Marvel Comic PDFs and E-Readers

chrisb · 08-29-2007, 03:43 PM

Question -

i've discovered that there are 40+ years of various marvel comic books on single DVDS for a *very* reasonable choice as unlocked PDFs. check amazon [spiderman, avengers etc]. reading them on an e-reader such as my prs-500 would be fantastic, and am about to try it. hwoever, based on experience with scripts stored as PDF i have a suspicion that the size of the reader will be too small, aside from the colour issue.

SO. question 1: how far away are we from decent colour e-readers such as the fujitsu at a resolution and size good enough for decent comics? and secondly,
Question 2: what is the best reader TODAY, greyscale or otherwise, to read these comics?

yes, i'm willing to purchase a second e-reader to have access to 1000s of comic books in one reader ;-P

thanks in advance!

chris

Kosst Amojan · 08-29-2007, 05:04 PM

1: Two years. I think they'll be working well in one but the refresh speed has to go way up.

2. Iliad by and far, it wins on both size and shades of grey. I love comics too and I wish I had an Iliad but I'm happy with my Reader.

chrisb · 08-29-2007, 05:43 PM

Well, i'm addicted to comics so i ordered one. only way to be sure..i can always sell it ;-P

i will let you know what its like when it shows up.

chris

Nate the great · 08-29-2007, 05:46 PM

When you get it, can you post a couple pages? I want to try to convert it for the Sony Reader before I buy it myself.

chrisb · 08-29-2007, 06:02 PM

yes, i will post images of the comics on both the readers..and see how it goes.

chris

Steven Lyle Jordan · 08-29-2007, 10:35 PM

I've got a ton of comics, manga and graphic novels that I'd love to see in digital files. Unfortunately, I don't want to give up on the color. I'm holding out until I can get something that will read them in color, even if it's just a large-ish tablet PC. And I'll probably be the one doing the digitizing...

athlonkmf · 08-30-2007, 03:35 AM

How the reader handles comics: http://hightech.afmag.net/reading-ma...ve-review.html

As for the questions...

I think that within 2 years, a lowcolour (16 bits?) device will be available. But for what price and what resolution?

As for reading comics... without the colors, I don't feel any reader is good enough. Comics relies heavily on colors, so... if you read them black and white, it'd be like an insult.

Manga and colors isn't a problem of course.

Andanzas · 08-30-2007, 04:37 AM

chrisb, don't expect too much. In those DVDs, all pages are scanned in two page spreads. Fitting one page in a screen as small as that of the Iliad could be ok, but two...

Lemurion · 08-30-2007, 08:30 AM

They sound pretty good-- but I'm leery of the format. I have serious issues reading PDFs on screen, and doing two page spreads of comics sounds really hard to read.

chrisb · 08-30-2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andanzas

chrisb, don't expect too much. In those DVDs, all pages are scanned in two page spreads. Fitting one page in a screen as small as that of the Iliad could be ok, but two...

hmm. you are right, i didnt consider that. however, since they isnt any DRM, there should be a way to script an app that could split the page and save as separate images, no?

chrs

Steven Lyle Jordan · 08-30-2007, 01:57 PM

Acrobat is capable of cropping pages and resaving them... I've split pages in that way before, one set at a time. Never tried writing a macro for it, though.

Nate the great · 08-30-2007, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Acrobat is capable of cropping pages and resaving them... I've split pages in that way before, one set at a time. Never tried writing a macro for it, though.

PDFLRF already does this. At least, it comes pretty close.

trippin · 09-28-2007, 01:27 AM

The comic book collection contains a watermark. This can be annoying since it is located in the middle of the page. In my experience any pdf reader software would show the watermark unless the software has a feature to hide watermarks.

So how would an e-ink device get around this issue?

JSWolf · 09-28-2007, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trippin

The comic book collection contains a watermark. This can be annoying since it is located in the middle of the page. In my experience any pdf reader software would show the watermark unless the software has a feature to hide watermarks.

So how would an e-ink device get around this issue?

