Database Users

ebook maker / converter free

can anybody recommend me a ebook converter / maker
got me a book as txt and i really would pref reading it as
ebook lit or at least pdf
i know i can just search google but there are soo many of them some are shareware some are comerical some are free.....
it's a jungle out there!

PErsonally I use mobipocket, for a couple of reasons..
It supports OEB (Non- protected books, so in 10 years time you will still be able to read them)
The reader is free (on the website it is advertised as a trial - this is for the pro version, install it anyway under the trial, aftrer the trial ends you can still use the software but some of the more complex functions are disabled -like autoscroll)
The reader will operate on palm or PPC - meaning I can share my books with my friends who have palm, rather than having to reformat them.
They also supply a publisher program for creating the books, this is free for home use.
It's not microsoft
go to www.mobipocket.com

Rudegar said:
can anybody recommend me a ebook converter / maker
got me a book as txt and i really would pref reading it as
ebook lit or at least pdf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reader I use is muBook from http://gowerpoint.com/.
It can handle .PDB, .PRC, .TXT, .RTF and .HTML as e-books, and display inline .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, .WMF (in RTF) or .BMP.
If you're starting from a TXT file, you don't gain much by converting it to an e-book format, unless you add niceties like an index.
Which book is it? If it's out of copyright, you may be able to get it from manybooks in an e-book format (with index etc.).

well as to which book it is then no it's not a copyrighted book and it's not a book you'd find anywhere on the internet, somebody i know wrote it and all
i wanted to make it ebookish
because then when reading it i would be able to put bookmarks in and get a bit better more cleartypish font then the std notepad
as a rule just make it's easier and more easy to read it

Rudegar said:
well as to which book it is then no it's not a copyrighted book and it's not a book you'd find anywhere on the internet, somebody i know wrote it and all
i wanted to make it ebookish
because then when reading it i would be able to put bookmarks in and get a bit better more cleartypish font then the std notepad
as a rule just make it's easier and more easy to read it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I use mobipocket too and I guess, it is a great program. You can convert your .txt - file with mobipocket publisher 3.0.
You don´t need the profressional version and you have the possibiblity to take indexes and a lot of more features of formatted textes and add your bookmarks and other features.
have fun!

well i of cause have that ms ebook reader and i have acrobat reader if at all possible i would pref not installing any more ebook readers on my xda2
will it be required ?

Rudegar said:
well i of cause have that ms ebook reader and i have acrobat reader if at all possible i would pref not installing any more ebook readers on my xda2
will it be required ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess, you will be able to convert your text into pdf- or -lit - format. But the readers have less features, the files are much bigger - but it is possible...
First I had the microsoft reader and the pdf-reader too. Now I have only the mobipocket-reader...

Rudegar said:
can anybody recommend me a ebook converter / maker
got me a book as txt and i really would pref reading it as
ebook lit or at least pdf
i know i can just search google but there are soo many of them some are shareware some are comerical some are free.....
it's a jungle out there!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Microsoft have a plugin for MS word that will convert a document into eBook .lit format.
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/rmr.asp
Or if you want a more professional program ReaderWorks Standard by Overdrive is also available.
http://www.overdrive.com/readerworks/
Cheers
prowler

prowler
thanks i already found that word plugin
and i suppose i could use it
but then i have to take the book to work
because at home i dont have word

Have you tried PDFcreator?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
or
http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
FREE for personal and commercial use! No watermarks! No Popup Web Ads!

Rudegar said:
i wanted to make it ebookish
because then when reading it i would be able to put bookmarks in and get a bit better more cleartypish font then the std notepad
as a rule just make it's easier and more easy to read it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uBook will give you the choice of any font you like, with 3 different modes of anti-aliasing/alpha blending, multiple styles/backgrounds, font sizes/colors, columns, bookmarks, annotations, and it will even figure out headings etc. (for example convert CHAPTER 1 to a chapter heading). No conversion necessary. It just works.
Why lock yourself into some company's proprietary e-book format, when there's great, free, open source software that will read all sorts of formats, and offers a lot of options? If you're using an e-book reader that doesn't read .TXT files and can display them nicely, then you're cheating yourself.

