Export Notes Made on Sideloaded PDFs* on Scribe

[Kizri]

Howdy y'all - long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Love the Scribe, but I'm quite leery of notes not being encrypted on Amazon's servers.

I'd like the flexibility of syncing my Scribe when needed for book annotations and importing/exporting PDFs for markup while keeping my notes made in sideloaded PDF/KFX notebooks "offline" (ie not synced) to be transferred via USB and Calibre using my Macbook.

Thanks to the incredible people on this forum, I was able to figure out how to sideload writable PDFs* (*converted to KPF and then converted to KFX) using Calibre and the plugin. (The biggest of shoutouts to everyone who helped figure all that out - y'all are angels!!)

Swear I've searched and read, but I can't seem to get a handle on whether exporting notes made on sideloaded PDFs is possible and, if so, how to do it.

I've read the summary on here for the plugin a few times, and it's focused on Notebooks. When the summary starts talking about SVG and such, I can feel my brain lose the thread.

From what I've read, it seems like exporting the strokes themselves is possible (maybe?), though the background is not preserved. I made some legal pads and grid notebooks using publically available Quaderno templates - no background is no problem as these templates are barely there already.

That's as far as I've been able to get on my own. Am I trying to achieve the impossible? If I can export the strokes/notes as SVGs, what do I do with them then? Could I paste the SVGs into a Word document?

I'd be much obliged for any insight and knowledge that could help fill the gaps in my understanding.

[jhowell]

It appears that you have a reasonably good understanding of the current situation.

Handwritten annotations made to a Print Replica book are stored as a Scribe notebook that contains only the handwritten content and none of the background of the book being annotated.

It is possible using the KFX Input calibre plugin to convert Scribe notebooks (including annotation notebooks) to EPUB format containing SVG images. The SVG images approximate how Amazon rasterizes the hand drawn strokes but do not match it exactly.

There are several options from there. The EPUB can be converted to PDF using calibre. The SVG can be extracted from the EPUB and then manipulated or converted to other image formats using an SVG editor such as Inkscape. Or you can import the SVG images into Microsoft Word or other software.

However there is currently no way to combine those annotations with the original PDF pages other than by using Amazon's services. Replicating that functionality is theoretically possible but would require a significant development effort to accomplish.

[Quoth]

Or you can use an Android App on a decent tablet with matt screen or a Kobo Elipsa or a Kobo Sage. A decent Android tablet is nearly as good as eink and far better than Sage, Elipsa, reMarkable or Scribe for PDFs inc annotating. Then there is no messing about. Real PDFs, and if you use Nebo on Android it does handwriting to text on a layer on the PDF that can export later. No Internet or proprietary Cloud service. I very nearly bought a Scribe. It's a walled garden and Amazon proprietary control/formats for PDF.

[Kizri]

Mr. jhowell - bless you!

This part:

Originally Posted by jhowell

Handwritten annotations made to a Print Replica book are stored as a Scribe notebook that contains only the handwritten content and none of the background of the book being annotated.

made a light bulb go off! I didn't realize that handwritten annotations are stored as a Scribe notebook. (The focus on notebooks in the summary suddenly makes sense )

I don't much care about using the exported notes beyond loading them into Obsidian for reference. I like to keep scratch pads and rough drafts - sometimes a good idea or paragraph has to be cut but can be used in other projects. So, I reckon one of the methods you mentioned will work well for me.

Thank you so much for your response and the KFX Conversion Input Plugin. I feel more confident about tackling this process now. Please know that your efforts and willingness to share your knowledge are deeply appreciated. <3

[jhowell]

I'm glad I could help.

[Kizri]

Believe me brother/sister, I'm with you in spirit.

Definitely letting nostalgia run me with the Scribe. Saw a Kindle DX in an airport as a teen and have wanted one ever since.

My experience using a Boyue Likebook Mars for a bit between the 2016 Paperwhite and the latest version taught me that I lack the patience and general mental wherewithal to stop using Kindles.

I'm rocking the Supernote Nomad + Scribe atm - a killer combo. The Scribe lets me brainstorm and scribble without worrying about wasting paper/pretty ink before copying neatly and succinctly into the Supernote. I've also been using my iPhone to grab the text from the screen, which is so cool. And, above all, it's fantastic for reading!

It really shined during the recent hurricane. The front light is extra nice on the big screen and despite using the Scribe extensively (roughly two and half days straight) while the power was out, I don't think it dropped below 75-80%.

