Yet another PDF to LRF converter

[nesagwa]

Is there anyway you can compile the linux port for osx

Probably not an easy task, but never hurts to ask.

[stustaff]

Seconded would be great to use this on OSX.

[mike-y]

I have been trying to use pdflrflinux-0.99, and it looks promising, but for any font that is not embedded in the document (e.g, Times-Roman) I get a message about "Couldn't find a font for 'Times-Roman'" or the like. Looking at postings, it seems other Linux users are having the same problem. Different Linux distributions may put resources like font files in different places. Cacapee, could you tell us what is the path in which your program expects to find font files?

[shen]

I've just ordered my 505 but didn't receive it yet ... so it's time enough to play around with PdfLrf

Afaik the display resolution is 800x600. The default output size in PdfLrf is 754x584 - why? Is this space required by the 505 for displaying additional information (scroll bars, page numbers or something like that)?
Or are we just wasting space?

Thanks
Stefan

[Covak]

Originally Posted by shen

I've just ordered my 505 but didn't receive it yet ... so it's time enough to play around with PdfLrf

Afaik the display resolution is 800x600. The default output size in PdfLrf is 754x584 - why? Is this space required by the 505 for displaying additional information (scroll bars, page numbers or something like that)?
Or are we just wasting space?

Thanks
Stefan

The big hit in the vertical is the status bar along the bottom. And then there's a slight border along the bottom (above the status bar) and up the right side, stealing just a few pixels from the horizontal.

pdflrf fills the available space perfectly

[sonnyscott]

Hi

Great program Cacapee, thanks


When I convert a pdf to lrf and load it on my 505, the text size button doesn't change the text size. The small icon in the lower left corner changes from s -> m -> l but the text stays the same, very small. How can I change that?

Thanks

[Covak]

Originally Posted by sonnyscott

Hi

Great program Cacapee, thanks


When I convert a pdf to lrf and load it on my 505, the text size button doesn't change the text size. The small icon in the lower left corner changes from s -> m -> l but the text stays the same, very small. How can I change that?

Thanks

This program renders PDFs to image books (so there's no text for the 505 to reformat). If you were using portrait mode, give landscape a try. Otherwise you gotta use something like libprs500 to convert to a text book.

[brianpeiris]

woah, great work cacapee. The last time I tried pdflrf it was just a command line tool.
now it has a full blown UI and the preview feature is amazing, well done.
I look forward to looking at the source code, and maybe helping out if I can.

[godel10]

Originally Posted by godel10

Now I understand better the problem that I was pointing out above. So, let me explain it in a better way. [ I would like to ask people to check if they are getting the same problem than me. For this purpose I am going to use the windows 0.99 version (I guess it is then easier for people to check if they have the same bug), but the linux command line for pdflrf is neither working well.]

The bug is that the output from the command line is different than the output of the gui version, being this last one the right one.

Take any pdf file you have. Let us assume the name is "file.pdf". Now convert file.pdf to an lrf file using the gui 0.99 version (with the landscape profile, the one by default) setting the height to 500. Next try to do the same thing from the command line. You have to use the following command line


Now you have to lrf files, "file.lrf" and "file.pdf.lrf". Then if you use your standard program to read lrf files you will realize that the two previous outputs are very different (at least for me this happens).

Is the same happenning to you?

Has anybody checked this issue? Is the same happening to you or is it only me having problems with this issue?

[sonnyscott]

Originally Posted by Covak

This program renders PDFs to image books (so there's no text for the 505 to reformat). If you were using portrait mode, give landscape a try. Otherwise you gotta use something like libprs500 to convert to a text book.

OK, so if I have a pdf with too small text for me to read, how can I make the text larger? I have access to Adobe Pro, if that help's anything. Thanks.

[tuktuk]

Great tool that does miracles!

I understand that the tool can extract TOC from pdfs. Could I request a feature to extract TOC from djvu's?

The format of djvu's TOC can be found here:


http://windjview.sourceforge.net/bookmarks.html

[SethM]

Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone with the subject line---I am the one with the handicap here, I can't really follow a lot of this thread but I have a 505 (and a 500 about to be given as a gift to a friend) and would dearly like to read pdf files. The praises here are outstanding but I don't know where to begin to ask about how to use this.....

help (?)

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by SethM

I don't know where to begin to ask about how to use this.....

help (?)

Assuming your using Windows, download the pdflrfwin-0.99.zip file from the first post then unzip it & extract the pdflrfwin.exe it contains to somewhere (e.g. "C:\Program Files\Converters\" or similar). Run it, and it will show a GUI.

Choose the PDF to convert by chosing "Browse..." in the "Input" drop-down. (NB: Not the 'View' button next to it.)
Try various things, using the "Preview" window to see the effect, then "Convert" to the LRF file when happy with the settings.

[rmanasa]

Greetings -

I realize others have addressed this question, but I believe if I beat this horse, it will improve its chances, not kill it. <g>

There are many fine pdf to lrf converters out there. None of them, however address the basic problem with pdfs on the Reader: that the format cannot be magnified enough for the files to be truly readable. I have switched to landscape, which can help quite a bit, and there are many solutions for text only pdfs. But for anything with graphics, charts, cells, pictures or any other form of non-text content, the Reader is close to sufficient, at best.

I know I'm not alone in this. I also know that "it can't be done" is what I say when I just don't wanna or lack the necessary imagination to at least approach a problem. That doesn't describe the gurus on this forum, so I have to assume *somebody* is working on this.

If you need someone to beta test, let me know. If you need a cheerleader, I'll break out the pom poms. But someone - please! - find a way to crack this egg!

Thanks for enduring my rant. We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum.

[tuktuk]

Originally Posted by rmanasa

None of them, however address the basic problem with pdfs on the Reader: that the format cannot be magnified enough for the files to be truly readable. I have switched to landscape, which can help quite a bit, and there are many solutions for text only pdfs. But for anything with graphics, charts, cells, pictures or any other form of non-text content, the Reader is close to sufficient, at best.

I know I'm not alone in this. I also know that "it can't be done" is what I say when I just don't wanna or lack the necessary imagination to at least approach a problem. That doesn't describe the gurus on this forum, so I have to assume *somebody* is working on this.

Warning: I am not a programmer.

Basically, you are talking about zoom functionality for image-based pdfs/lrf. Right? The problem is that Sony viewers in the Reader (i.e., the software in the Reader that displays pdf and lrf) does not have zoom. You can only zoom pictures in the picture viewer. So, no matter what you do with pdf or lrf files it will not help. There are two possible solutions to this:

1) Sony implements zoom functionality in its lrf/pdf viewers (pdf viewer is from Adobe, right) or releases source code for these programs so that somebody could add zoom.

2) Somebody writes a new Sony viewer from scratch based only on what we know so far about the system. It is a very complicated task to create a viewer that is at least as good as Sony's with added functionality. Right now, we know how to reflash the software on the Reader; however, Sony may close this opportunity any time with a new update, which would require time-consuming reverse engineering by igorsk and his crew.

This may become moot in a couple years when we have e-readers with larger screen sizes.