can anyone tell me what "reflow" means

vivek_cbe · 07-31-2008, 04:26 AM

Hello everyone,

I am about to own a PRS 505 reader. I have been following the news related to this reader and find a lot of reference to "reflow" support for PDF files. Could anyone please explain in layman's term what this means?

thanks - Vivek

Sparrow · 07-31-2008, 05:03 AM

As I understand it, 'reflow' refers to the ability to reformat the text to the width of the display.

PDFs are fixed format texts - so what appears on each line can't be altered by reading software.
If the line width is too great, you either need to zoom out, or scroll across the width of the line to see it all.

Reflowable text automatically adjusts to fit the width of the display.

zelda_pinwheel · 07-31-2008, 06:57 AM

what sparrow said is right ; it means you don't have to read a pdf zoomed out to 25% so that it becomes to small to be legible, because the text is "fluid" (thus can "re-flow") and words that don't fit on one line can moved down to the next line.

you can see an exemple of reflow on the fly if you select "fluid" in the "quick style chooser" in the blue menu bar at the very bottom of this page, then make your browser window smaller or larger. you'll see the text reflowing live to adjust to the new width available to it.

igorsk · 07-31-2008, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivek_cbe

Hello everyone,

I am about to own a PRS 505 reader. I have been following the news related to this reader and find a lot of reference to "reflow" support for PDF files. Could anyone please explain in layman's term what this means?

Resize your browser window to make it narrower and (on properly done sites) you should see the text "reflow" to fit into it.

zelda_pinwheel · 07-31-2008, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

Resize your browser window to make it narrower and (on properly done sites) you should see the text "reflow" to fit into it.

yes, i gave him that example on this site, but you must first choose the "fluid" layout. otherwise it is a fixed-width and will not work.

vivek_cbe · 07-31-2008, 12:02 PM

thanks all. I understand the fixed/fluid width in the web world.

So for my reader to render reflow, do i need some special PDF file or any PDF file would be reflowed by the reader's new firmware.

Since it takes another week for my device to arrive in India I am trying to get as much groundword done as possible.

Also what happens if the PDF has some images in it? How does reflow affect that?

wallcraft · 07-31-2008, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivek_cbe

So for my reader to render reflow, do i need some special PDF file or any PDF file would be reflowed by the reader's new firmware.

Since it takes another week for my device to arrive in India I am trying to get as much groundword done as possible.

All PDFs are reflowed, but the reflowing works better on some PDFs than others.

If you have a Windows PC, try Sony's Windows ebook Reader which emulates the PRS-505 to some extent.

DaleDe · 07-31-2008, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivek_cbe

thanks all. I understand the fixed/fluid width in the web world.

So for my reader to render reflow, do i need some special PDF file or any PDF file would be reflowed by the reader's new firmware.

Since it takes another week for my device to arrive in India I am trying to get as much groundword done as possible.

Also what happens if the PDF has some images in it? How does reflow affect that?

Good questions. The implementation of this version is different from some earlier versions. Windows PDF readers have the ability to reflow all documents. I believe this capability is in the Sony product. However, having said that, there is the ability to tag a document when it is created or after the fact with certain tools. A tagged document that is tagged during creation will flow better than one that is not tagged or tagged after the fact. The intelligence that is in the source document can be used to advantage to tag a document for better flow.

Imaging is a problem in all documents. Generally the Windows and Windows Mobile version allows switching the document from reflow back to regular with pan and zoom to permit viewing unusual imaging situations in the original context. I do not believe the Sony can do this.

Imaging while reflow is on can be accomplished by compressing the image to fit if it is too big and flowing around it otherwise. Intelligent tagging can help with the positioning of the image when reflowed. I don't own a Sony so I can't comment on how well it does this. In one posted example they showed a split image over two pages. That is not a very good solution in my opinion.

Formats that have native reflow often have special image handling features such as being able to select and image and display it separately as a full size with panning. The Palm Adobe Reader has this feature but other Adobe Readers just switch out of reflow mode and then permit zooming and panning of the page.

Dale

vivek_cbe · 07-31-2008, 01:24 PM

thank you all for the suggestions. I am trying the sony software as i type this

07-31-2008, 04:26 AM	#1
vivek_cbe Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	can anyone tell me what "reflow" means Hello everyone, I am about to own a PRS 505 reader. I have been following the news related to this reader and find a lot of reference to "reflow" support for PDF files. Could anyone please explain in layman's term what this means? thanks - Vivek

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07-31-2008, 05:03 AM	#2
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	As I understand it, 'reflow' refers to the ability to reformat the text to the width of the display. PDFs are fixed format texts - so what appears on each line can't be altered by reading software. If the line width is too great, you either need to zoom out, or scroll across the width of the line to see it all. Reflowable text automatically adjusts to fit the width of the display.

07-31-2008, 06:57 AM	#3
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	what sparrow said is right ; it means you don't have to read a pdf zoomed out to 25% so that it becomes to small to be legible, because the text is "fluid" (thus can "re-flow") and words that don't fit on one line can moved down to the next line. you can see an exemple of reflow on the fly if you select "fluid" in the "quick style chooser" in the blue menu bar at the very bottom of this page, then make your browser window smaller or larger. you'll see the text reflowing live to adjust to the new width available to it.

07-31-2008, 12:02 PM	#6
vivek_cbe Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	thanks all. I understand the fixed/fluid width in the web world. So for my reader to render reflow, do i need some special PDF file or any PDF file would be reflowed by the reader's new firmware. Since it takes another week for my device to arrive in India I am trying to get as much groundword done as possible. Also what happens if the PDF has some images in it? How does reflow affect that?

07-31-2008, 01:24 PM	#9
vivek_cbe Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	thank you all for the suggestions. I am trying the sony software as i type this

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