Content Converting PDF for easy reading on Kindle 3

crich70 · 06-17-2011, 05:08 PM

Is there an easy way to convert pdf's so they read well on the Kindle? I've noticed that some pdf files read well on the Kindle while others don't and was wondering if converting a pdf to LRF and then converting that file to Mobi format would help the formatting or if it is an exercise in frustration.

markdek · 06-17-2011, 05:30 PM

I've tried Calibre, and MobiCreator, w/ mixed, and often poor results. But, they have always been readable, just not pretty.

jimh12345 · 06-17-2011, 05:45 PM

I found reading a PDF on the Kindle to be just an exercise in frustration.

mr ploppy · 06-17-2011, 06:12 PM

Best program I've found so far is PDFtoEpub. It was free when I got it, don't know if it still is or not. It doesn't seem to jumble characters up as much as Mobicreator does, and you can crop off the headers and footers that PDF people seem to like so much.

tomsem · 06-17-2011, 06:15 PM

Conversion works okay with some and not others. Depends on how the PDF is baked and how complex the layout is.

I prefer to read as PDF whenever possible (landscape usually works ok), after cropping the headers and footers, which lets full-page and full-width work a little better. It's more predictable, though not ideal. You probably won't get 'ideal' without a lot of tweaking, which is not usually worth the effort.

Jack Tingle · 06-17-2011, 06:41 PM

The only really readable PDFs for small (5-6") ereaders I've ever seen have been ones formatted for that screen size. A6 or A7 paper size with very small margins is about right. Other than that, I've never had any luck with PDF on the Kindle. I don't think (IIRC) even tagging helps.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

markdek · 06-17-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

The only really readable PDFs for small (5-6") ereaders I've ever seen have been ones formatted for that screen size. A6 or A7 paper size with very small margins is about right. Other than that, I've never had any luck with PDF on the Kindle. I don't think (IIRC) even tagging helps.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

I believe the OP is looking to convert the PDF to some other readable format, like Mobi....he's not going to read the pdf on the Kindle.

crich70 · 06-17-2011, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdek

I believe the OP is looking to convert the PDF to some other readable format, like Mobi....he's not going to read the pdf on the Kindle.

Yes. I have found that while some PDF's do read ok on the Kindle 3 others have text that's so small as to be unreadable. Even changing page orientation doesn't always work. I did get the PDF to Epub free offer mentioned before but of course it only allows one file at a time to be converted which is a definite con if you have multiple PDF files. Being able to convert multiple PDF's to a readable format at once would be a bonus.

BrowseTheStacks · 06-18-2011, 12:39 AM

Send it to your free@kindle.com email address and download it via wifi. The formating may be a issue but it's free to try to see how it looks.

DreamWriter · 06-18-2011, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrowseTheStacks

Send it to your free@kindle.com email address and download it via wifi. The formating may be a issue but it's free to try to see how it looks.

That is worth a try. If you do that, just be sure to put the word "convert" in the subject line so they know it's a PDF conversion request.

Jack Tingle · 06-18-2011, 02:59 PM

You should also send it to the correct email address:

[your account name]@free.kindle.com

IIRC.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

crich70 · 06-18-2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

You should also send it to the correct email address:

[your account name]@free.kindle.com

IIRC.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

Touche. I hadn't noticed that the email addy was incorrect before.

Shykat · 06-18-2011, 07:46 PM

Here is a situation that I don't know if anyone can help me with:

I don't have a Kindle but do have the software on my PC, my Android phone and my Android Tablet.

I have a bunch of ebooks in multiple formats such as pdf, html and epub... even some old .lit files from when I read ebooks in Microsoft Reader.

I've read the help area on Amazon till I'm crosseyed. I see that I need Your account name@free.kindle.com. When I try to find out what that email address is... I go to Manage Your Kindle. Then Manage Your Devices.

All three versions of the Kindle software show up but there are NO email addresses showing for any of the devices since... well, they aren't devices, they are just the software installed on other devices.

How the heck do I find an email address for each of the 3 versions of software that I have?

Orrrrrr.....

Would there be a way to send a pdf or other format of ebook to the "Your Kindle Library" and have it show up there so it could be transferred to the device I want it to be sent to? And would it be converted FREE to the format preferred by the Kindle??

Hope that made sense! I really need help in figuring out this problem as I love the feature of syncing your ebooks between each of the programs! I can read away from home on my phone, sync things and continue reading either on my computer or my tablet once I'm home.

Any ideas? All help is greatly appreciated!
Shykat

crich70 · 06-18-2011, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shykat

Here is a situation that I don't know if anyone can help me with:

I don't have a Kindle but do have the software on my PC, my Android phone and my Android Tablet.

I have a bunch of ebooks in multiple formats such as pdf, html and epub... even some old .lit files from when I read ebooks in Microsoft Reader.

