Using Scribe in landscape mode

[Pjama]

I prefer using landscape, and it has been frustrating (just a tiny bit, that’s all - it’s not been a big problem ) having to always write on things in portrait mode - particularly when doing puzzles, as they are at the top of the screen.

This morning I rotated all my puzzles into landscape mode before uploading, and I love using the Scribe this way. It can get a little confusing as the menus still think they are in portrait mode (they are!), but the writing is much more comfortable like this. And it’s much better for the crossword, as I can get all the clues on screen without scrolling etc.

I also used a notebook like this, and it worked great - obviously only for blank or grid pattern notebook templates. I hope Amazon will support this mode officially, but, based on their cases, I’m guessing they won’t- so, this is a good workaround until someone manages to jailbreak it.

I’m attaching pictures of my Scribe using landscape - I have a feeling they will be rotated somehow on uploading making them useless, but I’m going to try anyway.

ETA: Wow - so, it rotated one, but not the other!! I did not see that coming!

[DuckieTigger]

Your guess is as good as any. Amazon can either implement a better print replica KFX renderer that understands the text (for direct highlighting, searching, dictionary lookups) that can also rotate to landscape similar to how PDF works. Plus they should add a crop margins setting like comics allow, also add this to the PDF renderer. Or they could ditch the print replica conversion and add crop margins and writing on PDF files directly (the PDF renderer is mostly good enough). Since they need PDF anyway for export eventually, it would be much easier to add scribbling to that. There is hope since the product page of the scribe has this nice little note:

We want you to know

You can write directly on the page in PDF documents imported through Send to Kindle. Kindle Scribe does not currently support writing directly on the page in PDF documents loaded via USB-C or previously sent to your library before 11/11/2022.

I read the "not currently support writing directly with old or sideloaded" as an indicator that it eventually will be supported, they just haven't gotten to programming it in time for the Scribe release.

If that is fixed, I would love to get a Scribe, but not in its current state of development.

[Quoth]

Yes, everything else, ever supporting annotation of PDFs adds it to the PDF. None this malarky of an Internet server and getting back a different format of document. Useless of proofing POD or confidential (commercial or legal) documents. What were they thinking of? Make it subscription based later when people are locked in and a big user base?

It's a solved problem years ago. What Amazon has done is MORE work for them, so why?

Scrap the conversion to Print Replica KFX conversion. Let people use PDFs directly, like everything else does.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Yes, everything else, ever supporting annotation of PDFs adds it to the PDF. None this malarky of an Internet server and getting back a different format of document. Useless of proofing POD or confidential (commercial or legal) documents. What were they thinking of? Make it subscription based later when people are locked in and a big user base?

It's a solved problem years ago. What Amazon has done is MORE work for them, so why?

Scrap the conversion to Print Replica KFX conversion. Let people use PDFs directly, like everything else does.

I hear you, but...

It was not a solved problem on Kindle platform. What has been there is/was inadequate: PDFs were basically standalone. No sync or even common feature set across the platform.

I do not oppose adding sync and feature support For PDFs on the platform, but they have had years to do this and they haven't. It isn't going to happen.

Print Replica at least potentially promises to support these features, and I think that is what they are shooting for. It would let Scribe read textbooks in this format, for example.

In the meantime it too is inadequate, but they have raised expectations that there will
will be feature bearing updates to come.

When is anyone's guess.

[Pjama]

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