Will Calibre work with the iPad?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

You may find it is just easier to get the GoodReader app for your iPad. This way you won't need to do any conversions and can consume the PDFs as-s.

BOb

I use ePub on my Sony 505 and always thought that the one nice thing the iPad would have going for it would be PDF viewing. Yet I keep reading frustrations from iPad users trying to fit their PDFs into iBooks.

To all the iPad users out there, STOP IT. Go with Bob's suggestion and take advantage of the iPad's PDF viewing. Thanks for the info Bob, I only hope the iPad folks out there take your advice.

[Fotoman]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

You may find it is just easier to get the GoodReader app for your iPad. This way you won't need to do any conversions and can consume the PDFs as-s.

BOb

I did so based on your recommendation...best $0.99 I've ever spent!

It doesn't have the iBooks bells, whistles and eye candy but, especially with reflow turned on, it's great PDF ebook reader.

I don't come here often but it's always worth the trip.

Cheers.

[sk8bit]

Originally Posted by Fotoman

I did so based on your recommendation...best $0.99 I've ever spent!

It doesn't have the iBooks bells, whistles and eye candy but, especially with reflow turned on, it's great PDF ebook reader.

I don't come here often but it's always worth the trip.

Cheers.

Yea this is the only other work around, but the whole point was to avoiding buying another app to and stick with whats free and native. I'll most likely end up buying Air Sharing Pro or some other PDF reader for my iPad because most of my tech manuals are just PDF's and not actually books. BUMMER!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by sk8bit

Yea this is the only other work around, but the whole point was to avoiding buying another app to and stick with whats free and native. I'll most likely end up buying Air Sharing Pro or some other PDF reader for my iPad because most of my tech manuals are just PDF's and not actually books. BUMMER!

I don't know, I use (and have bought) different apps on my computer to consume different types of media and information. You know most times apps that "do it all" are jack of all trades master of none.

BOb

[sk8bit]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I don't know, I use (and have bought) different apps on my computer to consume different types of media and information. You know most times apps that "do it all" are jack of all trades master of none.

BOb

I'm in the same boat, but sometimes you just need a jack of all trades to get the job done when a solution can't be found.

[Fotoman]

By the way...

I just did a PDF to epub conversion of Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol" using Calibre. I used the the Illiad output profile just because it has the same reslution as the iPad (1024 x 768.)

It seems to have worked great... I've found no problems reading it in iBooks so far. If I do, I'll post a follow-up.

The transfer is just as easy as a drag and drop into iTunes.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Fotoman

I just did a PDF to epub conversion of Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol" using Calibre. I used the the Illiad output profile just because it has the same reslution as the iPad (1024 x 768.)

In theory the only difference between the Illiad output profile and the Sony 300 is when you deal with image resizing. The Sony profile will resize images to fit within 800x600 where the Illiad profile will resize images to fit within 1024x768. An all text novel could care less since ePub is a text reflowable standard.

Converting from PDF is the real problem. Some folks here could help their output by adjusting the line un-wrapping factor under PDF input. Even if you get this number about right converting from PDF to Epub is problematic. Probably best to grab a good PDF viewing App for the iPad.

[sk8bit]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

In theory the only difference between the Illiad output profile and the Sony 300 is when you deal with image resizing. The Sony profile will resize images to fit within 800x600 where the Illiad profile will resize images to fit within 1024x768. An all text novel could care less since ePub is a text reflowable standard.

Converting from PDF is the real problem. Some folks here could help their output by adjusting the line un-wrapping factor under PDF input. Even if you get this number about right converting from PDF to Epub is problematic. Probably best to grab a good PDF viewing App for the iPad.

You keep pushing the whole PDF thing, don't get me wrong I agree with you to just use a different solution because of the issue with converting to ePUB but it is really comfortable to have an app that just feels exactly like a real book. Pages take up the whole screen, you just flick a finger and the page doesn't jump around the screen like PDF images do on the iPad.

The most comfortable experience I'm getting now is reading PDFs with "Air Sharing HD". Almost feels like an eBook reader app but has a lot of other great features also.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by sk8bit

You keep pushing the whole PDF thing, don't get me wrong I agree with you to just use a different solution because of the issue with converting to ePUB but it is really comfortable to have an app that just feels exactly like a real book. Pages take up the whole screen, you just flick a finger and the page doesn't jump around the screen like PDF images do on the iPad.

I understand why you keep trying to put the square peg in the round hole, I do. It is just so darn hard to look at and pert near impossible to turn away from.

The only solace I can give is that Kovid has been rewriting the PDF conversion engine for Calibre and many of the basic problems people have had will be handled better. There is no date for this to be released though.

Another tip for difficult PDF conversions is to run them with debug. Just enter a directory in the the debug area. Calibre will copy to this directory what it is doing at different points in the conversion process. The intermediate steps are done as html. Pop open the book at the right stage, use an html editor to correct the problems. Add the corrected html back and convert.

Good luck to everyone traveling this road, you have more patience then I do.

[natethomas]

One of the reasons I'm holding back on buying the Ipad is because I can't seem to get a complete answer on the issue of syncing. I presently use Wordplayer with my Droid to wirelessly sync to the Calibre library. Previously, I used Stanza on my ipod touch to wirelessly sync.

Is there a program or programs on the Ipad that will accomplish this same task?

[JMikeD]

Originally Posted by natethomas

One of the reasons I'm holding back on buying the Ipad is because I can't seem to get a complete answer on the issue of syncing. I presently use Wordplayer with my Droid to wirelessly sync to the Calibre library. Previously, I used Stanza on my ipod touch to wirelessly sync.

Is there a program or programs on the Ipad that will accomplish this same task?

No. You currently have to import ebooks into iTunes, just a previous poster indicated.

[nixwinter]

I converted my book with Calibre and itunes and my ipad like it just fine
My issue is that the Calibre converted book doesn't pass the validation.

Nix

[theducks]

Te Validator is not perfect as Kovid mentioned about dates.

Examine the other errors wit Eyeball Mk I and see if you can spot an error (either way)

[lusid]

I don't get the PDF thing.

When I add PDFs to books in iTunes and copy them to the iPad, they show up in iBooks and I read them.

Aside from a seething hatred of iTunes, it seems to work just fine.

[za9]

Originally Posted by lusid

I don't get the PDF thing.

When I add PDFs to books in iTunes and copy them to the iPad, they show up in iBooks and I read them.

Aside from a seething hatred of iTunes, it seems to work just fine.

It does work just fine, but that's because PDF support was added to the iBook app, and thus the iPad after the above posts were made. Originally, as released in April this year, the iPad did not have native PDF capabilities, hence the GoodReader app being suggested as one possible solution.