Database Users

[HOW-TO] create ebooks from PDF

I haven't contributed much to this forum, therefore, I decided to make this how-to thread for those of you who would like to be able to read PDF files in ebook readers (i.e kindle). I should also mention that the same technique can be used for .doc and other file formats but since most of the books are in .pdf format on the web, I decided to make this thread for those of us who enjoy reading books on our devices but would rather have the ebook version of those books so we can use them in ebook readers.
Advantage of turning pdf files into ebook formats (.epub):
1) you can easily transfer them to your nook or kindle or ipads and read them when you dont have your TF handy!
2)The greatest satisfaction of all for me is when I go to turn pages I would love to see the actual page curling animation! which can not be used with regular pdf readers.
3) ebook readers give you the advantage of selecting night/day which in turn makes it much easier to read at night.
4) A single .pdf book can exceed 30Mb but the same book in ebook format is only 170 Kb! its good for those of us with space limitations.
- first of google or locate on ur device the .pdf file of the book you would like to turn into an ebook.
- now head over to www.epub2go.com (using your mac, linux or pc) make a free account first then
- go ahead and either upload the file or give it's URL on the homepage of epub2go. give it a minute to turn the files into ebook, then it asks you if you'd like to send it to your iphone or just view/save on your computer, choose the latter one. It asks you where you would like to save it, give it a destination and remember it!
-now at this stage I email the .epub file as an attachment to myself (to read on my TF)....at this stage your ebook is ready, if you'd like to read it on your ipad,kindle,nook etc, you would just need to transfer the file to your device and enjoy it! (I know with ipads you can just drag and drop the file in itunes 'books' interface)
-on your TF download FBreader app.
-download the .epub file you emailed yourself and save it. (note: your email client should save the attachments in 'Download' directory in your SD card).
-open up the FBreader app and on the first page tap on 'File tree'
-locate SD card then 'Download' folder... you should see your file listed there.
-ENJOY!!
Hopefully this was helpful
Let me know if you got any questions

Nice job. Added to ultimate thread. Personally I prefer Calibre, as you dont have to register and you don't have to upload anything. It also converts to a massive range of formats:
Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, EPUB, FB2, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ
Output Formats: EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, HTMLZ, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ
Link here if anyone's interested in trying it: http://calibre-ebook.com/

I also prefer calibre, you have got quite a lot of different options while creating ebooks and is very easy to use.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App

Good to know about the Calibre.
One challenge I have is that I wanna create ebooks that can be read in TF's own MyLibrary app, I would to be able to read the ebooks just like the ebooks that came stock on MyLibrary basically you can see two pages on the screen and you get the actual full page curling effect when you try to flip pages.
I tried reading the ebooks I created on MyLibrary to see if I get the same effect as the books that came stock with the TF but it was unsuccessful.

peyman_2002 said:
I tried reading the ebooks I created on MyLibrary to see if I get the same effect as the books that came stock with the TF but it was unsuccessful.
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Click to collapse
What specifically is different with Calibre converted ebooks. Is it some feature / function that you're not able to use?
Thanks

I've been using ePubBuilder, it supports intelligent chapter splitting, white space cleaning, import from UMD, SND, PDF, TXT and a ton of other format. Add book cover and description at book creation and saves it in a format that makes it easily editable in the future. I'm not sure if its available in English yet, but I saw this language setting in options.
Sent from my Transformer TF101

Another +1 for Calibre here

Calibre, hands down.

does the calibre recognizes your TF? when I connect my TF to my PC, calibre won't recognize it even as an SD card.

MobiPocket Creator is also good.

Calibre's great, been using it since my old Sony-PRS 500, currently using it with an Android phone, and hope to soon be using it for my Transformer. I've been using Aldiko on my phone and have no complaints, hope it makes the jump to tablet ok, or that Honeycomb has a good native Epub reader.

I have tried to open an ebook, i made with calibre with "MY Library", but it want not open. If i tab the book in "My Library" the app closes.

sr-ha said:
I have tried to open an ebook, i made with calibre with "MY Library", but it want not open. If i tab the book in "My Library" the app closes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly my problem! I really like the MyLibrary interface.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

seshmaru said:
Calibre, hands down.
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Click to collapse
With Calibre, one thing I haven't figured out is to get it to handle the table of content correctly in PDF ebooks. Anyone has any hints?

peyman_2002 said:
does the calibre recognizes your TF? when I connect my TF to my PC, calibre won't recognize it even as an SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With calibre you can do internal web publishing, and point your transformer's browser via wifi to your computer and from there download your epub.
I use fbreader as my primary reader. To get fbreader to successfully download the books I always have to install aldiko.
Here's the web page that better details calibre internal web publishing.
http://en.flossmanuals.net/e-book-enlightenment/ch025_calibre/
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

I also think that Calibre is the best software there is for preparing files for a phone or tab, but as an aside, Zinio is now avaiable for Android.