You can also try PDF Printer . It supports Vista.

pdf files better way?

I'm frustrated by the way pdf's are forced to completely redraw (or maybe reload) themselves when you scroll around within a page. It makes them a time consuming hassle. Is there any way to make it scroll smoothly? I'm using the clearvue pdf viewer that was loaded with the Cingular 812555.

u have mobipocket and others, but most of them arnt free...
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eNews/default.asp
and im not sure if it solves ur problem, i just suggest alternatives to try...

Thanks trashman for the suggestion. I'm not worried about paying for the program if it does the trick (though of course I would rather find it for free). Does anybody out there know if mobipocket will help smooth out scrolling when viewing PDF's?

mgspeed said:
Thanks trashman for the suggestion. I'm not worried about paying for the program if it does the trick (though of course I would rather find it for free). Does anybody out there know if mobipocket will help smooth out scrolling when viewing PDF's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't display PDF's, you'll need to convert them, which may result in problems unless your PDF source is fully text-based.
That is, don't even try to convert a, say, graphics-heavy tech book to the Mobi format.

dunno with heavy graphics but with normal graphics, pictures and so on i have no problem with it...and it scroll fast on text and relatively smooth on graphics...
but mene is correct, u cant read a pdf right away, it need to be "converted"...

Trashman said:
dunno with heavy graphics but with normal graphics, pictures and so on i have no problem with it...and it scroll fast on text and relatively smooth on graphics...
but mene is correct, u cant read a pdf right away, it need to be "converted"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, with a normal, say, literature book the Mobi format is much better than PDF.

I for one am a fairly heavy PDF user and have always gone back to the bloated Adobe Reader 2.0. Just found this Foxit Reader for Windows Mobile which is still beta but was quite impressive. No installation, just a small executable that I copied to my Program Files directory and changed the PDF default viewer in the registry. It has a stupid nag screen and an Evaluation banner at the top of the that I'm sure will disappear when it's actually released. Looks like it has promise.....

I tried 'em all on my 8125, and settled on Foxit Reader. It only cost me $9.99 for a licensed version, and it works as well as any. It is very fast, takes up very little room and redraws seamlessly. The only drawback to it is that it has no find function. But tables of contents and links within documents are both fully functional. It's the best pdf viewer I've used in all my years of using PDAs and Handhelds.
This is the URL to the beta download, but if you contact the company they are very good about communicating with you.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/foxitreader/rd_ppc.php
You can contact Sales here: [email protected]
I did have some trouble in getting the licensed version to keep my registration key from one session to the next, and had to get about 4 different "new" versions from them before they finally got me the fully licensed executable, but they didn't give up and their replies were timely.
Overall I'm very happy with it. I even open 6+Mb manuals with it and it is very fast in doing so, and just as fast in navigating within those large documents.
G'luck

Okay. The I downloaded the Fox Reader evaluation. Is there anyway to make it the default reader once you get the licensed version?
By the way - it's much quicker to use than the clearvue reader.

RepliGo PDF Mobilizer looks quite nice as well. The viewer for pocketpc is free, but you'll need to convert your PDFs to a custom format with their software, which is shareware (but nothing a quick search with Google can't fix).
The converted files are about half the size of the original PDF without losing layout/features etc.

addicus said:
Okay. The I downloaded the Fox Reader evaluation. Is there anyway to make it the default reader once you get the licensed version?
By the way - it's much quicker to use than the clearvue reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a registry editor, navigatate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Look for pdffile. The Shell\Open\Command. Open the key and copy the text to the clipboard. (Mine says "\\Program Files\FoxitReader for WiM5.0.exe" %1" Close that and go down to Opendoc\Command and replace the text in the entry there.

Dr Puttingham said:
Use a registry editor, navigatate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Look for pdffile. The Shell\Open\Command. Open the key and copy the text to the clipboard. (Mine says "\\Program Files\FoxitReader for WiM5.0.exe" %1" Close that and go down to Opendoc\Command and replace the text in the entry there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just found this thread again. I dl'd total commander and this worked perfectly. Thanks Dr.!!!!!