I've read the help area on Amazon till I'm crosseyed. I see that I need Your account name@free.kindle.com. When I try to find out what that email address is... I go to Manage Your Kindle. Then Manage Your Devices.

All three versions of the Kindle software show up but there are NO email addresses showing for any of the devices since... well, they aren't devices, they are just the software installed on other devices.

How the heck do I find an email address for each of the 3 versions of software that I have?

Orrrrrr.....

Would there be a way to send a pdf or other format of ebook to the "Your Kindle Library" and have it show up there so it could be transferred to the device I want it to be sent to? And would it be converted FREE to the format preferred by the Kindle??

Hope that made sense! I really need help in figuring out this problem as I love the feature of syncing your ebooks between each of the programs! I can read away from home on my phone, sync things and continue reading either on my computer or my tablet once I'm home.

Any ideas? All help is greatly appreciated!
Shykat

I think that they only have a Kindle email for the actual Kindle unit. I have the reading app on both my desktop and netbook but the only email is associated with my Kindle.

Book-Lover · 06-19-2011, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

You should also send it to the correct email address:

[your account name]@free.kindle.com

Also, put the word "convert" - without the quotes - in the subject line of your message.

IME, the Amazon conversion is better than the Calibre conversion. I don't have any experience with the other programs mentioned.

06-17-2011, 05:08 PM	#1
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Converting PDF for easy reading on Kindle 3 Is there an easy way to convert pdf's so they read well on the Kindle? I've noticed that some pdf files read well on the Kindle while others don't and was wondering if converting a pdf to LRF and then converting that file to Mobi format would help the formatting or if it is an exercise in frustration.

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06-17-2011, 05:30 PM	#2
markdek Addict Posts: 202 Karma: 1015348 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle 3	I've tried Calibre, and MobiCreator, w/ mixed, and often poor results. But, they have always been readable, just not pretty.

06-17-2011, 05:45 PM	#3
jimh12345 Connoisseur Posts: 71 Karma: 2012 Join Date: May 2011 Device: kindle	I found reading a PDF on the Kindle to be just an exercise in frustration.

06-17-2011, 06:12 PM	#4
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Best program I've found so far is PDFtoEpub. It was free when I got it, don't know if it still is or not. It doesn't seem to jumble characters up as much as Mobicreator does, and you can crop off the headers and footers that PDF people seem to like so much.

06-17-2011, 06:15 PM	#5
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,939 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Conversion works okay with some and not others. Depends on how the PDF is baked and how complex the layout is. I prefer to read as PDF whenever possible (landscape usually works ok), after cropping the headers and footers, which lets full-page and full-width work a little better. It's more predictable, though not ideal. You probably won't get 'ideal' without a lot of tweaking, which is not usually worth the effort.

06-17-2011, 06:41 PM	#6
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	The only really readable PDFs for small (5-6") ereaders I've ever seen have been ones formatted for that screen size. A6 or A7 paper size with very small margins is about right. Other than that, I've never had any luck with PDF on the Kindle. I don't think (IIRC) even tagging helps. Regards, Jack Tingle

06-18-2011, 12:39 AM	#9
BrowseTheStacks BrowseTheStacks Posts: 127 Karma: 24316 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Tampa FL Device: Kindle 3 3G + WI-FI	Send it to your free@kindle.com email address and download it via wifi. The formating may be a issue but it's free to try to see how it looks.

06-18-2011, 02:59 PM	#11
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	You should also send it to the correct email address: [your account name]@free.kindle.com IIRC. Regards, Jack Tingle

06-18-2011, 07:46 PM	#13
Shykat Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 494052 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPhone, iPad Mini, my PC and Galaxy Tab A :)	Here is a situation that I don't know if anyone can help me with: I don't have a Kindle but do have the software on my PC, my Android phone and my Android Tablet. I have a bunch of ebooks in multiple formats such as pdf, html and epub... even some old .lit files from when I read ebooks in Microsoft Reader. I've read the help area on Amazon till I'm crosseyed. I see that I need Your account name@free.kindle.com. When I try to find out what that email address is... I go to Manage Your Kindle. Then Manage Your Devices. All three versions of the Kindle software show up but there are NO email addresses showing for any of the devices since... well, they aren't devices, they are just the software installed on other devices. How the heck do I find an email address for each of the 3 versions of software that I have? Orrrrrr..... Would there be a way to send a pdf or other format of ebook to the "Your Kindle Library" and have it show up there so it could be transferred to the device I want it to be sent to? And would it be converted FREE to the format preferred by the Kindle?? Hope that made sense! I really need help in figuring out this problem as I love the feature of syncing your ebooks between each of the programs! I can read away from home on my phone, sync things and continue reading either on my computer or my tablet once I'm home. Any ideas? All help is greatly appreciated! Shykat

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