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File Conversion.

gleneagles
Aspiring Legend
Posts: 11,105
Thanks: 2,459
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

File Conversion.

I have a number of files in PDF format that I wish to convert to MOBI format for reading on my Kindle, Calibre does a fairly good job but sometimes the pages do not display correctly, I Was thinking of converting to TXT files, making any amendments to the layout and then using calibre to convert the text files to MOBI.
I Could either use Libreoffice or Word 2007, does it make any difference which I use ?
Is there any free software (other than Calibre) that is better for converting PDF to MOBI.
Any comments on this topic would be appreciated.
We are born into history and history is born into us.
9 REPLIES 9
VileReynard
Hero
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Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: File Conversion.

You can't convert PDF's.
The best you can do is to use OCR software to get text.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

Oldjim
Resting Legend
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Re: File Conversion.

PDF-XChange Viewer (free version) includes OCR http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer/
MJN
Pro
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Registered: ‎26-08-2010

Re: File Conversion.

Have you tried the PDF to MOBI converters available online (e.g. http://www.convertfiles.com/convert/document/PDF-to-MOBI.html) ? A Google search reveals there are many.
As you've found, document (format) conversion can be a very hit-and-miss affair however trying a variety of methods will give you a good idea as to the art of the possible which may or may not be good enough.
You say you are happy to convert via 'TXT files' - this suggests you are content for all formatting to be removed (given that such files only support human-readable ASCII). If this is the case you could just copy-and-paste all the text from the PDF into a TXT file, remove any extraneous whitespace, and then convert to MOBI using Calibre.
It's a shame that the Kindle has such poor support for native PDF documents given that in many respects they are quite a convenient format choice.
Mathew
Strat
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Re: File Conversion.

I've used Calibre and been reasonably happy with it.
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VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
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Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: File Conversion.

If your PDF is a scanned document, the page size is fixed.
Since you have already bought the book once, why not get a second version for free from the Pirate Bay?

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

MJN
Pro
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Registered: ‎26-08-2010

Re: File Conversion.

Even if the PDF was natively created it still appears as a fixed page size on the Kindle given its inability to reflow text.
The document may only be available in PDF i.e. not a book (it is a relatively rare format for paid books).
Mathew
VileReynard
Hero
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Re: File Conversion.

Buy a proper book.
The format has remained essentially constant for hundreds of years.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

MrC
Grafter
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Registered: ‎17-07-2008

Re: File Conversion.

To convert PDF documents to text format you could try the command line utility pdftotext (part of Poppler/xpdf). Run 'pdftotext -h' to get the various options. Alternatively there are are various graphical PDF viewers that use Poppler, such as Okular and Evince, that will export a PDF to text.
As others have said if the PDF is an output from a scan then nothing will work (as the PDF is simply a wrapper around a graphic) and no ereader will make a very good job of rendering it.
gleneagles
Aspiring Legend
Posts: 11,105
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: File Conversion.

Thanks for all the feedback on this topic including links to other sites.  Smiley
We are born into history and history is born into us.