Bookreader?

Hi,
Now that Gartner is listing e-book readers as one of the hottest trends on the market, with Sony and Amazon positioned to lead the way, does anyone have any strong reccomendations for WM6-based readers?
Given a good-sized VGA screen the TP2 "should" be a good device for this, one would think. Personally I was a big "fan" of MS Reader back when I had iPAQs and Universal, but development of Reader seems to have completely died out in 2004 (I have great difficulty reading any of all my "activation required" books since WM5.0). So is there anything much better that anyone can reccomend?
Thanks/McHan

McHan said:
Hi,
Now that Gartner is listing e-book readers as one of the hottest trends on the market, with Sony and Amazon positioned to lead the way, does anyone have any strong reccomendations for WM6-based readers?
Given a good-sized VGA screen the TP2 "should" be a good device for this, one would think. Personally I was a big "fan" of MS Reader back when I had iPAQs and Universal, but development of Reader seems to have completely died out in 2004 (I have great difficulty reading any of all my "activation required" books since WM5.0). So is there anything much better that anyone can reccomend?
Thanks/McHan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MobiPocket Reader. The only way to fly .... free and reads the very popular .prc format.
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN
Cheers

I always swore by Haalireader as it seemed quicker and smoother than Mobireader, until I got the TP2, that is. Mobi seems a lot nicer than Halli, which has not been updated for years.
Having said that, Mobi will not start from the last book accessed anymore when loaded through Manilla, although I tried Pointui at the weekend and mobi would open the last book when launched through Poinui. I suppose its just a quirk!

Many thanks for the suggestions, will give both these a try...
Cheers/McHan

Free reader software - Plucker, at: http://www.plkr.org/
Free out-of-US-Copyright books (including most of the Classics) - Project Gutenberg at: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Hope that helps

stunno said:
I always swore by Haalireader as it seemed quicker and smoother than Mobireader, until I got the TP2, that is. Mobi seems a lot nicer than Halli, which has not been updated for years.
Having said that, Mobi will not start from the last book accessed anymore when loaded through Manilla, although I tried Pointui at the weekend and mobi would open the last book when launched through Poinui. I suppose its just a quirk!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope it's because the short cut reference from the manila programs tab also contains a parameter that causes MobiPocket to get upset.
You can edit the registry and remove the extra parameter and MobiPocket will happily open the last book

Repligo viewer. Flowed text is the only way to go with WM

MrMiyagi said:
Nope it's because the short cut reference from the manila programs tab also contains a parameter that causes MobiPocket to get upset.
You can edit the registry and remove the extra parameter and MobiPocket will happily open the last book
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TYVM for the pointer which helped me solve the problem. I had mobi launcing from one of the first line of icons on the launcher which used to have the read only icons. There was a legacy command pointing to the contacts page which was messing everything up

stunno said:
TYVM for the pointer which helped me solve the problem. I had mobi launcing from one of the first line of icons on the launcher which used to have the read only icons. There was a legacy command pointing to the contacts page which was messing everything up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, threw me for a while too ... I thought it was a bug in the ROM i was using until one day I rearranged by shortcuts and Mobi on a lower line i.e. not one of the read-only ones. Lo and behold Mobi suddenly started remembering the last book/pos. It gave me a clue where to look.
Cheers.

Ebook Reader Available?

Just had a look at Marketplace and can't see an ebook reader client.
Anyone know of one please? I would have thought that the HD2 big screen was perfect for reading.

The HD2 is excellent for reading ebooks, but you need to specify which format your ebooks are in.
My preference is for Mobipocket but this can't handle protected eReader files. For that you would need to download eReader . However I couldn't get this to install from the PC installer, though it's OK from This topic using the CAB file.

Thanks Neil, I'll give them both a try.

I like both but prefer Mobipocket!
Just a hint though- with both you need to go into the options to select screen tapping to tunr pages as the HD2 doesn't have a D-Pad
Oh- & both are free programs!