+1 Calibre here. Been using for months for my Kindle

Another +1 Calibre user.
Have thousands of books in Calibre library that transfer easily to the Ipad, Kindle and Android.
Transformer should arrive Tuesday and Calibre will definitely be used.
Another good thing about Calibre is that it is free and is updated CONSTANTLY and is customizable to how you want your epubs to be formatted.
You never know what new feature might drop any day.

Thanx sooo much this helped me out alot

Great thread! I've been reading and rereading.
Question that maybe some of you have already solved(s). Text to Speech apps.
One of the main reasons I wanted the TF is to at sometime not to have to replace my Kindle DX, which I really enjoy. I'm half and half on reading and listening on driving, but it seems the apps are few for this...only found 2 of them.
I'm familiar with years of working with Calibre and Mobipocket and I'm through my learning curve with an SD card to transfer from my computer/e-mail the different formats.
Here's the two apps I found:
ezPDF Reader - I may have to go back to this, couldn't figure out how the TTS works. Yet, I'm not crazy on PDF format for book reading....guess Calibre spoiled me.(s)
Moon+Reader Pro - $4.89 and worked with yesterday. I wouldn't suggest anyone try this yet,had to delete. I've already wrote for a refund and haven't heard back. The book reading part seemed fine and when I did the TTS and got out, my screen started blinking real fast, continuously (never happened before)....I gave it 3-4 minutes to see if it stopped, it didn't.
As soon as I deleted it, everything came back to normal and my screen has remained fine. Pretty sure it only started with the TTS.
Any suggestions on apps for reading and TTS...maybe more will come along in the future. And I did ask Moon+Reader Pro if they do an update, let me know - I'd like to try it again, but can't risk it now.
Thanks

Way to import downloaded ebooks into Google Books?

So I've downloaded some books in the .epub format and I'm trying to get them imported into the Google reader/books app because I really like the interface. But, I can't seem to figure out how to get them to show up in my library. Is there something I'm missing, like not putting them in a certain directory, wrong downloaded format, etc... any help is appreciated!
And please don't suggest any other book reading app haha.. I'm just looking for a solution to this one, thanks.

I assume you are talking about the LumiBooks app that came on our tablets. All you have to do is place your copied ebooks from your comp inot the Lumibooks folder on your A500. Start Lumibooks and they should show up. Hope that answers your question.

No, I am not talking about Lumibooks, I'm talking about the Google Books app. The app just labeled "books", with the books cover flow.

Yes I too would really love to know if this is possible.
The google books interface is very smooth.
Only thing missing is the ability to import your own books.
I can convert to any format using calibre but no idea if it's possible to get them into google books app.

Google doesn't support that, and gives no method to do so
Sent from my DROID X2 using xda premium

guessed that was going to be the case.
Uninstalled it and now using cool reader.

[Q] What happens to the Nook functionality when you boot CM7?

I have been reading a ton of threads on the CM7 rooting. My wifes Nook was rooted using AutoNooter. She maintains the Nook applications, but it sounds like with CM7 you do not. Are they not available stock while booted in CM7?
My nook will be here at the end of the week. I see myself using the tablet functions more than the E-reader functions, but I do like to read. What's the best reader to install to use in CM7? I have Calibre so format should be flexible?

First, CM7 is a custom ROM so it is already rooted and if installed to Emmc, you will loose the stock reader. That should not be an issue for you as there are several excellent choices for readers out there. I personally use nook for android, google books, kindle, and moon reader. All of them seem to work well for me. I have had CM7 installed since march and used the stock nook for a total of 2 days.
The CM7 install gives me all the functionality of the tablet I wanted and loosing the stock B&N software was a non-issue. Good luck which ever way you decide to go. There are many people here to help you out.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info! I was gathering that it was a complete change...still new to the Android scene...not a smart phone user and this is my first "tablet".
I am planning to boot CM7 from an SD card (read all the SD card threads and ordered a 16GB sandisk). Part of the reason I asked was because I am thinking about my wife's nook...I am not a big fan of how it works on the AutoNooter...but again I probably missed some key parts when doing that as I never fully understood what I was doing, I just followed the instructions.
access to the Kids books from B&N is one of the things my wife misses with her nook, she has only the one "read to me" book that it came with.

