How well does Kindle 3 do PDFs?

taksina · 08-29-2010, 11:04 AM

I'm new to e-readers and my Kindle 3 is over the Pacific right now. I'm dying to know how well it does PDFs, simple, font-mostly ones:

1. Do I need to pan or the text can be adjusted to wrap nicely?
2. Can I change the fonts or is this not possible as they are embedded?

Thanks in advance,

Taksina

Josieb1 · 08-29-2010, 11:34 AM

I am waiting to find that out too. I already know the Kindle doesn't flow PDF's like my Sony ebook does, which is bad news for me, so I have used Calibre to convert mine to MOBI format, once my kindle arrives I plan to load them (using Calibre) and can let you know. I am hoping converting them to PDF's means the read like a book, otherwise we are limited to turning the kindle landscape and seeing how well they fit on the landscape page.

PDF reflow (which the Sony readers have and Kindle doesn't) means that the sentences are changed to fit less words on a page, depending on the font size you select, whereas the Kindle still wants to keep the same number of words on the sentence, so the font has to be smaller to fit the whole page on the screen.

That's the simplest way I can explain it,

Josieb1 · 08-29-2010, 11:35 AM

Watch the video to see what I mean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crgpr1LO7ns

mpeg2 · 08-29-2010, 11:51 AM

The Kindle's PDF support is pretty rudimentary - you can zoom & pan, but there's no reflow and no changing of fonts - what you see is what you get.

IMO, if the pdf isn't formatted for the size of the Kindle screen, then its probably not worth the trouble to try to read it on the Kindle.

My previous ebook (eSlick) did a very good job on pdf reflow - if done right it can be quite useful...

Rich

dsip · 08-29-2010, 12:08 PM

If a pdf is simple and reflow makes any sense: Just throw it into the mobipocket creator. It does a nice job for that. Even for some slightly more complex books it worked fine for me.

If a pdf is more complex reflow would probably fuck up the pdf anyway; then you can use the pdf viewer of the kindle (see the video above), which seems fine to me, especially since the k3's screen refreshing seems so fast.

08-29-2010, 11:04 AM	#1
taksina Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Bangkok Device: Kindle 3	How well does Kindle 3 do PDFs? I'm new to e-readers and my Kindle 3 is over the Pacific right now. I'm dying to know how well it does PDFs, simple, font-mostly ones: 1. Do I need to pan or the text can be adjusted to wrap nicely? 2. Can I change the fonts or is this not possible as they are embedded? Thanks in advance, Taksina

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Troubleshooting PDFs on Kindle DX	MikeyArbulu	Amazon Kindle	2	08-13-2010 11:52 AM
enlarging pdfs on kindle	gartman	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	3	01-24-2010 12:52 AM
Question about PDFs and Kindle DX	purl4peace	Amazon Kindle	1	06-11-2009 03:25 PM
Kindle DX and A4 PDFs	Johannes	Amazon Kindle	19	05-12-2009 09:31 AM
Dirty PDFs and the Kindle	Austin	Amazon Kindle	5	03-26-2008 10:47 PM

08-29-2010, 11:34 AM	#2
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,009 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	I am waiting to find that out too. I already know the Kindle doesn't flow PDF's like my Sony ebook does, which is bad news for me, so I have used Calibre to convert mine to MOBI format, once my kindle arrives I plan to load them (using Calibre) and can let you know. I am hoping converting them to PDF's means the read like a book, otherwise we are limited to turning the kindle landscape and seeing how well they fit on the landscape page. PDF reflow (which the Sony readers have and Kindle doesn't) means that the sentences are changed to fit less words on a page, depending on the font size you select, whereas the Kindle still wants to keep the same number of words on the sentence, so the font has to be smaller to fit the whole page on the screen. That's the simplest way I can explain it,

08-29-2010, 11:35 AM	#3
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,009 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	Watch the video to see what I mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crgpr1LO7ns

08-29-2010, 11:51 AM	#4
mpeg2 Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 2687880 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	The Kindle's PDF support is pretty rudimentary - you can zoom & pan, but there's no reflow and no changing of fonts - what you see is what you get. IMO, if the pdf isn't formatted for the size of the Kindle screen, then its probably not worth the trouble to try to read it on the Kindle. My previous ebook (eSlick) did a very good job on pdf reflow - if done right it can be quite useful... Rich

08-29-2010, 12:08 PM	#5
dsip Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 495694 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Between Devices..	If a pdf is simple and reflow makes any sense: Just throw it into the mobipocket creator. It does a nice job for that. Even for some slightly more complex books it worked fine for me. If a pdf is more complex reflow would probably fuck up the pdf anyway; then you can use the pdf viewer of the kindle (see the video above), which seems fine to me, especially since the k3's screen refreshing seems so fast.

Advert

Advert