Which format for my books on the PRS? - Page 2

Teddman · 06-11-2009, 02:37 PM

For my part, I've been surprised how well the 505 handles pdf's natively. I usually zoom up one font size from default, and though it takes about three 505 "screens" to get through a pdf page, the pages turn fast.

There's usually a ragged-right margin, and if it's an image-based pdf or one with extensive formatting, it's another story, but overall it's plenty readable and I haven't had a need to covert most my pdf's. In fact, I tried using Calibre to convert one of them to lrf and it made the formatting worse.

Quote:

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.

All of my .lit's I've converted to .lrf, and they look OK. Does epub usually look better for .lit files?

powerhawk · 06-11-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teddman

For my part, I've been surprised how well the 505 handles pdf's natively. I usually zoom up one font size from default, and though it takes about three 505 "screens" to get through a pdf page, the pages turn fast.

There's usually a ragged-right margin, and if it's an image-based pdf or one with extensive formatting, it's another story, but overall it's plenty readable and I haven't had a need to covert most my pdf's. In fact, I tried using Calibre to convert one of them to lrf and it made the formatting worse.All of my .lit's I've converted to .lrf, and they look OK. Does epub usually look better for .lit files?

I think it depends on the book really... I actually kept the book I am reading now in pdf format and it is loading at an acceptable rate.

Lemurion · 06-12-2009, 02:38 PM

I use both lrf and epub. If I can get the book in lrf I'll take it, however if I already have it in ereader format I convert it to epub rather than lrf as I seem to get better results that way.

My lrfs all end up with the last line of paragraphs center-justified which is far more annoying than ragged right.

Burliburd · 06-13-2009, 12:21 PM

Most of my books that I read are Romanian and there is no Romanian market for ebooks in LRF or EPUB file format. So I have to import all my ebooks from HTML, TXT or RTF into MS Word where I can edit them. It is easy and I'm used to it.

I set the page dimmensions to 8,75 x 11,5 cm with 0,2 cm margins. I use my favorite font Caecilia at 9 pt. I can add footnotes, I can make italic, bold, center or any other formating to the text. I can modify the styles as I wish. I make a TOC easy and fast.
I export then the file as a PDF. All the links are working and the pages looks exactly as I created them. The page turns takes just a litle bit more on the reader than for an LRF file but I can live with it, it's not such a big difference.

I am not converting files to EPUB because is not as fast as LRF, it doesn't looks exactly as I wish, plus I don't like the left justified text and page numbers on the right side. I still don't get it, why so many people are so pleased with the EPUB? Maybe someone can help me with this.

I've also tried Calibre and BookDesigner to convert files to LRF but they didn't looked like I was expecting. Some characters or pagebreakes were not displayed right, so I gave up to these tools and there was no chance to add pictures but the cover.

Maybe in the future there will be a good converting tool to LRF, maybe from Sony.

PDF is not perfect but it looks and works great on my PRS-505.

netseeker · 06-13-2009, 12:46 PM

Nothing ist faster than a prepaginated lrf-file on the sony readers. Text based Pdfs made for little screens are also very fast. A good epub-file is usually as fast as a good pdf, some epubs can be slow (big tocs are always slow because of a "limitation" in adobes epub Reader in the sony). Because most lrf-generators including calibre are not working without little quirks (lost paragraph margins for example) i use epub as my prefered format on the sony: it's fast enough, offers rich content formatting and i can fix little errors manually if necessary.

Timoleon · 06-13-2009, 12:48 PM

powerhawk,

I've found that if I load the file into BookDesigner and make a few edits, then convert it to LIT (using BookDesigner), then load the LIT file into calibre and convert it to LRF, it looks the best and loads the quickest and keeps all the pictures.

How's that for a long sentence?

JSWolf · 06-13-2009, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

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=

If Calibre did not put in the anchors, the ToC in the ePub would be fine speedwise.

benham · 06-13-2009, 05:53 PM

I WILL be able to download books directly from Sony Library to the 505 without reformating anything, right?

Teddman · 06-13-2009, 06:03 PM

What has everyone's experiences been with .rtf files? I've found that they load about as fast as lrf and and have full justification, though I usually have to zoom up one or two sizes for good readability.

gwynevans · 06-13-2009, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benham

I WILL be able to download books directly from Sony Library to the 505 without reformating anything, right?

Yes - also .ePub files (from other vendors in addition to Sony) are read 'natively' by the 505.

benham · 06-13-2009, 08:14 PM

Whew! Now for the biggy, any way to convert the Palm OS ereader files for the Sony? I'm guessing not.

wallcraft · 06-13-2009, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benham

Now for the biggy, any way to convert the Palm OS ereader files for the Sony?

