I researched and decided.

silencer · 08-06-2008, 08:54 PM

Yesterday I received my new ebook reader.
Oh certainly there were options, choices and some were quite decent.
After spending about 10 hrs lurking on this site, I decided: The Sony reader would be the best bet for the money ESP if the new firmware came out.

I opened the box (which was crushed by UPS) and inside I discovered a completely charged and operational prs505.
It cost $265 plus tax and shipping for a total to my door of $313.00

I plugged it in and upgraded the firmware - which had JUST came out. Suddenly my PDFs were going to be completely usable!
What WAS a disappointment was the software.
It just is horrible to use.

I have been copying the books directly. Clean, easy.
The only issue that gets me is that even though all of my PDF's are neatly named (example J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings Collection.pdf), when the books load it into the reader, I get almost useless info, as apparently PDF's have meta tag information that I was unaware of, thus it sometimes is completely wrong.
I managed to find a variety of software that helped me a lot. Vadi's book sorter is crucial. Clone remover is a godsend. Thats it. I tried calibre, ABC AMBER, ebook library, MY ebook library, advanced PDF tools and a host of others.
None seem to be able to use my filenames as metatag info. So much for thinking this would be easy and automatic like for mp3s.

So, I am going to wait til an easy answer comes along, because lord knows I have more things to do (like reading) then to spend hours correcting metatag info.
Now, if only the books posted here in BBeB format were available as one download....

Thanks for all of the help, you didn't know you were helping, but you all did.
Had it not been for the member posts here (from all device owners) I could not have made as good a choice for me as I did.
Proud to be a member.

MickeyC · 08-06-2008, 08:59 PM

Hi silencer and welcome to the Forum. I've had a Sony since January and like it a lot. And you'll find lots of friendly help here on the Forum.

astrodad · 08-06-2008, 09:18 PM

Congrats on the Reader. It's the one gadget I can't do without! Welcome to the forums.

acidzebra · 08-07-2008, 01:38 AM

congrats, welcome, and be sure to check out Calibre as a replacement for the Sony software - you can also use Calibre to mass-edit metadata, although no automatic tagging like for MP3's, I'm afraid

At least, not at the moment.

http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/
and a section on this forum that deals with it:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166

gwynevans · 08-07-2008, 05:25 AM

I don't think Calibre's able to tweak PDF metadata - not sure what is, actually...

acidzebra · 08-07-2008, 05:40 AM

Oh? I thought that worked. Well, coming back to the original poster's automation wish, PDFtk can edit PDF metadata. It is commandline and cross-platform, too.

So if all your PDFs use a given naming format (say "author - title.pdf") automation would be possible. The script would have to do

1) pick apart the filename and store the results in a temporary text file formatted as follows:
InfoKey: Author
InfoValue: <AUTHORNAME>
InfoKey: Title
InfoValue: <BOOKTITLE>
2) Update the PDF metadata with pdftk's update_info function
3) delete the temporary file and restart from (1) with the next book

As long as your PDFs are named in a consistent fashion this would work.

BlackVoid · 08-07-2008, 07:54 AM

I have found that the only decent converter is BookDesigner 4.0. You need the latest patch for lrf support.
Calibre uses html2lrf and the results are abysmal in my experience.

And be careful, if you copy the book directly to the reader, then formatting for lrf will not be done - starting the book and resizing the text will be slow.

thorswitch · 08-12-2008, 07:14 AM

Check this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27627

There's a link in the first message for a metadata editor for PDFs and I just tried it on a book where the title was coming up as "Layout 1" on the Sony Library software, Adobe's Digital Editions and on the Reader itself (only Calibre showed it with the proper title in it's library listing, but even using Calibre's metadata editor, I wasn't able to get the Reader to recognize the proper title.)

Anyway, I downloaded the software from the link above and within about 30 seconds after the software finished installing, I had the book retitled and showing up properly in the Library, DE and - after uploading it - on the Reader. Very handy!

llasram · 08-12-2008, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

I have found that the only decent converter is BookDesigner 4.0. You need the latest patch for lrf support.
Calibre uses html2lrf and the results are abysmal in my experience.

Have you tried calibre's html2lrf recently? Output from early versions could be pretty bad, but it does a decent job these days. If you find anything it makes a glaringly awful mess of you should submit an issue on the calibre trac.

