Do not own an eReader - any tool to view my work?

Rylos07 · 02-22-2011, 11:51 AM

Greetings, Sure love this site and all the people that help so much. You are very much appreciated.

I do not own an eReader. But, I am making ~10 page children's books. I am doing them in .pdf format right now. Yes, I know. Doing it that way to get the format, looks, colors, test, design to the way I like it. Then I will move over to ePub or what ever the top one or two are at the time. But I will take suggestions on that right now. Not so worried about DRM or anything. But would like to prevent people from editing the works? But probably can not do that either.

So, my not owning a reader, is there a tool on line that you can use to view your generated work as it would look and appear on a Kindle, Nook, etc.?

Thanks for your help
Peace and Blessings
Rylos

Mike L · 02-22-2011, 12:36 PM

Amazon has desktop applications that run on PCs and Macs. You can use them to view ebooks in Kindle format. They are free downloads from the Amazon site.

They don't show an exact representation of how the book looks on the Kindle, because of differences in fonts, etc. but they will correctly show the formatting, page breaks, etc.

CWatkinsNash · 02-22-2011, 12:39 PM

On this page at Amazon you can download the Kindle Previewer (scroll down to the downloads, I think it's the third download listed), which gives a better emulation than the regular Kindle for PC desktop app. It's still not quite 100% what you would see on an actual Kindle, but it's probably as close as you can get at the moment.

Rylos07 · 02-22-2011, 12:51 PM

Awesome guys! Thank you so much!

Rylos

CWatkinsNash · 02-22-2011, 01:10 PM

No problem, happy to help. You should also know that Kindles can take screenshots, so if you know someone with a Kindle, you can give send them a sample and they can send back exactly how a "page" looks on the screen. This can be helpful because the one thing I've noticed about Kindle Previewer is that the handling of page-breaking around images can sometimes be a little different than on the "real thing".

AnemicOak · 02-22-2011, 01:20 PM

While I don't like Sony's software much it does give a pretty good representation of how a book will look on one of their readers (at least it did in the past).

EowynCarter · 02-22-2011, 01:32 PM

ADE for ePubs.

For a small book, pdf, if done properly, might not be such a stupid idea. You can easily take time to make it look good on small screens.

Worldwalker · 02-22-2011, 01:52 PM

Something to think about: 10-page children's books imply, to me at least, books for fairly young children. We're not talking the 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows here. And young children tend to be hard on books. There's a reason cloth and board books could probably withstand being run over by a tank. Are you sure there is going to be a market of people willing to trust their ebook reader in the hands of a child in that age range?

queentess · 02-22-2011, 02:40 PM

Given that it's going to have color artwork, the Kindle won't be your best platform. Though I'm unsure if Kindle4PC/Mac show color??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Something to think about: 10-page children's books imply, to me at least, books for fairly young children. We're not talking the 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows here. And young children tend to be hard on books. There's a reason cloth and board books could probably withstand being run over by a tank. Are you sure there is going to be a market of people willing to trust their ebook reader in the hands of a child in that age range?

I would read on a Nook color or iPad with my daughter. I would not give her the device to chew on, as she does with her paper books... (Though I will have you know that my Kindle has held up very well to repeated drive-by droolings.)

CWatkinsNash · 02-22-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

Given that it's going to have color artwork, the Kindle won't be your best platform. Though I'm unsure if Kindle4PC/Mac show color??

Yes, they do. I've read Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine on Kindle4PC and the graphics are in color. I would imagine that the other Kindle device apps (for iPad, Android, etc) do as well.

G J Lau · 02-22-2011, 05:13 PM

For the ePub (Nook) format, Calibre has a nice e-reader built in. Also, don't know if you use Firefox but they have a good ePub e-reader you can add as an extension. As already mentioned, the PC reader for Kindle available on Amazon's site is free and works well. Also would mention Nitro pdf reader. I prefer it to Adobe and as far as I know it is free.

dwig · 02-22-2011, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rylos07

I do not own an eReader. But, I am making ~10 page children's books. I am doing them in .pdf format right now.

None of the ePub or Kindle reader software nor the Kindle Previewer will emulate the display of PDFs on an eReader device. Most won't even open PDFs. You can get some idea of the ereader display by sizing Acrobat Reader's window to match the size of the display on an eReader, but the overall rendition is not all that accurate. At least you can see the size of the text and other elements.

Also keep in mind that almost all dedicated ebook readers display only B&W. Color is most often available on general use tablets and on phones. You should create a test version in B&W using simple default conversion to greyscale in a photo editor to see how the greys render. You may find that you need to make modest alteration in individual colors, hue and/or brightness, to create artwork that also displays well in B&W.

