PRS-650 Hindi PDF text shows as characters

[Jashn]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to load a Hindi language PDF to my Sony PRS650 without any luck. Rather than seeing the Hindi text, I get random roman letters instead.

I understand that font embedding is an issue. I'm not very technically inclined and from what I can tell the Hindi fonts actually are embedded in the text, so I'm not sure what to do. I'm wondering if anyone could help?

Thanks in advance,

Jashn

[delphin]

Your document loads fine on my PRS-650 under the original Sony firmware.

I can't read Hindi, but there are no random roman characters, and the Hindi script looks the exact same way it does on my PC.

Are you using hacked or localized software on your PRS-650?

Or did you perhaps try to to convert the title to EPUB using Calibre?
(conversion to EPUB will not work in Calibre due to the embedded fonts)

I did not use the Sony Library software or Calibre. I just moved the PDF document directly onto my PRS-650 as a file using drag and drop with the file manager, and everything looks fine.

[Jashn]

You hit the nail on the head, Delphin. I seem to have made my error whilst trying to use Calibre. When I avoid that and just dump it on the unit, all's well.

So it's the embedded fonts, which allow me to see the PDF, that also prevent me from converting it to an ePub? Oh the irony! Would you know any other software I could use to convert it to an ePub or is there no hope? It's not really necessary but it would make reading easier.

Thanks for all your help, Delphin!!!

Take care,

Jashn

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Jashn

You hit the nail on the head, Delphin. I seem to have made my error whilst trying to use Calibre. When I avoid that and just dump it on the unit, all's well.

So it's the embedded fonts, which allow me to see the PDF, that also prevent me from converting it to an ePub? Oh the irony! Would you know any other software I could use to convert it to an ePub or is there no hope? It's not really necessary but it would make reading easier.

Thanks for all your help, Delphin!!!

Take care,

Jashn

It's possible that there is a better conversion program for PDFs, but I haven't found one.

The PDF conversion apps that I have found, don't work much better than the built in PDF re-flow feature on the PRS-650. They they can extract only simple text, but no fonts or formatting.

I tried to load your doc into the app I use in Linux, and the Hindi text gets messed up and converted to roman characters, just as you saw in Calibre.

This is was the case even when I tried to set the converter to use a proper unicode font that should support Hindi text.

My guess is that the font encoding inside your PDF is not standard uni-code, but is instead based on an earlier Adobe font encoding that works only inside PDFs and that doesn't easily map to unicode fonts.

Calibre can convert documents with non-roman language character sets only if they can be mapped to a proper unicode font (and even then, this would require you to manually embed the font and create a custom CSS inside the EPUB to point to the proper unicode font.)

In any case, even when these apps do work, they only give you simple unformatted text (which usually doesn't work any better than the re-flow on your PRS-650).

[Shaleen77]

Hello

Is there a limit for RTF files that can be read on the Sony PRS-650 ?

I have a DOC file in Hindi font 'Mangal' with filesize:770KB which I converted using Word to RTF (size: 3.3MB). I added this RTF into Calibre and transferred to the Reader using Calibre. But the Reader says 'Invalid file' when I try to open it.

I've now shrunk the RTF to size 1.6MB (attached).

Could someone help me with how to make it readable on the Sony Reader?

Thanks

[Shaleen77]

Originally Posted by Shaleen77

Hello

Is there a limit for RTF files that can be read on the Sony PRS-650 ?

I have a DOC file in Hindi font 'Mangal' with filesize:770KB which I converted using Word to RTF (size: 3.3MB). I added this RTF into Calibre and transferred to the Reader using Calibre. But the Reader says 'Invalid file' when I try to open it.

I've now shrunk the RTF to size 1.6MB (attached).

Could someone help me with how to make it readable on the Sony Reader?

Thanks

uploaded the file again. hopefully it's attached herewith.

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by Shaleen77

uploaded the file again. hopefully it's attached herewith.

I think that the maximum size for an RTF attachment is 1.0 MB.

[melkorbauglir]

I knew from firsthand experience now,that in Calibre,one must put epub output to split at 250 kb chunks,i got alot of errors ont big html files ,uncutted epub has inside.Might be the case for other formats too.Ereader has memory issues with larger files.Try to cut your document into parts,and see,if it fixed the problem

[Shaleen77]

Originally Posted by melkorbauglir

I knew from firsthand experience now,that in Calibre,one must put epub output to split at 250 kb chunks,i got alot of errors ont big html files ,uncutted epub has inside.Might be the case for other formats too.Ereader has memory issues with larger files.Try to cut your document into parts,and see,if it fixed the problem

Hello

Thanks for the reply.

I've transferred PDF files upto 77MB through Calibre with no issues on the Reader.

For epubs, is this 250KB limit imposed by Calibre or by the Reader?
If its Calibre, then maybe transferring directly to the Reader should solve this 250KB limit!!

Shaleen

[Shaleen77]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

I think that the maximum size for an RTF attachment is 1.0 MB.

Thanks Wetdogeared

That solves the mystery of the vanishing attachments

I'll try copying the RTF to my Reader again and report back.

Shaleen

[Shaleen77]

hello all

my conclusions are as follows:-

hindi pdfs read ok (transferred with/without calibre) .

but hindi rtfs do not read (transferred with/without calibre). will have to try converting these rtfs to pdf perhaps to become readable on the reader ?!

any ideas anyone?

shaleen