You definitely made a right choice.
Note: on your CM7 uSD, you can install the Nook app, but it's horrible, just to let you know in advance.

tightwad said:
access to the Kids books from B&N is one of the things my wife misses with her nook, she has only the one "read to me" book that it came with.
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That's odd, the stock reader (still there with rooted stock) can handle the kid's books, but Nook for Android can't.
Sent from my NookColor using xda premium

stolenmoment said:
That's odd, the stock reader (still there with rooted stock) can handle the kid's books, but Nook for Android can't.
Sent from my NookColor using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may have miscommunicated...the kids books work, but she can't get them from B&N anymore (or something, I may not have been paying attention when she was talking...opps...)

You want Aldiko Free version, not the "pro/pay" version (it has some graphic bug).
It is absolutely the best E Reader, way better than the Nook app as well.
The only problem is that you have to add the books manually to the phone, I use Calibre to convert and add but you can just drag and drop them to the Nook drive when it is connected in USB mode if you are comfortable doing that too.

MuGGzyx said:
You want Aldiko Free version, not the "pro/pay" version (it has some graphic bug).
It is absolutely the best E Reader, way better than the Nook app as well.
The only problem is that you have to add the books manually to the phone, I use Calibre to convert and add but you can just drag and drop them to the Nook drive when it is connected in USB mode if you are comfortable doing that too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How else are books added? Most of my library is in Calibre. Is the format for Aldiko the ePub format?

tightwad said:
How else are books added? Most of my library is in Calibre. Is the format for Aldiko the ePub format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aldiko handles ePubs very nicely.
Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

I can't get books I copy over from my Calibre library to show in Aldiko. I copied them to the Nook>myFiles>Books folder on the nook (emmc) drive. I also tried the "ebooks" folder on the SD card where the 1 book in Aldiko is located (Jack London's)
Any ideas?
I found out how...good ole google search finally came through. This is about as annoying a way as there could be...I have 3K books in my library!
another site said:
Here are the instructions.. from the Aldiko website:
I was able to use the SD Card feature in Aldiko to import DRM'd Nook books on my Android Device.
At the Home screen in Aldiko, tap SD Card.
Navigate to the Nook folder on your device
Navigate to the Content folder within the Nook folder
Tap on the book you want to import (not on the check box, just tap the title)
You will be prompted to open or import, tap "open"
you will then be prompted for a username and password. The user name is the name on the credit card associated with your Nook purchase. The password is the credit card number itself, no spaces.
Once you have been able to open the book, go back to the home page and follow steps 1 through 4.
This time, when you are prompted to open or import, choose "import". The book will be imported to your Aldiko Library.
The reason I open before importing is that there is no password prompt when importing. I did find that once I had entered my credit card info for one book, I was able to import all of the rest of my Nook purchases without opening first, the app seemed to just need this information once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tightwad said:
I found out how...good ole google search finally came through. This is about as annoying a way as there could be...I have 3K books in my library!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't imagine they were all purchased from B&N. If you're managing them with Calibre, I also doubt they're all B&N DRMed. Just drop them all in one folder, and import the whole folder using Aldiko like so: from Aldiko home, go to SDcard, navigate to the folder, longpress it, and choose Import.

Taosaur said:
I can't imagine they were all purchased from B&N. If you're managing them with Calibre, I also doubt they're all B&N DRMed. Just drop them all in one folder, and import the whole folder using Aldiko like so: from Aldiko home, go to SDcard, navigate to the folder, longpress it, and choose Import.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, lots of classic books etc. I discovered your method as well...took awhile to load about 1K books.
Now I need to figure out how to use the bookshelf.