Quote:

Not so worried about DRM or anything. But would like to prevent people from editing the works? But probably can not do that either.

PDF supports a password protection system that is quite independent of the newer all encompassing DRM. Its possible to password lock printing and editing independently of opening. The PDF viewers in most ereaders can open PDFs that are password locked for editing and/or prints so long as they are not locked for reading.

DArenson · 02-22-2011, 07:54 PM

Before I bought my ereaders (I currently own a Kobo and a Kindle), I used Adobe Digital Editions, Sigil, and Kindle for PC.

sassanik · 02-22-2011, 11:49 PM

I think Stanza is still out there and working.

Calibre will also display the ebooks for you when you view them, in addition to being able to convert them.

Amy

RVS78 · 02-27-2011, 06:05 PM

Let me add another one for ePub format. I've used this myself before I finally got a tablet.

bookworm.oreilly.com

02-22-2011, 11:51 AM	#1
Rylos07 Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Do not own an eReader - any tool to view my work? Greetings, Sure love this site and all the people that help so much. You are very much appreciated. I do not own an eReader. But, I am making ~10 page children's books. I am doing them in .pdf format right now. Yes, I know. Doing it that way to get the format, looks, colors, test, design to the way I like it. Then I will move over to ePub or what ever the top one or two are at the time. But I will take suggestions on that right now. Not so worried about DRM or anything. But would like to prevent people from editing the works? But probably can not do that either. So, my not owning a reader, is there a tool on line that you can use to view your generated work as it would look and appear on a Kindle, Nook, etc.? Thanks for your help Peace and Blessings Rylos

02-22-2011, 11:49 PM	#14
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	Stanza I think Stanza is still out there and working. Calibre will also display the ebooks for you when you view them, in addition to being able to convert them. Amy

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02-22-2011, 12:36 PM	#2
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	Amazon has desktop applications that run on PCs and Macs. You can use them to view ebooks in Kindle format. They are free downloads from the Amazon site. They don't show an exact representation of how the book looks on the Kindle, because of differences in fonts, etc. but they will correctly show the formatting, page breaks, etc.

02-22-2011, 12:39 PM	#3
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	On this page at Amazon you can download the Kindle Previewer (scroll down to the downloads, I think it's the third download listed), which gives a better emulation than the regular Kindle for PC desktop app. It's still not quite 100% what you would see on an actual Kindle, but it's probably as close as you can get at the moment.

02-22-2011, 12:51 PM	#4
Rylos07 Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Awesome guys! Thank you so much! Rylos

02-22-2011, 01:10 PM	#5
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	No problem, happy to help. You should also know that Kindles can take screenshots, so if you know someone with a Kindle, you can give send them a sample and they can send back exactly how a "page" looks on the screen. This can be helpful because the one thing I've noticed about Kindle Previewer is that the handling of page-breaking around images can sometimes be a little different than on the "real thing".

02-22-2011, 01:20 PM	#6
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	While I don't like Sony's software much it does give a pretty good representation of how a book will look on one of their readers (at least it did in the past).

02-22-2011, 01:32 PM	#7
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,332 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	ADE for ePubs. For a small book, pdf, if done properly, might not be such a stupid idea. You can easily take time to make it look good on small screens.

02-22-2011, 01:52 PM	#8
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	Something to think about: 10-page children's books imply, to me at least, books for fairly young children. We're not talking the 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows here. And young children tend to be hard on books. There's a reason cloth and board books could probably withstand being run over by a tank. Are you sure there is going to be a market of people willing to trust their ebook reader in the hands of a child in that age range?

02-22-2011, 05:13 PM	#11
G J Lau Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 415116 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Frederick MD Device: Nook	For the ePub (Nook) format, Calibre has a nice e-reader built in. Also, don't know if you use Firefox but they have a good ePub e-reader you can add as an extension. As already mentioned, the PC reader for Kindle available on Amazon's site is free and works well. Also would mention Nitro pdf reader. I prefer it to Adobe and as far as I know it is free.

02-22-2011, 07:54 PM	#13
DArenson ebookworm Posts: 268 Karma: 100026 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kobo, Kindle	Before I bought my ereaders (I currently own a Kobo and a Kindle), I used Adobe Digital Editions, Sigil, and Kindle for PC.

02-27-2011, 06:05 PM	#15
RVS78 Letter Puncher Posts: 26 Karma: 500430 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Swallowed by another earth Device: android tablets	Let me add another one for ePub format. I've used this myself before I finally got a tablet. bookworm.oreilly.com

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