iPad Pdf with DRM?

[OlleF]

Well, I bought an iPad, installed Bluefire pdf reader and has never been happier!
I have tossed my Irex 1000DS and my Bookeen Opus into a dark corner.....
The crispness of the display and iPads ability to show colors makes it absolutely outstanding!

[lazyartist]

Originally Posted by xristy

Maybe iBooks "should have no problems" but it actually does have problems. You can indeed send an Adobe DRM'd PDF to iBooks but you're not going to be able to read it - all pages appear blank. The only apps that I am aware of that run on the iPad and provide access to Adobe DRM'd PDFs are Txtr and Bluefire Reader. iBooks does not implement the Adobe DRM and a major clue is that it doesn't ask to authorize the iPad / iBooks when you try to access an Adobe DRM'd PDF. As it turns out Bluefire Reader is a good solution and many others here swear by Txtr - partly no doubt since it was the only solution until a few days ago when Bluefire was released.

Hmm, I use iBooks exclusively on my iPad and have some drm ebooks from amazon and a few other places, and I had no problem reading them except for one. And that PDF was corrupted and didn't even work with adobe reader on my Mac. (redownloaded it and it worked fine.)

It seems like a lot of people are reporting various problems with their iPad or itunes that I never encounter. Is everyone making sure they have the latest iTunes and iOS and ibooks?
iOS 3.2 did fix some pdf glitches and security issues.

[xristy]

Originally Posted by lazyartist

Hmm, I use iBooks exclusively on my iPad and have some drm ebooks from amazon and a few other places, and I had no problem reading them except for one. And that PDF was corrupted and didn't even work with adobe reader on my Mac. (redownloaded it and it worked fine.)

It seems like a lot of people are reporting various problems with their iPad or itunes that I never encounter. Is everyone making sure they have the latest iTunes and iOS and ibooks?
iOS 3.2 did fix some pdf glitches and security issues.

Please tell us which Amazon ePub / PDF title DRM'd with Adobe Adept - read by, for example, Adobe Digital Editions and its derivatives (such as Bluefire on iPad) - you have purchased from Amazon and which is readable by iBooks. I am personally not aware of Amazon selling anything but Amazon's version of Mobipocket with DRM which is not readable by iBooks which is based on an ePub DRM not a Mobipocket format with DRM.

Please also tell us of an Adobe Adept DRM'd title purchased elsewhere that you are able to read via iBooks, a title that can be purchased from ebooks.com or other seller for example.

There is no place where Apple has claimed that iBooks is capable of reading Adept DRM'd ePub or PDFs or Mobipocket - with or without DRM.

Perhaps you are reporting experiences with ePubs for which Adept has been circumvented - possible but non-trivial; or perhaps you have been reading Amazon books using the Kindle app on your iPad. To quote from Apple:

Kindle and virtually all other eBook reader applications designed for iPhone or iPod touch should work with iPad.

However, books downloaded from the Kindle Store and other books that are not in the standard(Apple's) ePub format are not compatible with iBooks.

My configuration: 10.6.5 iTunes 10.1b10, iOS 4.2 GM.

[Seanette]

I have non-DRM PDFs, but I can't usefully read them in Bluefire (GoodReader does decently), since Bluefire just shows page images. On an iTouch, this doesn't work well . On a bigger screen such as an iPad, it would probably work a lot better.

[xristy]

Originally Posted by Seanette

I have non-DRM PDFs, but I can't usefully read them in Bluefire (GoodReader does decently), since Bluefire just shows page images. On an iTouch, this doesn't work well . On a bigger screen such as an iPad, it would probably work a lot better.

The main feature of Bluefire is that it does allow reading of Adobe Adept DRM'd ePubs and PDFs. Other than that it has a lot of catching up to do to Goodreader or iAnnotate for reading of PDFs. It does OK with ePubs but is apparently based on Adobe's Digital Edition and has similar quirks and limitations. The recent update of Bluefire does support downloading and reading of Library books which is again a first.

One can hope that it will catch up to iBooks / Stanza on the ePub front and Goodreader / iAnnotate on the PDF front.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by xristy

The main feature of Bluefire is that it does allow reading of Adobe Adept DRM'd ePubs and PDFs. Other than that it has a lot of catching up to do to Goodreader or iAnnotate for reading of PDFs. It does OK with ePubs but is apparently based on Adobe's Digital Edition and has similar quirks and limitations. The recent update of Bluefire does support downloading and reading of Library books which is again a first.

One can hope that it will catch up to iBooks / Stanza on the ePub front and Goodreader / iAnnotate on the PDF front.

I'm keeping an eye on Bluefire, since I do think it does ePub well, and am hopeful for better PDF handling in future versions. First app I find that does both formats well gets me.

[Gurvan]

The news about Bluefire which I discover here is interesting for me and I agree that the first app to do as well as Goodreader for PDF and iBook for ePub, will win me over quite fast !

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Don't think so, my understanding is that the ipad is a proprietary format and therefore available from only one vendor and as such you can not use PDF and/or Epub with an ipad, you would need to buy your books all over again from apple. The reason that I will never touch anything from apple is that ehir are proprietary, which in IT is a curse word.

Excuse me? Am I hallucinating my ability to use ePub and PDF files on my iTouch, which uses the same OS?

I'm still on the hunt for one app that handles both well, but if I'm willing to put up with using separate apps for the two types I'm finding multiple options for reader apps.