Which format for my books on the PRS?

[powerhawk]

I just got my PRS... I put my books on in PDF form, but when I zoom in it runs way too slowly.

I tried putting them in a doc and converting to EPUB via calibre... but sped up the process, but the images didn't come through.

Is there a format that will run quickly, and that images will come through? I expect images to run slowly, I just want the text to load quickly.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by powerhawk

I just got my PRS... I put my books on in PDF form, but when I zoom in it runs way too slowly.

I tried putting them in a doc and converting to EPUB via calibre... but sped up the process, but the images didn't come through.

Is there a format that will run quickly, and that images will come through? I expect images to run slowly, I just want the text to load quickly.

Although I am given to understand that ePub is the greatest eBook file format ever, I found that on my PRS-505 it is both slow as hell and looks terrible to boot too.

LRFs work pretty good, and custom Sony Reader PDFs do too (which you can get from places like http://manybooks.net/ and http://feedbooks.com/) unless you want to change around your font sizes to fit the lighting / your mood.

- Ahi

[JSWolf]

I find ePub works quite nicely on my 505. It does not look terrible. And it is not slow as hell. PDF is usually a terrible format. Most PDF just don't work well on a 6" screen unless made to fit the screen. Sure you can go to Feedbooks to get eBooks in PDF, but try doing so with one of the latest best sellers. Won't happen. You can also get books in LRF or LRX formats as well. But if you have a choice of ePub, go for it.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by powerhawk

I just got my PRS... I put my books on in PDF form, but when I zoom in it runs way too slowly.

I tried putting them in a doc and converting to EPUB via calibre... but sped up the process, but the images didn't come through.

Is there a format that will run quickly, and that images will come through? I expect images to run slowly, I just want the text to load quickly.

I have the 505 and my number one rule is avoid pdf first. (also loading time is much longer) My order of preference is to obtain the book in lrf and epub. The lrf version is "prettier" but I like reading the epub also.

There is a whole forum devoted to the pdf viewing issues. Unless someone comes along with more information, your best bet is to cruise through those threads and see what various people have come up with.

I gather working with pdf (and I have no experience) depends on whether it is one or two column, scanned or txt, with or without tables, charts, pictures,..... etc etc. Just from the various threads I've read it seems to be very dependent on issues of each individual pdf file you have.... and help depends on being able to give enough information for someone to get a good idea about that particular pdf.

I hope this has helped and if not could a forum member please correct what may be incorrect in my post. Thank you

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by powerhawk

I tried putting them in a doc and converting to EPUB via calibre... but sped up the process, but the images didn't come through.

If by "doc" you mean MS Word, that might be the problem. Try exporting as "filtered HTML" and then running the HTML through Calibre.

[powerhawk]

Well, I meant I tried saving it as text... and of course I lost the pictures.

I also lost the pictures when I converted to Epub.

The files are OCR so the text is selectable, is there a good way to convert them to LRF or Epub and retain pictures?

[ahi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I find ePub ... is not slow as hell.

Is it slower than either LRFs or custom PDFs? Noticeably slower, at that?

All the ones I tried have been for me. Was I just having bad luck?

- Ahi

[ahi]

Originally Posted by dreams

I have the 505 and my number one rule is avoid pdf first. (also loading time is much longer)

PDFs are like custom-made suits. If they were not made for what they are currently on, they will be uncomfortable at best or "unwearable" at worst.

A PDF made for viewing on your Sony Reader however is faster than either LRF or ePub.

So while you are right--it's important to note the reason you are right is not due to any inherent flaws with PDF, but rather the fact that most PDFs are not targeted at us eBook reader users.

If I didn't know how to make my own PDFs, I would probably exclusively use LRF on my Sony Reader. So certainly technically non-savvy users should, generally speaking, avoid it as a format because it will give them grief they will not know how to remedy. But I don't understand how people get by with ePubs... the lack of proper justification makes it look vaguely like you are reading in notepad.exe ... despite any fancy font-work.

- Ahi

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ahi

Is it slower than either LRFs or custom PDFs? Noticeably slower, at that?

All the ones I tried have been for me. Was I just having bad luck?

- Ahi

I don't find ePub that much slower. The biggest difference is that ePub is loaded in parts and has to go through the ePub to get to the part it wants.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't find ePub that much slower. The biggest difference is that ePub is loaded in parts and has to go through the ePub to get to the part it wants.

I guess I'll give a couple of more ePub files a try. Every single one I tried to date was painfully slow. I shall harp not on the justification issue, since our battle-lines thereupon have been well drawn.

- Ahi

Ps.: For the record, you're agreeing that it is slower than both custom PDFs and LRFs. Right? Just not as slow as you interpreted me to imply.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ahi

I guess I'll give a couple of more ePub files a try. Every single one I tried to date was painfully slow. I shall harp not on the justification issue, since our battle-lines thereupon have been well drawn.

- Ahi

If you want to embed your own font, you will find ePub faster then LRF which does slow down with embedded fonts.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you want to embed your own font, you will find ePub faster then LRF which does slow down with embedded fonts.

Funny how "which format is best" is such a nuanced thing, with each format performing better in certain scenarios and their performance varying considerably under different circumstances.

- Ahi

[powerhawk]

I am still losing my pictures when converting to epub via calibre, and the load time is extremely slow as a pdf, even for pure text pages. Are there any other options?

Thanks

[TwiSteDCBloSsoM]

I use LRF mainly since I know they work on my reader. I also use epub. For some books I have I prefer the epub. Sometimes I'll find an old LIT file I have and I'll convert it to both LRF and epub and the epub looks better. It keeps most of the formating and the letters aren't as big. I noticed that when converting to LRF I sometimes lose the formating that was in the previous file which really annoys the crap out of me. Both are good though. Just depends on what you prefer. I haven't noticed the epub file being any slower like someone up above mentioned.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by ahi

I guess I'll give a couple of more ePub files a try. Every single one I tried to date was painfully slow. I shall harp not on the justification issue, since our battle-lines thereupon have been well drawn.

- Ahi

Ps.: For the record, you're agreeing that it is slower than both custom PDFs and LRFs. Right? Just not as slow as you interpreted me to imply.

Actually one of the biggest performance hits is the TOC on the SONY reader.

See the post HOWTO: Improve performance on calibe generated ePUBs to improve the ePUB performance on the SONY. There is also a Perl script and executable to automatically fix the problem.

=X=