Lack of encryption at rest and the inability to manage files without the internet or going through Amazon is super frustrating though. I'm willing to make it work so I can live my Big Kindle dreams, but advertising a device as good for journaling and work without offering coherent security and privacy guarantees is, imo, shady and suspect behavior.

Edit: Still learning how to post - thought I hit reply but regardless, all the above is in response to Quoth.

[Quoth]

I have a DXG (worst ereader I ever bought) still working. Any enthusiast passing Limerick is welcome to it! I also have a Boyue Likebook Mars (Android 8) I got for accessing the local library, but the awful Borrowbox stopped working, though still works on an Android 8 tablet and Android 7 phone. Bolinda changed to using some Chrome component that doesn't update on the Mars. Only the built in ereader works well on Mars for epub & PDF. KOReader too slow and clunky. Pocketbook Library interface gui not properly compatible, so only filesystem browsing. Any drawing or handwriting conversion apps have too much eink screen latency.

I've abandoned PDF on eink except for suitable size instruction manuals. All PDF novels, magazines and POD proofing now on a TCL Nxtpaper11. I gave away the reMarkable (ghastly methods to import/export from the tablet and it's really only PDFs) and the 10.3″ Elipsa has now account removed and waiting for anyone that wants it. Too big & heavy for novels, so I read those on a Kobo Sage.

My PW3 was my first decent Kindle. It's now used simply as the choice for "Download to PC" when buying ebooks on Amazon to read on the Kobo Sage. I used to use the Kindles to test new formats for ebooks we publish. I might use the PW3 again for that if we do something different. I have 2 other Kindles.

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by Kizri

Swear I've searched and read, but I can't seem to get a handle on whether exporting notes made on sideloaded PDFs is possible and, if so, how to do it.

That's as far as I've been able to get on my own. Am I trying to achieve the impossible? If I can export the strokes/notes as SVGs, what do I do with them then? Could I paste the SVGs into a Word document?

You could use image and PDF editing programs and paste SVG's back onto the original PDF. Or you could simply save those SVG files as a different, more readable format, if you're not interested in backgrounds.

SVG is just copy of the pen scribes that you make, but it can be opened in Photoshop and then copied over the original PDF image, or saved as a simple image format without any background.

Process for converting SVG notes into Jpeg with white background:

Spoiler:

— Convert notes into SVG format using KFX Input plugin command line.
— Open SVG note in image editor that supports vectors (Gimp, Photoshop, AffinityPhoto...)
— You may be asked to Rasterize file on import, input a sensible resolution like 2354x1800 to save on CPU power.
— Save in format of your choice. If it's JPEG, you don't need to do anything else, background will turn to white automatically, if it's format that supports transparencies like PNG or GIF, insert a white background layer before saving.

The process for importing SVG notes back onto original PDF should go something like:

Spoiler:

— Convert notes into SVG format using KFX Input plugin command line.
— Extract PDF pages as images (PDF24, pdf2image...)
— Open PDF page that was annotated in image editor that supports vectors and layers (Gimp, Photoshop, AffinityPhoto...)
— Open SVG note in the same image editor.
— Copy and align SVG note over PDF page (SVG files are black vector text with transparent background, so this part is fairly easy because of transparency and since vectors fare really well at different resolutions)
— Save page in same format as original and replace it.
— Build another PDF file out of extracted images and replaced files. (PDF24, img2pdf...)
— For extra credit go and convert PDF back into KFX so you can put it on Scribe and make even more annotations to it.

I think that this is the only way to get written notes back into the PDF with PDF retaining its original look.

It should be a bit time consuming, but results will arguably look better than they look on Scribe, since SVG notes are in vector format. There is an alternative to getting notes back from Scribe, so I've not even looked at it at depth. I simply use screenshots to save my own notes. Whenever I make a note on fixed page KFX, I take a screenshot, then after I'm done with a book, I copy all the screenshots from that book into a directory next to it on my computer. Screenshot will save screen as it looks on the Kindle, notes, backgrounds, all is saved.

Drawbacks to this process: Screenshots are always just copy of the screen. They are always in 1860x2480 resolution. If original KFX is larger resolution, or smaller resolution, Scribe will scale resolution up or down to its native resolution of 1860x2480, and you will get that as screenshot. It will convert colour pages to black and white, and reduce colour depth to only 16 grey levels. But it's simple, legible, and effective enough, so that's what I use.