PDF -> Copy/Paste -> TXT/HTML -> MOBI ?

[summon]

I am considering buying a kindle 2. However, I have many ebooks in PDF format, which I want to read on the device.
I heard about the PDF problems and how crumbled it can look like. Therefore I wonder if it is possible to just copy/paste text (or images) from PDF to HTML or TXT and then convert it to MOBI - do you get good results with that?
What if the PDF contains only text, does that result in great quality?

Thanks!

[t-town]

You could use Calibre (or Acrobat pro) to convert Pdf to Mobi. No need to go trough txt or Html. Ps: the Kindle reads txt.

[=X=]

The Kindle supports PDF so you might not have to do any converting.

For text only PDF the conversions tools all work good.

There are several but let me list the 4 options that might work

- Email the PDF to your amazon email. Pay like 10-15 cents.
- Convert with MobiCreate
- Convert with Calibre
- Use PaperCrop/PDFReader to generate an imaged base PDF that its optimized for your 6" screen.

I've not used the email option but I've heard mixed results some say it was great others say it was okay. For 10 cents and all the time you save I would say it's worth a try.

=X=

[summon]

I forgot to add that I want to basically be able to highlight/bookmark/comment text, so since that is not possible with pdf, is my suggested solution a good idea?
Can I expect to get the text re-flowable and everything neat on the kindle then?

edit: Additional Question: how does epub conversion to mobi turn out? now problems, even in "complicated" epub files?

[=X=]

All the options I listed except for the last convert the PDF to a text base MOBI file. So you will be able to highlight/leave notes.

The fist option is a PDF -> MOBI conversion where the only action you have to do is email it to get a MOBI file. THe other require some manual steps to convert the PDF to MOBI.

By all means the step you are proposing is possible, but it is the most labor intesnsive option. Having to copy-n-paste every page is quite a lot of work.


As for ePUB conversions. No problem calibre does a fantastic job converting ePUB to MOBI. Also if you install MobiReader, a free software from mobipocket, it too will do a great converting ePUB. MobiReader conversion is completely transparent, you don't even know you've converted the book. However you will have to manually copy the book over to your kindle device.

I probably recommend calibre even though you do have to hit a button to convert the ePUB to MOBI, copying the file to the Kindle is much easier.

=X=

[summon]

The reason why I want to do this: To get a decent formatted text with no errors (as they occur if I convert from PDF -> text looks horrible!)
So my solution is possible if I want to put in the labor ?!

[=X=]

I realize I didn't mention the work involved when using MobiCreator. Of the four options I mentioned using Mobicreator is the most laborious but also yields the best results.

I just remembered that mobireader also converts PDF by virtue of importing the file into the reader, I just never liked the result, it does a better job than most but I like my mobi to be perfect.

Anyhow getting back to MobiCreator. This tool has a Wizard like interface that takes you through the process of converting a PDF to Mobi. During the conversion process it generates HTML from the PDF, and does a very good job at it, but it still is not perfect. What the tool is excellent for editing the meta data it is not so good for editing the HTML.

The HTML is stored in a working directory so you'll have to find the path where mobicreator stores the file. The path can be found in the setting.


What I usually do is import the HTML into a tool like Bookcreator, found here on this site, in the Workshop forum. Edit the html then generate the mobi from that tool

Oh and if you are comfortable editing html directly you can edit the html from within the Mobicreator tool.

Using Mobicreator does yield the best results, but it does take time.

[JSWolf]

There is no way to convert your PDF to anything else without numerous errors.

[Chris Crouch]

Originally Posted by =X=

- Email the PDF to your amazon email. Pay like 10-15 cents.
...
I've not used the email option but I've heard mixed results some say it was great others say it was okay. For 10 cents and all the time you save I would say it's worth a try.
=X=

You could use the free email conversion that they offer to test this route. Send your PDF to yourname@free.kindle.com, and it should email you back the converted file.

I haven't tried this, but it should work (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...00375630&#fees)

Chris

[JMikeD]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is no way to convert your PDF to anything else without numerous errors.

Ain't it the truth. Even Adobe's own Acrobat (Creator) program can’t export to text without messing it up.