Conversion of PDF (size > A5) to Kindle compatible (readable) format

As I just got a new e-book reader that is to replace my IRex Iliad e100 model (A year 2006 Linux based E-book reader), an awesome reader, that really has no replacement today, but sadly has become to slow to really work with and the battery lasts only hours now... So I switched to Kindle, and with it all the issues it has with reading PDF documents.

The screen is just not ment to read a full size A5 or even bigger A4 PDF sized documents, also has issues with multi column text etc.

Enter calibre! The multi tool of e-book handling! Available on all major OS, can manage your e-book collection, but is it good enough to convert to a format Kindle can read/display comfortably? YMMV, in my case some PDFs are converted OK - depending on their complexity, some require additional steps to make them readable on Kindle itself.

The tool that helps the most here is called k2pdfopt, and can convert your PDF to a smaller sized format with a bit of its own digital wizardry ;) I have to say the results are quite OK, I converted a couple of technical PDFs and they are quite legible on my Kindle now.

There is however one downside. The k2pdfopt conversion creates PDF files that are quite a bit larger than the original. In my case for instance it converted a PDF file od 28MB in size and created output PDF of  276MB in size. Additional conversion to Kindle AZWF format created a file of 365MB which is quite substantial increase from the original 28MB. It is true though, that the first one was quite unreadable and the last one you can read comfortably on Kindle.

The good part about both the tools is that they are free and available on both Linux and Windows OS.

Another tool that has given me good results is also a free tool (only available for Windows sadly) which is called Mobipocket Creator. After you download the installer it asks you which version to install - both are free, but to convert the PDF files you need to install the Publisher edition.

For details on how to use the tools mentioned on this page please check the instructions on each specific page since they all have tutorials on them - or just play around with them, it is quite intuitive to do it anyway.

So good luck converting your own files too!

And a Happy 2014 to you all! 

Iliad - The E-book reader

The "heads" here at my workplace have purchased a couple of E-book readers - iRex Iliad models for possible integration into a big launch of a electronic newspaper release (which did not quite make it onto the drawing board) which leaves me with one of the gadgets in my greedy little hands. The preciousss... Oh and did I mention it runs GNU/Linux? This is where the fun begins...

The wiki.mobileread.com page has a list of programs of different sorts available for the Illiad reader and the instructions on installing them. You can install additional or improved reader software, or even ssh package that enables you to work remotely with the full shell on the Linux computer.
You can even play mp3's on it while reading your favourite book.

The Illiad is actually quite good with displaying pages from PDF or (properly formated) HTML pages, and with the help of the additional FBReader you can also read plucker, CHM and a bunch of other e-literature types.

Hey and there is also an option of installing a web browser. You can choose between Dillo (minimalist browser) and Minimo (mozilla for memory/screen challenged devices) allthough they might be usable as a last resort with speed being the biggest problem on Illiad.

The computer supports WiFi, LAN connection and USB, it can load media an programs from CF, MMC or USB slots.

You do have to install an additional peace of software to make all of the above work - the "developer shell" which invaluates your software guarantee, so be carefull about it.

It can also download and upload files to/from a network SMB share either via WiFi or LAN, and you can also make it connect and sync at predefined intervals if you want your daily newspapers/comics etc. on it every morning.

Overall it is an interesting toy, but it lacks in certain areas:

• speed (horrible, horrible, slow..., reading is ok if you dont mind waiting between the pages to switch and resizing of fonts also takes a while)
• no back light (not by default not by option), which means you have to read it like a book (under some kind of light source)
• the memory is a bit on the small size, but if you don't actually keep all the books on it, but exchange them via keys, CF, mmc you actually get some good mileage
• sometimes the pen is off (yes I know there is calibration in the settings page, but none the less on some pdf pages it is _allways_ 5-7 mm to the right of the point where you touch the screen)
  

Other than that I am quite impressed with the thingy (especially after discovering the possibility to install additional reading software - after writing an half witted CHM automated parsing and HTML conversion service).

So all in all a toy for geeks, but not really useful for general public I'd say.