All formats are compromises. Is RTF my best bet?

[Pi Squared]

(For 'best', substitute 'least worst' - it is a compromise!)

I was given a PRS-505 some time ago and have been using it very happily. However I'm now at the stage where I'd like to ensure I'm getting the most out of it. And one of the big issues is obviously ebook file formats. I've not explored them all, but I have got some opinions and I wonder if they are justified (aahh, bad word to use in an ebook forum - "wonder if they are defensible"). All advice gratefully received.

Background - so far most of my reading is text. I have no over-riding need for images or diagrams. Most of my books have arrived with me as plain ASCII files and I've tried converting these in the Sony software and Calibre to other formats.

Summary of what I like -

full justification (high weighting for me);
good choice of fonts (esp sans serif) (high weighting);
quick opening file on PRS505 (nice to have but not essential);
author, title and series/collection visible in PRS505 (high, high and fairly high);
minimal editing/formatting software and knowledge needed (e.g. Word, plus explorer to copy file to PRS505) (very high)

So far I'm actually leaning towards RTF as the compromise. If I could find a way of embdedding series/collection information in an RTF I think I'd be happy. Next from there I'm considering HTML. Extra editing required but relatively manageable. ePub and Sony's own format obviously give quick performance but sacrifice editability (?) for me. RTF is bulky, but memory is cheap, so I don't find that a problem yet.

Can anyone answer the series/collection information issue in an RTF? Or are there other file formats out there I should be considering that match up to my preferences. I emphasise that these are all just preferences, and probably don't even qualify as 'needs'. Hey, if you get a really good book you can probably read it in just about any font/justification/spacing and totally forget these things as you get immersed in the story!

Thanks in advance

[radius]

Originally Posted by Pi Squared

Background - so far most of my reading is text. I have no over-riding need for images or diagrams. Most of my books have arrived with me as plain ASCII files and I've tried converting these in the Sony software and Calibre to other formats.

Summary of what I like -

full justification (high weighting for me);
good choice of fonts (esp sans serif) (high weighting);
quick opening file on PRS505 (nice to have but not essential);
author, title and series/collection visible in PRS505 (high, high and fairly high);
minimal editing/formatting software and knowledge needed (e.g. Word, plus explorer to copy file to PRS505) (very high)

Hi, I came from the same place as you (lots of stored text documents) but I gave up on RTF about two days after getting my 505.

RTF has a lot going for it (lots of high quality and stable editors available for it; mature format; just enough formatting/markup for fiction and other mostly text, serial documents) but on the 505 it has enough drawbacks that I don't use it unless I am too lazy to convert something.

The reasons are:

- stuck with the stock Sony fonts
- no hyperlinks
- no included metadata; you need to use something like Calibre if you want the right book title and authour to show up or if you want the tag collections
- no table of contents

To me the big one is custom fonts. I value the ability to use my own font more than I care about justification. If you break up the document into manageable pieces, then loading and resizing are fast.

If you have HTML as source, you are pretty close to having an epub anyway so I don't understand why you say that lacks editability for you.

[frabjous]

I'll probably get flamed for saying so, but I'd keep the source files around if I wanted to make changes, but actually convert the file to PDF before loading it on to the device.

You can choose any font, any font size, any justification, etc. You can export the PDF through Word or any other modern word processor. Just be sure to follow Sony's instructions on setting the page size, etc., eliminate margins, and so on beforehand, and be sure to make it has the font size, and other settings you like before exporting, because you'd need to go back to the source to make changes.

Links should work (--or they do if exported though OpenOffice; I don't use Word--), possibly TOC depend on how it's made, metadata is possible (--you may need to add some through calibre though--), etc.

[DixieGal]

I try to keep a PDF and RTF of all of mine, just in case. Actu ally, I try to keep as many versions as possible.

[Pi Squared]

Thanks for the (prompt) feedback.

For RTF and metadata I find that simply using Word to set the Title and Author in File > Properties works perfectly in the PRS-505. If I then examine the resulting RTF using something like Notepad++ I can clearly see where the appropriate tags have been created to hold this data. However I don't know if the PRS-505 is capable of picking up series/collection data from an RTF and, if so, what the tag would look like. Clearly Word has no concept of this property and so does not offer the possibility for the user to enter such information.

Calibre appears to implant the Title, Author and Series/Collection names in an HTML file. I've lacked confidence in my own editing to test - does the HTML content have any relationship to what might work in an RTF? Or am I on completely the wrong track?

Regards

[ghostyjack]

If I remember correctly, the collections information is not stored in the ebook file.

Upon exporting from Calibre or the Sony software, the collection information is added into the reader in a database of some form (I think) that the reader can read. This is due to an ebook being able to be part of as many collections as you like without having to have more than one copy of the ebook on the reader.

Any series information that you may be able to store in the ebook file itself will be ignored by the reader.

As to formats: Epub is a good choice and Sigil allows you to edit the file without having too much knowledge, even beginners can make an epub with Sigil. Being as it's XHTML based, then with a minimum of HTML knowledge, you can improve the look of the Epub in Sigil's code-view or just stick with it's book-view and use it like a word-processor.

Due to you having a Sony reader then full justification doesn't work on the screen with stock Sony firmware's installed, but you could update it with a custom firmware to get this functionality.

[frabjous]

Due to you having a Sony reader then full justification doesn't work on the screen with stock Sony firmware's installed, but you could update it with a custom firmware to get this functionality.

Do you have a link for that?

I don't think I've seen such custom firmware, but perhaps I haven't looked hard enough lately.

[ghostyjack]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87474

It makes several references to the fact that epubs are now justified. It supports the PRS-505 & 300 and the author of the thread says it will soon support the 600 and I think the 650 as well.

[Pi Squared]

Thanks to everyone for their input. And I've spent a lot more time browsing this site and others, picking up ideas and opinions.

I think I have reached a decision about my way forward, and it will be RTF in the main. For me the good things are -

- more than adequate for the text books I read in the main. I have no visual/comic books, and only a couple of books with diagrams/pictures/maps to support the text. I may live without these images or find an ad hoc solution for each book as I come to it.

- easy to edit and format. I use Word and have created a macro to do 95% of standardising margins, page settings, font sizes etc. Using FILE > PROPERTIES you can set the Title and Author so that the PRS505 pick them up as metadata. I also use Wordpad to do final shrinking of file size if my many edits have resulted in a really bloated document.

- I have experimented with using Calibre simply as a manager rather than a converter. With Calibre I can add the Series information in the metadata and use it to transfer the RTF without further conversion to the 505.

- I have full control over justification without tinkering with custom firmware. I've tried minor mods to the 505 (and had success) but I've never successfully got justification as I'd hoped. As things stand I've currently got a UK 505 that I bricked and eventually recovered with US firmware. I think I'll quit at this while my head's still above water.

Acceptable compromises I'm prepared to live with -

- file size. RTF has a tendency to swell with repeat editing sessions but that can be managed with Wordpad. Even at its worst I'm enough of a greybeard and a slow enough reader that a 2GB memory card will probably hold all the books I'll be able to read in the rest of my life (ouch, that's a depressing thought! )

- slow formatting of RTF in 505. As this greybeard's life dwindles away in front of his eyes (damn, I'm stuck on this theme now!) every minute it takes to format the book seems long, but it is only a minute or two..

Thanks again