Content Best Kindle format to convert

[tygn]

I'm a newbie Kindle user and trying to convert some pdfs and epubs to AZW format with Calibre. But when I convert to AZW(I've guessed it's the latest Kindle format so far) text became messy somehow, separated sentences, messy pages etc. So, which format I should choose to get better, stable reading from pdf and epub files?

[susan_cassidy]

The problem is probably with the pdf files. If they have much fancy formatting, they are not going to convert well.

EPub normally converts quite well. The problem is not so much the format you are converting, but the file you are converting from.

You could try .mobi format, if you want, but it is basically the same as azw. If you are not going to use send to Kindle or email to send to the Kindle, you can try azw3.

[tygn]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

The problem is probably with the pdf files. If they have much fancy formatting, they are not going to convert well.

EPub normally converts quite well. The problem is not so much the format you are converting, but the file you are converting from.

You could try .mobi format, if you want, but it is basically the same as azw. If you are not going to use send to Kindle or email to send to the Kindle, you can try azw3.

Thanks for the advise Susan,

Actually I cannot email to Kindle function anyway, keep giving me an error so I do it manually or via Calibre. I've already checked differences between mobi and azw3 format but couldn't quite understand as a newbie but I thought azw3 is the latest format. I will try mobi next time.

[eschwartz]

MOBI == old (legacy) mobipocket 7 format.
AZW == renamed .mobi, and binary duplicate
AZW3 == new mobipocket 8 format, also known as KF8. Adds support for embedded fonts, CSS3, and much much more. Feature-matches EPUB2/3.


Send-to-Kindle requires you submit either an old MOBI or a dual-MOBI (with combined mobi7 and KF8 sections) for backwards compatibility with old devices.

[susan_cassidy]

What kind of error does emailing to the Kindle give you? Is the address you are emailing from authorized? You do that through Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page on Amazon. Emailing should work.

[tygn]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

MOBI == old (legacy) mobipocket 7 format.
AZW == renamed .mobi, and binary duplicate
AZW3 == new mobipocket 8 format, also known as KF8. Adds support for embedded fonts, CSS3, and much much more. Feature-matches EPUB2/3.


Send-to-Kindle requires you submit either an old MOBI or a dual-MOBI (with combined mobi7 and KF8 sections) for backwards compatibility with old devices.

Thanks eschwartz, I think according to the pdf or epub I should try both mobi and and azw3 to catch better format on Kindle. Haven't got into Calibre very well yet, I think the more I use the more it will be better.

Actually yes I was trying to send pdf files via email to my kindle and it failing all the time, I don't mind to do it manually.

[tygn]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

What kind of error does emailing to the Kindle give you? Is the address you are emailing from authorized? You do that through Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page on Amazon. Emailing should work.

Well, it's keep saying the format is not suitable with Kindle. Then I started to do it manually on Calibre and send via usb cable, which I don't complain frankly.

[eschwartz]

PDF is a supported filetype according to http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=200767340

[tygn]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

PDF is a supported filetype according to http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=200767340

Thanks for the heads up, I assume I need to use it and get into more.

[susan_cassidy]

PDF is probably the worst format to try and convert. There is oftein too much formatting for converters to be able to tell how to extract the text, and in what order.

Is the file format you attempted to email really pdf, or something else? What was the file extension?

[tygn]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

PDF is probably the worst format to try and convert. There is oftein too much formatting for converters to be able to tell how to extract the text, and in what order.

Is the file format you attempted to email really pdf, or something else? What was the file extension?

Well, I agree that but I have so many pdf files that related to my work and it would be so good if I could get a good format like original kindle books. I've tried with pdf and epub, got an error either one of them, I believe it was epub since it's not supported.

[eschwartz]

Well, PDF may be the worst format to convert, but that doesn't mean you can't, merely that it will probably require some TLC to fix it up after converting.

Check the sticky on the subject in the calibre ==> Conversion subforum, then apply some of the tips to converting the PDFs you have. Alternatively, you might simply use k2pdfopt to reflow the PDFs, which can make it dramatically more pleasant to read on your Kindle.

[crich70]

You might also try PDF to Epub. Click It converts PDf files to epub, Html and Kindle formats. And you can often get a promotional copy which doesn't cost anything.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Well, PDF may be the worst format to convert, but that doesn't mean you can't, merely that it will probably require some TLC to fix it up after converting.

Check the sticky on the subject in the calibre ==> Conversion subforum, then apply some of the tips to converting the PDFs you have.

It's perhaps worth noting that Calibre is not the best tool for converting from PDF; a decent OCR program like Abbyy FineReader will generally do a much better job (although at a price, of course).

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's perhaps worth noting that Calibre is not the best tool for converting from PDF; a decent OCR program like Abbyy FineReader will generally do a much better job (although at a price, of course).

Yes, and best of all that is the advice offered by the sticky.

(It does depend on whether the PDF uses images with an optional layer of OCR text, or whether it is a PDF of actual text. If the latter, OCR programs start rapidly losing their extra utility.)