Lost in Conversion

[Nautilus]

Not sure this is the right place...

I got my first ebook reader (Sony 505) a couple of weeks ago and I'm starting to regret ever buying the damn thing. The first ebook I read was 1984 (got it here, thanks for the great initiative ). The book was fantastic, the formatting was nicely done, everything was just peachy. Then I bought the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the Sony store (knowing that they will eventually let me download the book in epub format, otherwise I would never have bought it, DRM and all). The margins were ridiculous, but it was a good read nonetheless. I never read so much in so little time, I'm loving it


But now I'm trying to read The Brothers Karamazov. I say "trying" because the Sony Connect version (included in the free "100 classics") is terrible, with missing words and unforgiveable mistakes like "he bad looked upon them"... I tried to read it anyway, filling in the missing words and ignoring the obvious mistakes, but it's definitely not an enjoyable experience... "he bad looked" ?? I mean, c'mon!

Unfortunately, the two versions available here on the forum are based on Sony's book, so they're out. The Project Gutenberg's book looks perfect, with apparently no mistakes or missing words, but I have no idea how to turn it into a decent LRF. I downloaded the HTML version, txt, epub, PDF and tried converting them with Calibre and Book Designer, to no avail. The TOC gets all messed up and/or I lose the entire formatting and since the HTML version has [pg001], [pg002], etc. on every page, they appear in the middle of a sentence!


I'm not afraid of a little hands-on work (been trying to get the conversion right for 3 days now), but this is starting to look like work. I just want to read the book, not write it!

I'm not asking that someone do the conversion for me (I wouldn't say no, though ), just a little guidance to show me the light

[AnemicOak]

Have you checked out Book Designer? (Requires Windows and Word)

When I was making a lot of LRF's for myself I found it one of the best tools available.


For public domain books you can also check Feedbooks and Manybooks and see if you can find formatting you like.

[Jellby]

Can't you read ePUB on your 505?

[Nautilus]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Have you checked out Book Designer? (Requires Windows and Word)

Yep, I said it in my post

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

For public domain books you can also check Feedbooks and Manybooks and see if you can find formatting you like.

I tried Manybooks but there are based on the Sony book too...

Originally Posted by Jellby

Can't you read ePUB on your 505?

Yes (although I dislike the numbering on the right), but the ePUB version available on Project Gutenberg is as bad as my conversions, with no page breaks between chapters and the dreaded [pg***] right in the middle of a sentence. Here's an example :

"Mitya had a vague and exaggerated idea [pg 007] of his property."

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Yes (although I dislike the numbering on the right), but the ePUB version available on Project Gutenberg is as bad as my conversions, with no page breaks between chapters and the dreaded [pg***] right in the middle of a sentence.

Then what is the PG version that "looks perfect"? I suggest you take it, load it into Sigil, and create an ePUB file.

For removing the [pg ***] things, you could use some preprocessor. I believe Calibre does include the option to remove arbitrary text from the files it converts, you could probably catch them with something like:

\[pg [0-9]*\]

Or you could take the ePUB version and modify the formatting, it should mostly be done with CSS.

[Nautilus]

Sorry for the delay. I started reading a few other (much shorter!) books while I figure out what to do with the Brothers.


Thanks Jellby for the magical formula to get rid of the [pgxxx], I tried that before but couldn't find the right combination

The version that looks good is the HTML one... I guess I'll give Sigil a shot.


Thanks again

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Thanks Jellby for the magical formula to get rid of the [pgxxx], I tried that before but couldn't find the right combination

The version that looks good is the HTML one... I guess I'll give Sigil a shot.

It's probably easier to just add:

span.tei-pb { display: none }

to the CSS rules.