Lost Wireless when I installed CM7 on SD 201 nightly
I lost my ability to use wireless when I upgraded to 201 nightly. YouTube also bit the dust. I am most interested in regaining the ability to hook up to my router or other wireless access points.
When 201 was installed, I had wireless. Then I installed a few applications and then I noticed YouTube was not working. I deleted Youtube and reinstalled but it was no use.
I shut off the wireless so that I could reconnect thinking a better connection might make Youtube work. NOW wireless would not hook up to my router at all. I deleted my router from the list of wireless sources and tried to find it again. Even with the Nook 1 meter from the router it could not pick up a wireless signal.
Next I saw in the discussions about the most recent nightlies and found out there is a bug. If you hit AIRPLANE MODE in the settings, you can not undo the choice merely by unchecking the box.
A potential work around was discussed, by using the terminal mode and typing:
SU
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db
delete from system where name = 'airplane_mode_on';
.exit
I tried this but failed to get it to work. I may have entered it incorrectly but I don't think I did. The poster suggested copy and paste but that is not easy with no wireless.
Can anyone help me and others in my situation. How far back would I have to go in the nightlies to correct this and update to 201 again?
Not having wireless is a bummer.
UPDATE:
After my nook sat for a while I tried to hook up to wireless again. It worked! I don't know if it was the script for certain, but I did not re-install anything. I believe it was oldman_58 that resolved this for me. I can't respond to his post, but thank him nonetheless.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=17811412&postcount=5111
The above link goes to his post on this issue.
Thanks Oldman!
Update 2:
Wireless is again missing. The only thing I can think of is to start over with a formatted SD card. If you know a better way please tell me. I am able to get wireless for short periods if there is an application that would help. I installed nightly 202 today, but it did not restore the Wireless.

ereader that support colored fonts

I'm fairly new to all of this so forgive me if this is a stupid question.
I'm using uSD cm7 on my NC and loving it. I frequently use word documents with colored text for presentations. I found a software (calibre) that converts documents to epub format but I lose the colored fonts when I view it in aldiko. I've got a friend who is doing the same thing only on an Ipad and his colors stay. Am I doing something wrong or should I be using a different ereader or converter?

calixt0 said:
I'm fairly new to all of this so forgive me if this is a stupid question.
I'm using uSD cm7 on my NC and loving it. I frequently use word documents with colored text for presentations. I found a software (calibre) that converts documents to epub format but I lose the colored fonts when I view it in aldiko. I've got a friend who is doing the same thing only on an Ipad and his colors stay. Am I doing something wrong or should I be using a different ereader or converter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are talking about Microsoft Office documents (doc, docx, ppt,pptx, etc.) you can get the app called DocumentsToGo or QuickOffice. This way you won't have to convert them into epubs. I personally recommend QuickOffice it's better looking
Edit: Scratch QuickOffice since the one in the market works only with version 3.0 (honeycomb) and up. I got my copy from someone who posted it in the forum, which was extracted from another device...maybe a search could find the post.
Second edit: Check out this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=934916&highlight=Notion+Ink you can get a working version of QO for the nook there.

jgaf said:
If you are talking about Microsoft Office documents (doc, docx, ppt,pptx, etc.) you can get the app called DocumentsToGo or QuickOffice. This way you won't have to convert them into epubs. I personally recommend QuickOffice it's better looking
Edit: Scratch QuickOffice since the one in the market works only with version 3.0 (honeycomb) and up. I got my copy from someone who posted it in the forum, which was extracted from another device...maybe a search could find the post.
Second edit: Check out this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=934916&highlight=Notion+Ink you can get a working version of QO for the nook there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually prefer using something easy like a book. I may just end up going back to the nook color software that is easy to use and works like I want it to. I can't get the nook app to find my loaded ebooks only stuff from Barnes and Noble

calixt0 said:
I actually prefer using something easy like a book. I may just end up going back to the nook color software that is easy to use and works like I want it to. I can't get the nook app to find my loaded ebooks only stuff from Barnes and Noble
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, this is how I got my epubs working in the Nook:
sdcard/Nook/My Documents
I dropped my epubs in that folder, then went into the nook app and refreshed (they should be under "My files"
Hope this works.

jgaf said:
Ok, this is how I got my epubs working in the Nook:
sdcard/Nook/My Documents
I dropped my epubs in that folder, then went into the nook app and refreshed (they should be under "My files"
Hope this works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I can't get my downloaded books or epubs to show in the nook app on the android side of my uSD card cm7. when I tried putting my epubs in the my documents folder of nook it wouldn't allow it.
Please help.

calixt0 said:
Ok I can't get my downloaded books or epubs to show in the nook app on the android side of my uSD card cm7. when I tried putting my epubs in the my documents folder of nook it wouldn't allow it.
Please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you transferring your files? If your are moving them from inside the nook using a file manager, then use Root Explorer and when in the documents folder press the button that says mount R/W and try to paste the files that way.

jgaf said:
How are you transferring your files? If your are moving them from inside the nook using a file manager, then use Root Explorer and when in the documents folder press the button that says mount R/W and try to paste the files that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using the usb cable. I got it now thanks. not sure what different happened but finally it worked.

