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Old 09-10-2013, 07:58 AM   #31
markom
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Originally Posted by Joykins View Post
PDFs are fine for computer screens or larger tablets. Maybe.

They are horrible for e-readers.

It's impossible to adjust the fonts with any degree of granularity--in other words too large or too small, not usually "just right." Many people get e-readers because of the ability to adjust font size.

E-readers that attempt to "flow" pdfs end up having weird results in respect to hyphenation and page breaks. These are disruptive to the reading experience. So are the e-readers that force you to either read the pdf in too-small font or read only the right or left HALF of the page at a time. That's even worse.
...
Or turn to landscape mode and just scroll down two or three screens per page (with cropped margins).

Majority of belletristic/fiction is in A5 or smaller format (150 mm page width) anyway, so after margin cropping it fits 120 mm of 6" reader in landscape mode just fine.

The same goes for A4 format and 10" readers like Kindle Dx.

I read a lot of scanned pdf's on my e-ink readers without any problem, with search, higlighting, handwriting etc. options included, rather than converting them to epub/mobi, because i want the exact pdf on my reader as it is on paper (exact pdf image with OCR layer in background).

If I'm not satisfied with my 6" Sony's native cropping/landscape mode or reflowing of particular textual pdf I simply convert them with k2pdfopt or other apps to fit 6" screen in landscape mode or use Kindle dx or Kindle 3 (with kindlepdfviewer or Duokan installed).

Those with rooted android readers can use some good pdf reader for cropping/zooming in landscape mode.

k2pdfopt app can even reflow pdf scans (images) and we can then change letter size on 6" reader by changing dpi resolution in k2pdfopt.

So, for those who really want to read pdf's on 6" e-ink readers the situation is not that bad at all.

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Last edited by markom; 09-10-2013 at 09:30 AM.
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Old 09-10-2013, 11:12 AM   #32
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I tried the k2pdfopt software last night on my phone, with a PDF that had a fairly simple layout. The results were much better than an unmodified PDF, but still not that great on my Galaxy Note, with a 5.3" screen. Still even with k2pdfopt readability of PDF files is still nowhere near that of an ePub.
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Old 09-10-2013, 03:09 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markom View Post
Or turn to landscape mode and just scroll down two or three screens per page (with cropped margins).

Majority of belletristic/fiction is in A5 or smaller format (150 mm page width) anyway, so after margin cropping it fits 120 mm of 6" reader in landscape mode just fine.
I have read in landscape mode but even then the font is usually too small for these old eyes.

Now I'm sure I could jump through the hoops, you mention, but it doesn't seem worth it when I have other epubs waiting, so I put the pdfs on the backburner or read them on my computer.
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Old 09-11-2013, 04:16 AM   #34
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My own experience is that I prefer PDFs when I'm making my own ebooks, but EPUB when purchasing ebooks produced by others. Since the ebook creator has to deal with so many screen options when producing an ebook, EPUB allows him/her to create one ebook that can be acceptably viewed on any ebook reader. That is something that is difficult, if not impossible, with PDF.

The reason that I prefer PDF when making my own ebooks is that I can format them specifically for my ereader and they will look exactly on my ebook reader as intended. Plus, I use OpenOffice to make my ebooks and I've found using it to make a PDF ebook is much easier than using it to make an EPUB ebook. Plus, reformatting them for different screen sizes is just a matter of changing the page size in the source document.

However, if I was creating an ebook for others I would format it as an EPUB for the reasons in the first paragraph. PDF is good for certain uses, but not for ebooks meant to be used on all ebook readers.
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Old 09-11-2013, 07:58 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markom View Post
Or turn to landscape mode and just scroll down two or three screens per page (with cropped margins).

Majority of belletristic/fiction is in A5 or smaller format (150 mm page width) anyway, so after margin cropping it fits 120 mm of 6" reader in landscape mode just fine.

The same goes for A4 format and 10" readers like Kindle Dx.

I read a lot of scanned pdf's on my e-ink readers without any problem, with search, higlighting, handwriting etc. options included, rather than converting them to epub/mobi, because i want the exact pdf on my reader as it is on paper (exact pdf image with OCR layer in background).

If I'm not satisfied with my 6" Sony's native cropping/landscape mode or reflowing of particular textual pdf I simply convert them with k2pdfopt or other apps to fit 6" screen in landscape mode or use Kindle dx or Kindle 3 (with kindlepdfviewer or Duokan installed).

Those with rooted android readers can use some good pdf reader for cropping/zooming in landscape mode.

k2pdfopt app can even reflow pdf scans (images) and we can then change letter size on 6" reader by changing dpi resolution in k2pdfopt.

So, for those who really want to read pdf's on 6" e-ink readers the situation is not that bad at all...
If I am paying for this book, I would prefer not to have to go through all these hoops just to make the file readable on my device. The word would get out among readers and the sales (if this is a for profit operation) would probably drop. While there are some uses for PDFs in a narrow range of circumstances, if this book is not a technical book and is aimed at the masses, then Epub is the way to go.
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Old 09-12-2013, 12:59 PM   #36
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I prefer not to read in landscape mode; I find it cumbersome.
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Old 09-12-2013, 01:08 PM   #37
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I'd definitely encourage them to go with ePub/mobi. The whole PDF experience on tablets sucks. They don't even convert very good in Calibre most of the time (end up with headers/footers/page numbers stuck all through the text and it's not worth the effort to get rid of them all). I'd rather have a print copy if PDF is my only digital option.
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Old 09-12-2013, 01:13 PM   #38
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Epub's fine for most fiction and a lot of nonfiction. It handles text (even a lot of non-Roman script) and illustrations very well. But as long as formatting/font support is so limited in epub, PDF will have its uses. I have a large quantity of math books and papers on my device that would be impossible in epub. And the Story HD's resolution and zoom levels mean I can read them great. But I understand most e-ink readers don't handle PDF well.
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Old 09-12-2013, 01:20 PM   #39
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I guess that when you're reading something, the question becomes what's more important-- the text or the layout? Myself, I don't really care unless the layout was really important-- otherwise the capability for reflowable text trumps all. I really can't think of any book where the spatial layout is absolutely crucial though, unless it's House of Leaves or something.
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Old 09-13-2013, 06:48 AM   #40
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Microsoft still has quite a few PDF only.
Yeah, that would be right. Living in the past and not adapting quickly to more forward thinking formats basically sums Microsoft up! Hence they are so far behind in the mobile computing revolution. (But that is a discussion for another place.)

PDFs have their place for documents and being read on PC monitors, but generally the smaller the screen, the less functional they become. So EPUB is the way forward for e-reading.

I suppose in an ideal world, you'd produce something in a couple of formats to give people with different devices some choice, but even so, I can see more and more people choosing to avoid using PDFs as Kindles/e-readers, tablets and big screen smartphones take over the world!
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Old 09-13-2013, 07:01 AM   #41
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From my perspective as a customer, the difference between epub and PDF is simple:

If it's PDF, I won't buy it.
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