Convert an unreadable PDF file?

Lekdin · 04-23-2010, 10:44 AM

Hi, I downloaded a book I've been wanting to read for a while now, called "L'Ame Enchantée", or "The Enchanted Soul" in English. It is pretty old, from the 1920's and is not that popular which is why it was to hard to find a website that contained the ebook. I downloaded the PDF version which are just scanned pages of the book. I put it on my Kindle DX, yet I could not see anything, instead there is a message on the bottom of my kindle saying, "Some elements on this page could not be displayed".

I tried using Calibre and sending the file to my @free.kindle.com, yet the results were the exact same from both of them: I received a file containing 3D looking text that is very thick and completely unreadable.

I then tried to use Adobe Acrobat and saved it as a PDF/a, but it wont let me convert it, my file is unsuitable for that format.

I tried other multiple little ideas, but nothing seems to work.

It just seems so silly to read the book online after spending hundreds of dollars to avoid just that. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

jol12 · 04-23-2010, 12:03 PM

Hi there,
I would try to use PDFread to convert that book to prc.
Hope it will work fine,
Cheers

lmittell · 04-23-2010, 02:16 PM

If by chance you have Acrobat Pro, try using its OCR text recognition feature, then save the OCRed document under a new name, to preserve your original. This option is found in the Document pulldown menu. I've found it to work remarkably well.

The new document ought to convert, using the method of your choosing, and assuming the scanned text is reasonably clean, but you'll no doubt find the occasional OCR error here and there.

Another option would be to feed your PDF to a good OCR program like ABBYY Finereader, save the result to a text or word processor format, then convert to mobi or prc from there.

HTH,
Larry

Lekdin · 04-23-2010, 09:03 PM

@lmittell:
Thank you so much!! The OCR text recognition feature worked magically!

I will definitely remember this technique in the future. Thanks again

lmittell · 04-24-2010, 12:40 AM

I'm pleased to hear that you've successfully converted your book!

Larry

04-23-2010, 10:44 AM	#1
Lekdin Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: kindle dx	Convert an unreadable PDF file? Hi, I downloaded a book I've been wanting to read for a while now, called "L'Ame Enchantée", or "The Enchanted Soul" in English. It is pretty old, from the 1920's and is not that popular which is why it was to hard to find a website that contained the ebook. I downloaded the PDF version which are just scanned pages of the book. I put it on my Kindle DX, yet I could not see anything, instead there is a message on the bottom of my kindle saying, "Some elements on this page could not be displayed". I tried using Calibre and sending the file to my @free.kindle.com, yet the results were the exact same from both of them: I received a file containing 3D looking text that is very thick and completely unreadable. I then tried to use Adobe Acrobat and saved it as a PDF/a, but it wont let me convert it, my file is unsuitable for that format. I tried other multiple little ideas, but nothing seems to work. It just seems so silly to read the book online after spending hundreds of dollars to avoid just that. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Last edited by Lekdin; 04-23-2010 at 11:05 AM.

04-23-2010, 12:03 PM	#2
jol12 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woolhampton, UK Device: prs 505(broken), kindle dxi, K3 3G	Hi there, I would try to use PDFread to convert that book to prc. Hope it will work fine, Cheers Last edited by jol12; 04-23-2010 at 12:07 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Getting error when trying to convert a pdf file	Blue Dream	Calibre	1	07-24-2010 10:51 PM
How can i convert HTML or txt file to EPUB file ?	guguqiaqia	ePub	7	05-28-2010 09:15 PM
PDF unreadable on Kindle	saxophone	PDF	8	03-05-2010 11:29 AM

04-23-2010, 02:16 PM	#3
lmittell Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 14 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Palos Verdes, CA Device: K2, K3, Jetbook Lite, iPhone4	If by chance you have Acrobat Pro, try using its OCR text recognition feature, then save the OCRed document under a new name, to preserve your original. This option is found in the Document pulldown menu. I've found it to work remarkably well. The new document ought to convert, using the method of your choosing, and assuming the scanned text is reasonably clean, but you'll no doubt find the occasional OCR error here and there. Another option would be to feed your PDF to a good OCR program like ABBYY Finereader, save the result to a text or word processor format, then convert to mobi or prc from there. HTH, Larry

04-23-2010, 09:03 PM	#4
Lekdin Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: kindle dx	@lmittell: Thank you so much!! The OCR text recognition feature worked magically! I will definitely remember this technique in the future. Thanks again

04-24-2010, 12:40 AM	#5
lmittell Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 14 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Palos Verdes, CA Device: K2, K3, Jetbook Lite, iPhone4	I'm pleased to hear that you've successfully converted your book! Larry