pdf-drm on aluratek libre pro

[quebeckerin]

Can anyone tell me whether pdf-drm works well on the Aluratek? I tried buying a book in this format, and it wouldn't display properly. There were odd spaces between letters, so the word 'this,' for example, would like like 'thi s'. When I asked the ebooksellers about it, they said there was something wrong with the file. The distributor is going to give them a new file in a week or so. However, now I'm worried. When I tried using the old file on my Aluratek, it looked even worse than it did on my computer. There weren't just spaces between letters, there were new paragraphs where none should be, etc. Anyone know anything about this? Thanks in advance.

[Ken Maltby]

Have you tried running the file through Calibre? It can often be set to make the correct
compensations for the way your reader responds to the file. (Try setting the output
profile Page Setup to "JetBook 5-inch")

The nature of PDF can cause problems in itself. Some PDF files are little more than an
image of the page. Some have been constructed to allow for PDF-Reflow. PDF ebooks
can be formatted to match the display and page size of a particular device, and look
great as a result, but only with the font size at a particular setting and/or where reflow
is disabled.

Luck;
Ken

[quebeckerin]

Ken,
Do you mean you can run DRM protected files through Calibre? I thought that was impossible.

[Ken Maltby]

Ouch, yes you are right, I tend to disinfect my files as soon as I download them, I have
to try and remember that not everyone does that. (Got no sleep last night, shouldn't
be posting.)

Luck;
Ken

[quebeckerin]

Anyone else know if PDF--the DRM version, I mean--displays properly on an Aluratek Libre Pro? Surely someone out there has bought a book in this format. Thanks in advance to anyone who has information . . .

[petechan]

PDFs from the library through Adobe Digital editions which I assume are DRM protected do read fairly well on the Libre Pro, with some issues with page breaks and visualizing pictures, but much better with the most recent firmware compared to the firmware available last year.

Haven't bought DRM protected pdf ebooks from online stores, so I don't know how those would turn out. But I assume that if you were buying DRM protected ebooks I would recommend epub instead of pdf.

[quebeckerin]

Thanks, Petechan,
Yes, I would prefer ePub, too, but it isn't available for the book in question. Glad to know, though, that the library PDF's work.

[icedtea]

Yep, the library pdfs I've tried are so-so. I think it was paragraph spacing that was inconsistent, nothing as bad as character spacing / kerning.

I have not 'purchased' any DRM pdfs but the most recent Barbara Cartland freebie was DRM pdf and the first couple of pages seem fine. You could download that and compare (just checked - still free at Books on Board). I think you probably got a lemon of a file.

[quebeckerin]

Hello, icedtea, thank you. I downloaded the Barbara Cartland and it works quite well. It isn't as nice as ePub, because it's double-spaced, but other than that, it displays fine. So that's good to know. Although, of course, now I have the shame of having a sappy romance novel on my e-reader . . .

[jlg432]

My experience with PDF's whether DRM applied or not has been rather good.

I believe the default setting has "Text flow" on. As long as the document is not a picture like copy of the text I find that it does a good job. I have noticed that you may get several pages of text and then experience some blank space when you reach then end of the e-book page. The screen then fills up again on the e-book page. This can be verified if you turn "Text Flow" off and switch to "Full page view". In this setting each page advance will be a true full page advance. "Text flow on" allows you to view the text of the current page but at a cost of several screen pages. This a voids panning the screen back and forth by allowing the text to wrap around.

For example I have a James Patterson PDF e-book that has his name at the top of each even page and the title of the book at the top of each odd page. All pages have the page number at the bottom of the e-book page. This sometimes produces a screen page that may only have the page number on the first line and nothing else causing an extra page advance for the reader. That is the style of this e-book and when viewed on a larger screen where the whole page can be read it poses no problem. So yes it is annoying if you get an e-book that is formatted that way. On the other hand I have others that have a style that works better for the smaller screen and is not cut up as much the way Patterson's style does. James Patterson tends to create a lot of chapters that usually only have 1 or 2 pages of writing. His ePub books tend to flow better and do not have these issues from what I have seen.

Still "Text Flow" does a very good job of displaying PDF's designed for larger screens on the smaller screen of the JB/JBL or ALP.

I have tried processing that James Patterson PDF e-book through Calibre(DRM removed) but all it managed to do was insert his Name and book title along with the page numbers through out the story lines. The same happens if you try and convert it to ePub. It could be edited but then you are into a lot of extra work.

John

[Ponchitto]

I authorized "The knife thrower" of Steven Millhauser, bought through Kobo software store. Adobe DRM just aked to be authorized and everything went ok and really fast. More than I expected, to be honest. Is it prohibited to talk about "disinfection" of the DRM... or Calibre conversion to a free format?

[Ponchitto]

I have noticed something about PDF files into the Aluratek Libre Pro: if the file origin is a conversion from a formatted text (let's say for example a converted word document through PDF virtual printer) there is no problem, even when it has a few images into it. But if you scanned the whole book, and every page is a scanned image, the Libre Pro get so slow, and almost unusable. I don't know if there's a way of making it work better in this scenario (full scanned books to pdf) because I have a collection of important books in this situation.

Alfonso

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Ponchitto

I authorized "The knife thrower" of Steven Millhauser, bought through Kobo software store. Adobe DRM just aked to be authorized and everything went ok and really fast. More than I expected, to be honest. Is it prohibited to talk about "disinfection" of the DRM... or Calibre conversion to a free format?

In general DRM is an ok topic however it is not permitted to post details in exactly how to perform DRM removal or reference tools that will perform DRM removal. MobileRead does not promote breaking the law and providing this information is against the law in some countries. That being said you can certainly talk for or against it in generalities. Please be polite and respect others views on this topic. It no way will MobileRead condone breaking DRM to not honor the copyright of the book.

Dale

[Ponchitto]

Understood, and totally agree...