What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?

alex fung said:
What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file extensions are dependent on the format the ebook is encoded with, which determines which ebook reader needs to be used.
Ebooks are either encrypted or open format. To comply with the publishers requirements, all mainstream ebooks are encrypted, and different formats use different modes of protection. There is an increasing problem with being able to buy ebooks in different countries- for example many ebooks available from FictionWise can't be downloaded in UK due to licensing restrictions, but another company, BooksOnBoard have a bigger selection of globally available titles.
As you mention, Microsoft Reader used the .lit extension, but as this program doesn't work with WM6 it's a bit of a problem. There are other programs than can read .lit files, such as uBook (microbook) but they can't read any with DRM. There are ways however to strip the DRM on the PC version of MS Reader which still works.
The earliest mobile ebook reader was on the Palm Pocket, and the program I mentioned above, eReader works with these files which are still being used for mainstream books. They have the .pdb file extension
Mobipocket books have the .prc file extension but Mobipocket can also read html, text files and unencrypted eReader files.
There is unfortunately a move towards more proprietary formats with the release of devices like the Amazon and Sony ebook hardware. Also, many new ebooks are being released using the ePub format which is an Adobe protocol and is not available for any mobile devices.
Sorry for the long post! Its abit of a soapbox for me as I've been usign ebooks for a long time and relish the idea of having a large number of books always available on my devcie, especially on holiday. I don't like the way my choice has been limited more and more over the past year!

If you have your books in simple text formats (ie txt, rtf, doc, html), alreader should be perfect for you.

the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda

blackheart2925 said:
the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted

NeilM said:
Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are tools on the internet that can be used for decrypting DRM-protected EPUBS (a Google search on INEPT will lead you in the right direction). Depending where you live, it may or may not be legal for you to download and use them though
Jim

I use Micrsoft Reader and Mobipocket. First because I have a big archive with books in .lit format, and the second one because I can convert lots of formats in books who works for it and I like this program allot. one problem if I can call it a problem is lack of updates for it. For example to make progress bar from bottom of page bigger or to make some animation with page flip (now I see iPad have implemented that). It may seem like some graphics nonsense but I think this are very important because of psychological effect (feeling good reading a book but filing good about it from start of the program) at the end of day you read a book to relax and feel good (technical or any educational books come usual in .pdf format so are not included in discussion). and I think because of power and size of screen HD2 deserve better graphics. Don't forget that iPhone had big success because of better graphics with a OS witch odder ways it was waaaaay inferior to WM, just because of that psychological effect created by very well designed graphics.

Grab a copy of freda (search here on xda). It's the best free epub reader out there. There'll be a new version released soon by Jim.

I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.

I used Palm to read ebooks since lots of years ago, when I moved to WM I still using the same aplication: iSilo
iSilo consist in two aplications... one in WM wich you use to read and another on the pc wich you use to encode the files to iSilo format (pdb). You can encode lots of file formats including plain txt and html (with images) or grab complete websites.
I love iSilo cause a 5 megabytes pdf can be just a 200k pdb file and got autoscroll with is a feature I love to read books (ipad don't have that)

Alpha4 said:
I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you've popped some feedback on the freda thread. Jim is always looking for improvements so comments from the user base will drive this!

Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim

what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?

Jim Chapman said:
Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Jim, sounds good. One point I will make is that the HD2 has a capacitive touch screen and, as you no doubt know, a fingernail won't register a touch at all. Almost any other body part is fine though .
I look forward to the next version of Freda.

carbunaru said:
what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freda has a rather simplistic animation which appears when you scroll up/down, or slide pages left/right. It would be nice to more sophisticated animation approach (like Stanza for instance), which shows the page contents distorted and shaded as they turn. I may implement that at some stage, but it would be complicated because I'd have to use the DirectDraw Sprite APIs, rather than the regular .NetCF GDI APIs - and that (a) would involve a fair amount of re-writing (b) might create portability problems.
Thanks for your interest in Freda,
Jim

Thanks for answer. I think a program with this kind of features will became no one on market because the trent (made by Apple) is for people to looking to "looks" of progams and not their utility.
Just my opinion.