08-06-2008, 08:54 PM	#1
silencer Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: prs505	I researched and decided. Yesterday I received my new ebook reader. Oh certainly there were options, choices and some were quite decent. After spending about 10 hrs lurking on this site, I decided: The Sony reader would be the best bet for the money ESP if the new firmware came out. I opened the box (which was crushed by UPS) and inside I discovered a completely charged and operational prs505. It cost $265 plus tax and shipping for a total to my door of $313.00 I plugged it in and upgraded the firmware - which had JUST came out. Suddenly my PDFs were going to be completely usable! What WAS a disappointment was the software. It just is horrible to use. I have been copying the books directly. Clean, easy. The only issue that gets me is that even though all of my PDF's are neatly named (example J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings Collection.pdf), when the books load it into the reader, I get almost useless info, as apparently PDF's have meta tag information that I was unaware of, thus it sometimes is completely wrong. I managed to find a variety of software that helped me a lot. Vadi's book sorter is crucial. Clone remover is a godsend. Thats it. I tried calibre, ABC AMBER, ebook library, MY ebook library, advanced PDF tools and a host of others. None seem to be able to use my filenames as metatag info. So much for thinking this would be easy and automatic like for mp3s. So, I am going to wait til an easy answer comes along, because lord knows I have more things to do (like reading) then to spend hours correcting metatag info. Now, if only the books posted here in BBeB format were available as one download.... Thanks for all of the help, you didn't know you were helping, but you all did. Had it not been for the member posts here (from all device owners) I could not have made as good a choice for me as I did. Proud to be a member.

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08-06-2008, 08:59 PM	#2
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,731 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Hi silencer and welcome to the Forum. I've had a Sony since January and like it a lot. And you'll find lots of friendly help here on the Forum.

08-06-2008, 09:18 PM	#3
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	Congrats on the Reader. It's the one gadget I can't do without! Welcome to the forums.

08-07-2008, 01:38 AM	#4
acidzebra Liseuse Lover Posts: 869 Karma: 1035404 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: PRS-505	congrats, welcome, and be sure to check out Calibre as a replacement for the Sony software - you can also use Calibre to mass-edit metadata, although no automatic tagging like for MP3's, I'm afraid At least, not at the moment. http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/ and a section on this forum that deals with it: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166

08-07-2008, 05:25 AM	#5
gwynevans Wizzard Posts: 1,402 Karma: 2000000 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: iPad 2, iPhone 6s, Kindle Voyage & Kindle PaperWhite	I don't think Calibre's able to tweak PDF metadata - not sure what is, actually...

08-07-2008, 05:40 AM	#6
acidzebra Liseuse Lover Posts: 869 Karma: 1035404 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: PRS-505	Oh? I thought that worked. Well, coming back to the original poster's automation wish, PDFtk can edit PDF metadata. It is commandline and cross-platform, too. So if all your PDFs use a given naming format (say "author - title.pdf") automation would be possible. The script would have to do 1) pick apart the filename and store the results in a temporary text file formatted as follows: InfoKey: Author InfoValue: <AUTHORNAME> InfoKey: Title InfoValue: <BOOKTITLE> 2) Update the PDF metadata with pdftk's update_info function 3) delete the temporary file and restart from (1) with the next book As long as your PDFs are named in a consistent fashion this would work.

08-07-2008, 07:54 AM	#7
BlackVoid Evangelist Posts: 415 Karma: 510423 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony PRS-505	I have found that the only decent converter is BookDesigner 4.0. You need the latest patch for lrf support. Calibre uses html2lrf and the results are abysmal in my experience. And be careful, if you copy the book directly to the reader, then formatting for lrf will not be done - starting the book and resizing the text will be slow.

08-12-2008, 07:14 AM	#8
thorswitch Clueless (but nice!) Newb Posts: 58 Karma: 14701 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Kindle Fire HD	Check this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27627 There's a link in the first message for a metadata editor for PDFs and I just tried it on a book where the title was coming up as "Layout 1" on the Sony Library software, Adobe's Digital Editions and on the Reader itself (only Calibre showed it with the proper title in it's library listing, but even using Calibre's metadata editor, I wasn't able to get the Reader to recognize the proper title.) Anyway, I downloaded the software from the link above and within about 30 seconds after the software finished installing, I had the book retitled and showing up properly in the Library, DE and - after uploading it - on the Reader. Very handy!

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