It has nothing to do with the device being eink based or not. It has to do with the software to render the PDF.

Lemurion · 09-28-2007, 09:36 AM

The only catch with a watermark is that with a device that supports four gray scales it may be too intrusive where it could be fainter on one with sixteen levels. Still it really has very little to do with the screen technology. It's all about how intrusive is the watermark?

08-29-2007, 03:43 PM	#1
chrisb Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony Prs-500	Marvel Comic PDFs and E-Readers Question - i've discovered that there are 40+ years of various marvel comic books on single DVDS for a very reasonable choice as unlocked PDFs. check amazon [spiderman, avengers etc]. reading them on an e-reader such as my prs-500 would be fantastic, and am about to try it. hwoever, based on experience with scripts stored as PDF i have a suspicion that the size of the reader will be too small, aside from the colour issue. SO. question 1: how far away are we from decent colour e-readers such as the fujitsu at a resolution and size good enough for decent comics? and secondly, Question 2: what is the best reader TODAY, greyscale or otherwise, to read these comics? yes, i'm willing to purchase a second e-reader to have access to 1000s of comic books in one reader ;-P thanks in advance! chris

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08-29-2007, 05:04 PM	#2
Kosst Amojan Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 19597 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	1: Two years. I think they'll be working well in one but the refresh speed has to go way up. 2. Iliad by and far, it wins on both size and shades of grey. I love comics too and I wish I had an Iliad but I'm happy with my Reader.

08-29-2007, 05:43 PM	#3
chrisb Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony Prs-500	Well, i'm addicted to comics so i ordered one. only way to be sure..i can always sell it ;-P i will let you know what its like when it shows up. chris

08-29-2007, 05:46 PM	#4
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	When you get it, can you post a couple pages? I want to try to convert it for the Sony Reader before I buy it myself.

08-29-2007, 06:02 PM	#5
chrisb Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony Prs-500	yes, i will post images of the comics on both the readers..and see how it goes. chris

08-29-2007, 10:35 PM	#6
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	I've got a ton of comics, manga and graphic novels that I'd love to see in digital files. Unfortunately, I don't want to give up on the color. I'm holding out until I can get something that will read them in color, even if it's just a large-ish tablet PC. And I'll probably be the one doing the digitizing...

08-30-2007, 03:35 AM	#7
athlonkmf Guru Posts: 714 Karma: 1014039 Join Date: May 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500, Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3, Sony PRS350, iPad 64GB	How the reader handles comics: http://hightech.afmag.net/reading-ma...ve-review.html As for the questions... I think that within 2 years, a lowcolour (16 bits?) device will be available. But for what price and what resolution? As for reading comics... without the colors, I don't feel any reader is good enough. Comics relies heavily on colors, so... if you read them black and white, it'd be like an insult. Manga and colors isn't a problem of course.

08-30-2007, 04:37 AM	#8
Andanzas Out of print Posts: 487 Karma: 1549538 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Sony PRS-500 (recycled), Pocketbook Inkpad X Pro	chrisb, don't expect too much. In those DVDs, all pages are scanned in two page spreads. Fitting one page in a screen as small as that of the Iliad could be ok, but two...

08-30-2007, 08:30 AM	#9
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	They sound pretty good-- but I'm leery of the format. I have serious issues reading PDFs on screen, and doing two page spreads of comics sounds really hard to read.

08-30-2007, 01:57 PM	#11
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Acrobat is capable of cropping pages and resaving them... I've split pages in that way before, one set at a time. Never tried writing a macro for it, though.

09-28-2007, 01:27 AM	#13
trippin Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505	The comic book collection contains a watermark. This can be annoying since it is located in the middle of the page. In my experience any pdf reader software would show the watermark unless the software has a feature to hide watermarks. So how would an e-ink device get around this issue?

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09-28-2007, 09:36 AM	#15
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	The only catch with a watermark is that with a device that supports four gray scales it may be too intrusive where it could be fainter on one with sixteen levels. Still it really has very little to do with the screen technology. It's all about how intrusive is the watermark?