DRM-free eReader files can be converted by the Calibre 0.6.0 beta. For DRM protected files, see eReader Decoder Tool.

benham · 06-13-2009, 10:49 PM

Up to the point where you said DRM I understood everything you said! Thanks! When I get to the point of actually wanting to do it I'll give it a study.

wallcraft · 06-13-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benham

Up to the point where you said DRM I understood everything you said!

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is the encryption that ties ebooks to particular devices. For eReader ebooks it involves your credit card number.

Lemurion · 06-14-2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benham

Whew! Now for the biggy, any way to convert the Palm OS ereader files for the Sony? I'm guessing not.

Actually there is: I'm reading a converted eReader file on my Sony at the moment.

What I do is use ereader2html to strip the DRM and convert my ereader book to html. I then import it into Calibre and convert it to ePub which I can then read on the Sony. For some reason I seem to get better results if I convert to ePub from html rather than LRF.

06-13-2009, 12:21 PM	#19
Burliburd Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Timisoara Device: Kindle DXG, iPod Touch	Most of my books that I read are Romanian and there is no Romanian market for ebooks in LRF or EPUB file format. So I have to import all my ebooks from HTML, TXT or RTF into MS Word where I can edit them. It is easy and I'm used to it. I set the page dimmensions to 8,75 x 11,5 cm with 0,2 cm margins. I use my favorite font Caecilia at 9 pt. I can add footnotes, I can make italic, bold, center or any other formating to the text. I can modify the styles as I wish. I make a TOC easy and fast. I export then the file as a PDF. All the links are working and the pages looks exactly as I created them. The page turns takes just a litle bit more on the reader than for an LRF file but I can live with it, it's not such a big difference. I am not converting files to EPUB because is not as fast as LRF, it doesn't looks exactly as I wish, plus I don't like the left justified text and page numbers on the right side. I still don't get it, why so many people are so pleased with the EPUB? Maybe someone can help me with this. I've also tried Calibre and BookDesigner to convert files to LRF but they didn't looked like I was expecting. Some characters or pagebreakes were not displayed right, so I gave up to these tools and there was no chance to add pictures but the cover. Maybe in the future there will be a good converting tool to LRF, maybe from Sony. PDF is not perfect but it looks and works great on my PRS-505. Last edited by Burliburd; 06-13-2009 at 03:40 PM.

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06-12-2009, 02:38 PM	#18
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	I use both lrf and epub. If I can get the book in lrf I'll take it, however if I already have it in ereader format I convert it to epub rather than lrf as I seem to get better results that way. My lrfs all end up with the last line of paragraphs center-justified which is far more annoying than ragged right.

06-13-2009, 12:46 PM	#20
netseeker sleepless reader Posts: 4,763 Karma: 615547 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Germany, near Stuttgart Device: Sony PRS-505, PB 360° & 302, nook wi-fi, Kindle 3	Nothing ist faster than a prepaginated lrf-file on the sony readers. Text based Pdfs made for little screens are also very fast. A good epub-file is usually as fast as a good pdf, some epubs can be slow (big tocs are always slow because of a "limitation" in adobes epub Reader in the sony). Because most lrf-generators including calibre are not working without little quirks (lost paragraph margins for example) i use epub as my prefered format on the sony: it's fast enough, offers rich content formatting and i can fix little errors manually if necessary.

06-13-2009, 12:48 PM	#21
Timoleon Time Enough at Last Posts: 387 Karma: 1151316 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New England Device: iPad 3, iPhone 5, Kindle 3, Fire, Sony PRS-350	powerhawk, I've found that if I load the file into BookDesigner and make a few edits, then convert it to LIT (using BookDesigner), then load the LIT file into calibre and convert it to LRF, it looks the best and loads the quickest and keeps all the pictures. How's that for a long sentence?

06-13-2009, 05:53 PM	#23
benham Guru Posts: 882 Karma: 5565888 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Townsend, WI Device: Palm TX, PRS-505 (BLUE)	I WILL be able to download books directly from Sony Library to the 505 without reformating anything, right?

06-13-2009, 06:03 PM	#24
Teddman Addict Posts: 242 Karma: 695 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	What has everyone's experiences been with .rtf files? I've found that they load about as fast as lrf and and have full justification, though I usually have to zoom up one or two sizes for good readability.

06-13-2009, 08:14 PM	#26
benham Guru Posts: 882 Karma: 5565888 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Townsend, WI Device: Palm TX, PRS-505 (BLUE)	Whew! Now for the biggy, any way to convert the Palm OS ereader files for the Sony? I'm guessing not.

06-13-2009, 10:49 PM	#28
benham Guru Posts: 882 Karma: 5565888 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Townsend, WI Device: Palm TX, PRS-505 (BLUE)	Up to the point where you said DRM I understood everything you said! Thanks! When I get to the point of actually wanting to do it I'll give it a study.