it into EPUB format to read from kindle device.

[gsp]

We need to convert it into EPUB format to read from kindle device. This is our client's requirement

Is there any way to edit EPUB file after conversion.

We need to convert PDF into EPUB and MOBI.

Please advise on any other way to acheive this task

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by gsp

We need to convert it into EPUB format to read from kindle device. This is our client's requirement

You can convert to epub/mobi but you're going to have to ditch the 3-column format. It's that simple. And there's still going to be a lot of manual cleanup involved with whatever conversion tool you use.

Is there any way to edit EPUB file after conversion.

Sigil

[SusanM]

Thanks,
I was wondering about Abby Fine Reader. What would you say is the accuracy? I have Acrobat X1 which does an okay job on OCR,

S

[Turtle91]

Abbyy has improved a bit ...

As mentioned here I would use it to create HTML then do the afterwork to clean it up. Then use sigil to make an ePub.

Another way is to use Abby to make an RTF, then use Toxaris' word cleanup macro to make a clean HTML. Then sigil to make ePub.