PDF to Kindle - how bad is it?

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 06:57 PM

How bad do converted-to-Kindle-PDFs look? Can someone show me some pictures?

I'm considering the Kindle, but I'm not sure if it is worth it if many of the books I have will be in PDF.

Gideon · 05-22-2009, 07:03 PM

it really depends. I mean, really. Text PDF's (and I mean by that PDF's that are made into PDF's from documents, not scanned) often look very good, but not always. If it's pretty straight forward - it'll usually be VERY usable. If it has graphics, weird formatting, etc... it can get very hairy.

And yet, sometimes, you'll be surprised by how well one turns out that seems like it shouldn't, and vice versa.

Sometimes scanned PDF's come in as sideways images that are usually not too bad. But then sometimes you get a weird mix of "image" and text where they'll turn one page into an image (so the text is too small to be read) and the next will be standard Kindle text that is resizable, etc.

I send a lot of PDF's to myself... I'd say about 90% of the text PDF's come out good, and about 60% of the OCRd scanned texts turn out ok.

But quite frankly... because I use so many PDFs, I'm planning on getting the DX. It looks like the ideal device between PDF's and ebooks.

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enarchay

How bad to converted-to-Kindle-PDFs look? Can someone show me some pictures?

I'm considering the Kindle, but I'm not sure if it is worth it if many of the books I have will be in PDF.

If you're talking about PDFs that are mostly text, there are few if any issues with conversion. If they are full of charts and graphs will be problems (Kindle DX will read PDF files natively). For more complicated conversions, here are a couple of threads to check out:

Kindle 2 and PDFRead
Savory

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 07:09 PM

Most of the PDFs I have are not scans. Some have images, but most of them have footnotes and things like that. Not sure if converting would affect the layout. I don't want text to be all over the place.

Does anyone have any pictures I can see as an example?

wallcraft · 05-22-2009, 07:10 PM

The (free) Windows MobiPocket Reader can import DRM-free PDFs and export (and display) them as MOBI ebooks. The Amazon conversion is thought to be very similar, but it may work in cases that Mobipocket's fail. Amazon owns MobiPocket, and the the Kindle essentially only reads MOBI ebooks (Amazon calls them AZWs, but they are MOBI).

The conversion works well in some cases, but is terrible in other cases.

There are other conversion options, including Calibre (has its own forum). However, version 6 of Calibre (due out soon) is supposed to have better PDF import than the existing version.

Another option is PDFRead, which converts the original pages into images, typically multiple images per page. Use the prc-mobi or prc-mobi-p options and view them (for now) using Windows MobiPocket Reader.

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enarchay

Most of the PDFs I have are not scans. Some have images, but most of them have footnotes and things like that. Not sure if converting would affect the layout. I don't want text to be all over the place.

Does anyone have any pictures I can see as an example?

If you supply a couple page sample, we can do the conversions for you several ways so you can judge for yourself. I don't read books in PDF so I don't have a sample to show you (maybe someone else does).

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 07:32 PM

Quote:

There are other conversion options, including Calibre (has its own forum). However, version 6 of Calibre (due out soon) is supposed to have better PDF import than the existing version.

Is it free?

Quote:

Another option is PDFRead, which converts the original pages into images, typically multiple images per page. Use the prc-mobi or prc-mobi-p options and view them (for now) using Windows MobiPocket Reader.

Wouldn't it take up a lot of space if it was a bunch of images?

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

If you supply a couple page sample, we can do the conversions for you several ways so you can judge for yourself. I don't read books in PDF so I don't have a sample to show you (maybe someone else does).

Alright good idea. How do I cut a PDF file down to one or two pages?

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enarchay

Alright good idea. How do I cut a PDF file down to one or two pages?

You can use free version PDF software like CutePDF and print a couple of pages as a new PDF.

This may not work if the PDF has DRM.

sirbruce · 05-22-2009, 07:44 PM

Calibre is free, and version 0.6 due out soon will have much better PDF conversion.

emellaich · 05-22-2009, 09:05 PM

Calibre 0.6 is supposed to be out soon as others have said. Last I heard was late May / Early June. However, it does support PDF conversion in its current form and it is free. Go to:
http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/download

Download it, and convert a few pdf's. Calibre has a built in viewer and you can use your PC to view them in the converted format and see what they look like. If they aren't good enough, wait till 0.6 and you'll have another shot.

