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Old 12-28-2008, 03:11 AM   #1
Vulcan
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Starting out on the right format

I see that the Sony PRS 700 Reader supports PDF, EPub, text, RTF, Word and BBeB Book file formats. Given that my current E Book library is a mix of PDF, PRC and a bunch of old Lit files I will have to do some converting to use them with my new Sony Reader. What format should I go with? I was thinking of the PDF as the most universal but the EPub seems interesting....What are your recommendations for a format that will work the best with the Sony Reader?
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Old 12-28-2008, 04:29 AM   #2
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Hmm i could swear i typed out a rather long response to this thread.

in short, I use LRF

and I use book designer https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11786

to create an LRF with proper Chapters, headers and footers in less than 2-3 minutes for most book, tops 10 minutes.
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Old 12-28-2008, 04:33 AM   #3
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What are your recommendations for a format that will work the best with the Sony Reader?
I personally use rtf files.
pdf files are out of question for me.
Text in rtf files can be left justified, I can create and read [in the future] an rtf file in gazilion of programs. I have even a set of macros for a text editor (Vim) that can convert html or plain text file directly to rtf.
Sorry, I simply dislike the formatting (especially the full justification) of lrf files.
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Old 12-28-2008, 05:03 AM   #4
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Given that my current E Book library is a mix of PDF, PRC and a bunch of old Lit files I will have to do some converting to use them with my new Sony Reader.
If the PDFs have DRM, i.e. are Secure Adobe ebooks, then you will have to read them in their native form. Even DRM-free PDFs may be best read as PDFs. For the PRC and LIT ebooks, you will need to strip any DRM first (note that this is not generally thought to be legal in the US, even for personal use) but once DRM-free I suggest using Calibre to format shift any reflowable ebook format to LRF or ePub. EPub is more "future proof" than LRF, but if you keep the originals you can always format shift again if you need a new ebook type on a new device later.
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Old 12-28-2008, 07:13 AM   #5
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PDF should never, ever, be anything other than a "format of last resort". It was not designed to be an eBook format and is the worst possible choice of format.

LRF or ePub are both reasonable choices.
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Old 12-28-2008, 08:13 AM   #6
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If the PDF, PRC and LIT files are not DRM, I would say LRF.
If you have no problems with not justified eBooks, I would say ePub.
Anyway, with Calibre it’s very easy to make both, so… why not make a version of each(?), experience to read an eBook in each format and decide after?

Keep the originals and the html files Calibre builds and zips to make the final eBooks… in the future they will be invaluable.
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Old 12-28-2008, 09:13 AM   #7
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I'm using RTF as the "permanent" storage type. That way they are easy to convert to any other format I may need to in the future.

That being said, I convert them all to LRF with Calibre for my day to day Library.
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Old 12-28-2008, 10:35 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
PDF should never, ever, be anything other than a "format of last resort". It was not designed to be an eBook format and is the worst possible choice of format.

LRF or ePub are both reasonable choices.
I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you until I got the 700. With it, PDF's are very easy and nice to read, perfect if they have reflow, and good if not. I am reading a 100 MB scan now on my 700 and I am amazed how fast is the navigation, and while obviously there is no reflow so I need to use half page reading, it still amazes me that I can read such a book on a device smaller and less powerful than a full tablet

As for the original question, I would go with lrf for any non-pdf file, and leave the pdf's as such and just dump then on the 700.

Epub has a "pdf" feel and is nicer than lrf most times, but they are also somehwat slower, harder to get them right, and anyway for now at least they do not work that well on other devices, while down the road who knows what will happen
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Old 12-28-2008, 08:03 PM   #9
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What about a command line batch file to convert all the books at once?
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Old 12-28-2008, 09:15 PM   #10
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Calibre for doing stuff like that.

though you would get mixed results. if you dont care about formatting at all just convert to txt or rtf or something.

I want it to be slightly pretty so i use book designer, for 5 minutes work i can make a book look great and readable the way i like to read books (double line breaks between paragraphs)
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Old 12-28-2008, 11:20 PM   #11
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I'm just experimenting with a new PRS-700 now, and I'm mostly converting to epub with Calibre. They seem to display well, and they have the virtue of being good for other family members to read on i-devices with Stanza, as well.
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Old 12-29-2008, 02:09 AM   #12
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i have yet to get into using Calibre. its just so many problems. i will eventaully. but using calibre to convert files i dobut i would do because it dobut it will have the quality that creating it in Book Designer would have.

currently just using Windows Search to look for books in my rather large Library.
then Create an LRF using Book Designer
then use sonys library to store and sync the device.
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Old 12-29-2008, 03:14 PM   #13
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Even in this thread there is a lot of opinion on what format to use....lots of people seem to hold strong believes on what format is better...until we all get on the same page E Books will be held back from mainstream acceptance. I wish that they would just pick a format so that everybody could back it.
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Old 12-29-2008, 03:40 PM   #14
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Quote:
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I wish that they would just pick a format so that everybody could back it.
Who is they???

Amazon who refuses to license Mobipocket DRM without DRM exclusivity? Amazon who introduced a new format for the Kindle despite owning Mobipocket?- (it is technically Mobi, but still it counts as new since you cannot directly put drm Mobi on the Kindle without a hack)

Sony who introduced their own proprietary format or ETI who has another one?

Adobe? Saw that semi-tongue-in-cheek post how the instructions for using DRM Epub are more complex than for using a space toilet??

You do ebooks, you gotta deal with multiple formats, conversion and such. Or you can be happy rebuying your ebooks over and over again.
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Old 12-30-2008, 09:35 AM   #15
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The various formats don't bother me. When reading on my Palm for years I used Ereader for DRM and Palmdoc for nonDRM. When I bought my Fictionwise 1150 I converted the books from ereader / palmdoc to IMP, now that I've got a Sony I shifted them yet again to LRF.

Doesn't take long to do... I break the DRM as soon as I purchase the book and store it as RTF, then I can shift it to whatever comes along in the future. Obviously I try to buy DRM Free first, but failing that Ereader or LIT are very easy to shift to RTF.

Even though I am probably breaking the law by stripping the DRM I am spending more on ebooks and supporting the authors then I used to spend on Pbooks. Besides I always bought pbooks from used stores which didn't support the authors anyway. I don't share the books and if the publishers would just realize DRM doesn't stop anyway life would be easier.
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