[Q] Microsoft Word? View & Edit?

Hi all,
I am looking at purchasing either a netbook, or this Acer Iconia Tablet. One reason I am buying either of these is for viewing and editing/creating word documents. Obviously this can be done on a netbook, but can this similarly be done using this/any android tablet?
I have read about Documents to Go app however not fully aware of the functionalities etc (are you able to create new documents?). If yes, is the editing and viewing of the documents on the app/tablet good, i.e. easy? (with a USB keyboard)?
I'm not interested in the full editing found in desktop PC's or anything, just the basic write, read, edit, create.
Thanks for your time, appreciate all input.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

I use Documents to Go on my Iconia, very pleased with it. Thus far, I haven't found anything of substance that I can't do. I have a Bluetooth keyboard, but rarely use it.

I got docs to go and it has been able to do everything I need so far. I have only edited my resume on it, but it has worked perfectly. I also set up my printer to use with my tablet.

Ok thank you very much for your fast responses! Are you able to create a new document? or are you only able to edit other documents already on the device?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

i use quick office hd version, it's customized for the honeycomb and works well

beaver2233 said:
Hi all,
I am looking at purchasing either a netbook, or this Acer Iconia Tablet. One reason I am buying either of these is for viewing and editing/creating word documents. Obviously this can be done on a netbook, but can this similarly be done using this/any android tablet?
I have read about Documents to Go app however not fully aware of the functionalities etc (are you able to create new documents?). If yes, is the editing and viewing of the documents on the app/tablet good, i.e. easy? (with a USB keyboard)?
I'm not interested in the full editing found in desktop PC's or anything, just the basic write, read, edit, create.
Thanks for your time, appreciate all input.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also use docs to go. I love it. You can create new docs...but it should be noted you need paid version to edit/create. You prob already knew that

gmpdmd said:
I also use docs to go. I love it. You can create new docs...but it should be noted you need paid version to edit/create. You prob already knew that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe yeah sure did. Thanks heaps everyone for your replies gah now decision time, Toshiba nb550d netbook or the iconia... :/
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

What about google docs, I think its pretty nice having my documents in the cloud.

I can't read maths equation on my tab no matter what apps I use. Any suggestion?

dhruvmp said:
What about google docs, I think its pretty nice having my documents in the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Docs to go will work with your google docs, but the google docs app is pretty craptastic itself.

How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.

Bec07 said:
How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using Tswipe-Pro. It's free (with a minor nag once in blue moon) customizable (size, type, color) with T9 up top along with number keys and cursor keys as well.
I also concur on the Google Docs app. For viewing, everything else is better. But you can do edits in GDocs, I suppose. I think I missed the big 50% off sale for Docs to Go too--the free app included is good enough for referrence checks for me.

Bec07 said:
How about a decent software keyboard? One that has 5 rows for a change for those damn numbers.
All keyboards I've seen are simply mobile ones scaled up. They just won't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hackers Keyboard, available in the Market.

gtriever said:
Hackers Keyboard, available in the Market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1+ Been using this for about a week!

Both look awesome!

Nothing compares to MS Word or even OpenOffice.
All the Android office apps have major features missing and problems displaying certain things correctly.
For casual use it's ok, but if this is a major part of your work then I'm afraid an Android tablet wont do it for you.

I have used Docs to go and Quick Office HD. Quick Office HD works better and is the only one I have found that show headers and footers in word docs. Also it works with Dropbox so I sync my work docs and can see and edit them if need be.

Maddmatt said:
Nothing compares to MS Word or even OpenOffice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ.
Open office, office 2010 and 2007 just don't display right on earlier versions and unfortunately many institutions don't bother updating since a plug-in is enough for docx or pptx.
I've found open office to misalign lines in pptx over and over again.
Since things don't shine on PCs either and you always have to worry a little about the target device, I thing a tablet is perfect for content creation.
You can always set the paragraphs straight and change styles at home in 2 minutes.