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

You can use free version PDF software like CutePDF and print a couple of pages as a new PDF.

This may not work if the PDF has DRM.

Alright. Hopefully this works. I cut two pages from two different books.

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enarchay

Alright. Hopefully this works. I cut two pages from two different books.

I think those giant watermarks might cause a problem but I'll give it a try.

enarchay · 05-22-2009, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I think those giant watermarks might cause a problem but I'll give it a try.

Yeah... it's because I have the trial version. I don't know how to get the full version.

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enarchay

Yeah... it's because I have the trial version. I don't know how to get the full version.

I combined the 2 files. So far I've converted the sample 3 ways. I'm uploading the mobi samples, which will work on a Kindle. If you have a PC, you can use MobiPocket Reader to view them (works better than Calibre to me) I upload screen grabs separately after I load up my Kindle.

- using MobiPocket Creator using
- PDFRead in portrait mode
- using Amazon's Conversion service (renamed to .prc from .azw)

I haven't tried Savory because I have to re-install it on my Kindle and I don't want to unless it's necessary. I was unable to get the Calibre conversion to work and it may be due to the watermark.

05-22-2009, 06:57 PM	#1
enarchay Zealot Posts: 144 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	PDF to Kindle - how bad is it? How bad do converted-to-Kindle-PDFs look? Can someone show me some pictures? I'm considering the Kindle, but I'm not sure if it is worth it if many of the books I have will be in PDF. Last edited by enarchay; 05-22-2009 at 07:06 PM.

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05-22-2009, 07:03 PM	#2
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	it really depends. I mean, really. Text PDF's (and I mean by that PDF's that are made into PDF's from documents, not scanned) often look very good, but not always. If it's pretty straight forward - it'll usually be VERY usable. If it has graphics, weird formatting, etc... it can get very hairy. And yet, sometimes, you'll be surprised by how well one turns out that seems like it shouldn't, and vice versa. Sometimes scanned PDF's come in as sideways images that are usually not too bad. But then sometimes you get a weird mix of "image" and text where they'll turn one page into an image (so the text is too small to be read) and the next will be standard Kindle text that is resizable, etc. I send a lot of PDF's to myself... I'd say about 90% of the text PDF's come out good, and about 60% of the OCRd scanned texts turn out ok. But quite frankly... because I use so many PDFs, I'm planning on getting the DX. It looks like the ideal device between PDF's and ebooks.

05-22-2009, 07:09 PM	#4
enarchay Zealot Posts: 144 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	Most of the PDFs I have are not scans. Some have images, but most of them have footnotes and things like that. Not sure if converting would affect the layout. I don't want text to be all over the place. Does anyone have any pictures I can see as an example?

05-22-2009, 07:10 PM	#5
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The (free) Windows MobiPocket Reader can import DRM-free PDFs and export (and display) them as MOBI ebooks. The Amazon conversion is thought to be very similar, but it may work in cases that Mobipocket's fail. Amazon owns MobiPocket, and the the Kindle essentially only reads MOBI ebooks (Amazon calls them AZWs, but they are MOBI). The conversion works well in some cases, but is terrible in other cases. There are other conversion options, including Calibre (has its own forum). However, version 6 of Calibre (due out soon) is supposed to have better PDF import than the existing version. Another option is PDFRead, which converts the original pages into images, typically multiple images per page. Use the prc-mobi or prc-mobi-p options and view them (for now) using Windows MobiPocket Reader.

05-22-2009, 07:44 PM	#10
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	Calibre is free, and version 0.6 due out soon will have much better PDF conversion.

05-22-2009, 09:05 PM	#11
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	Calibre 0.6 is supposed to be out soon as others have said. Last I heard was late May / Early June. However, it does support PDF conversion in its current form and it is free. Go to: http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/download Download it, and convert a few pdf's. Calibre has a built in viewer and you can use your PC to view them in the converted format and see what they look like. If they aren't good enough, wait till 0.6 and you'll have another shot.