Add your own books to the Kindle

I use Calibre to convert books to mobi. If you want to put them in the clowd then you want to change the extension to .doc or something. Once it is on your Kindle machine change the extension back to mobi.
Here is an article on how to trick the Kindle into letting you read it on their reader.
macworld search macs_kindle_fire_and_managing_files (too young to post links)
Another thing I have heard but not tried is that if you log off your kindle and someone else signs in then you get their books. Not something I would do myself because I demonstrate my dissatisfaction with pricing by not buying but not by violating copyright laws. However, i don't blame anyone else for doing it.
cheers

Thank you
Thanks for sharing this. I hadn't heard Calibre before today. Very cool

Or you can just send the.mobi file to [email protected]
They then show under docs tab and read just fine
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

Or perhaps plug in the usb cable, go to the drive letter, books folder and drag something over...

kick069 said:
Or you can just send the.mobi file to [email protected]
They then show under docs tab and read just fine
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting that the worked for you. When I tried it I was blocked from downloading it to my device. Maybe I will try it again.

kick069 said:
Or you can just send the.mobi file to [email protected]
They then show under docs tab and read just fine
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you were right, it worked. The first time i sent it I accidentally sent my epub version of the book instead of mobi. [embarrassed]

Any ideas how to get them out of the documents and into the books? Id like to have all my books in one place, the Books area, and my files in the documents folder...
---------- Post added at 05:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 AM ----------
MayfairDROID said:
Any ideas how to get them out of the documents and into the books? Id like to have all my books in one place, the Books area, and my files in the documents folder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A Little More searching and I found this. It works: seperis. dreamwidth. org/ 116360. html
Reference
If your non-Amazon-bought fic is currently only showing in Docs or half in Docs and half in Books and you have no idea why (except now you do!), easy solution. This will work for any mobi file.
If you use Calibre--and if you read ebooks, you probably should grab it anyway--this is how you sideload by USB and get it into Books.
1.) Delete all non-Amazon books from the Books folder.
2.) Load all those books into Calibre.
3.) Highlight all books and click on Convert Books.
4.) Go down to the blue arrow that says Mobi Output
5.) The last bit there that says Kindle Options. Below it is Personal Doc Tag. Clear whatever is in there completely. No text.
6.) Convert.
7.) Make sure your Kindle is still connected and choose 'Save only Mobi format to disk in a single directory'. This is because Kindle Fire right now does not do subdirectories. If you have a cover, let it go too.
8.)Disconnect your Kindle and look at Books. Your books are there. Your covers are there. Mine is squished, I do not know why. But! I will find out.
This is five minutes later and the cover is no longer squished. IDEK.
When Calibre adds book to your Books folder, you can go in and move the cover to the covers folder in there. Apparently, it may work either way but I'm remarkably anal about that sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks!
I've been using Calibre for a while to convert my books to mobi for use on Kindle's. you are right on that you have to
-go into calibre
-convert/reconvert to .mobi
-click on the MOBI Output
-clear out the "Personal Doc Tag", mine had [PDOC] in it
-put it in the Books folder on the Kindle fire it worked great!
I'm really bummed out that you can't put your books in subfolders under the books directory. Regular kindle has been able to do this for years! This is really messy when you have dozens or hundreds of books.
However, maybe I'm making too much of this because I don't see myself ever using this to read books. I have a regular kindle for that, and I just like the eInk better.

Nice, but on some ebooks the formatting is off and some images don't load correctly any idea why?

I used this site a couple times, worked great.
http://www.convertfiles.com/convert/ebook/EPUB-to-MOBI.html
I just plug the kindle to my pc and put them in the book folder. Subfolders would be pretty nice.

I can't get books to show up, in documents or otherwise. When I go to the store, I can find them in "home", it says they are on the device, but offline, nothing is there. I have tried Calibre, and still nothing. I have tried unregistering, and re registering, still nothing.

I found I have to put my books in the sdcard/kindle folder. And only put the .mobi file in there.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium