Properly formatted PDFs to Epub

AgentBEATS · 10-29-2009, 01:15 AM

I've been having difficulties when it comes to converting my many pdf files. In general, the majority of my pdf's are formatted well and are very much the most readable they can be.

But after using Calibre to convert them to epub I lose much of the formatting. Gaps appear where there should be none, huge breaks in text etc.

I've read through FAQ's and such and can't seem to figure it out. I know pdf's are the least desirable format to convert from, but aside from the odd image for chapter breaks, there really shouldn't be a reason I lose the paragraph, sentence or whatever structure. Is there something I can do to remedy this?

Red_Night · 10-29-2009, 05:07 AM

Maybe you can convert pdf to word (rtf) and try with this one.

Pablo · 10-29-2009, 07:45 AM

What I do with pdf's:
- Use mobipocket creator to convert to html
- Edit the html with notepad++
- Create the epub with Sigil
- Unzip the epub and make further corrections with notepad++

kjk · 10-29-2009, 12:33 PM

I have exported PDFs directly from Acrobat to HTML with some success, but I'm really just waiting for Kovid to finish his sure to be awesome improved PDF conversion thing.

AgentBEATS · 10-29-2009, 02:33 PM

I'll try html and rtf, converting straight from pdf to epub just leaves way to much to edit afterwards. Hopefully going through another format first I can keep the form structure.

Thanks for the help

jackie_w · 10-30-2009, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

I'll try html and rtf, converting straight from pdf to epub just leaves way to much to edit afterwards. Hopefully going through another format first I can keep the form structure.

Hi, AgentBEATS, I did some testing of PDF to RTF. You might be interested to read this short thread which lists some of the problems I found.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57115

charleski · 10-30-2009, 02:35 PM

A lot depends on whether the original PDF was properly tagged. If it wasn't then there's nothing for it but to got through the text searching for bad paragraph marks. If it was, then first export the PDF to html in Acrobat and then feed that to calibre.

Pablo is right, though, even a tagged PDF will need a reasonable amount of html editing to create a professional result, unless whoever created it was particularly scrupulous with the tags and carefully marked each style.

frabjous · 10-31-2009, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

In general, the majority of my pdf's are formatted well and are very much the most readable they can be.

Why exactly are you trying to convert them then?

I'd recommend using a method that preserves the look of the PDFs exactly if the PDFs already look good. This could involve just using the PDF itself, if your device is capable, or doing minor tweaks like removing margins and cutting the text into chunks sized for your reader.

Explore options such as sopdf, PDFLRF and PDFread and see if you get results you like.

AgentBEATS · 10-31-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frabjous

Why exactly are you trying to convert them then?

I'd recommend using a method that preserves the look of the PDFs exactly if the PDFs already look good. This could involve just using the PDF itself, if your device is capable, or doing minor tweaks like removing margins and cutting the text into chunks sized for your reader.

Explore options such as sopdf, PDFLRF and PDFread and see if you get results you like.

The reason I'm trying to convert them is exactly that, the device I'm using doesn't support PDFs. I don't have a proper E-Reader yet, so I'm using my Nintendo DS with DSLibris, which reads epub. Even though it's not proper, it still works fairly well, but suffers due to poorly formatted conversions from my PDFs to Epub.

frabjous · 10-31-2009, 08:30 PM

In that case, my suggestion would be to try using PDFLRF to convert to LRF, and then use calibre to convert the LRF to ePub.

AgentBEATS · 11-01-2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frabjous

In that case, my suggestion would be to try using PDFLRF to convert to LRF, and then use calibre to convert the LRF to ePub.

Thanks I'll try that.

10-29-2009, 01:15 AM	#1
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	Properly formatted PDFs to Epub I've been having difficulties when it comes to converting my many pdf files. In general, the majority of my pdf's are formatted well and are very much the most readable they can be. But after using Calibre to convert them to epub I lose much of the formatting. Gaps appear where there should be none, huge breaks in text etc. I've read through FAQ's and such and can't seem to figure it out. I know pdf's are the least desirable format to convert from, but aside from the odd image for chapter breaks, there really shouldn't be a reason I lose the paragraph, sentence or whatever structure. Is there something I can do to remedy this?

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10-29-2009, 05:07 AM	#2
Red_Night Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Granada, Spain Device: I don't know	Maybe you can convert pdf to word (rtf) and try with this one.

10-29-2009, 07:45 AM	#3
Pablo Guru Posts: 972 Karma: 4999999 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Rosario, Argentina Device: SONY PRS-T2, Kindle Paperwhite 11th gen	What I do with pdf's: - Use mobipocket creator to convert to html - Edit the html with notepad++ - Create the epub with Sigil - Unzip the epub and make further corrections with notepad++

10-29-2009, 12:33 PM	#4
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	I have exported PDFs directly from Acrobat to HTML with some success, but I'm really just waiting for Kovid to finish his sure to be awesome improved PDF conversion thing.

10-29-2009, 02:33 PM	#5
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	I'll try html and rtf, converting straight from pdf to epub just leaves way to much to edit afterwards. Hopefully going through another format first I can keep the form structure. Thanks for the help

10-30-2009, 02:35 PM	#7
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	A lot depends on whether the original PDF was properly tagged. If it wasn't then there's nothing for it but to got through the text searching for bad paragraph marks. If it was, then first export the PDF to html in Acrobat and then feed that to calibre. Pablo is right, though, even a tagged PDF will need a reasonable amount of html editing to create a professional result, unless whoever created it was particularly scrupulous with the tags and carefully marked each style.

10-31-2009, 08:30 PM	#10
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	In that case, my suggestion would be to try using PDFLRF to convert to LRF, and then use calibre to convert the LRF to ePub.

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