Merging PDF annotations with Kindle PDR file

[Sinlight]

Hello,

I am a university student and I have to read a lot of PDFs. I read them on my Kindle 3 Keyboard and make notes and highlights on the device. I want to be able to transfer the annotated PDF file to my PC for writing essays. However, Kindle does not modify the PDF file and save the annotations directly on it, instead it creates a seperate PDR file which has the annotation information.

I know that the Kindle creates a MyClippings.txt file which contains the annotations but I do not want to use this; I want to be able to display the complete annotated PDF.

I have found a program online which seems to be able to merge the PDR annotation information with the PDF: https://code.google.com/p/kindle-annotations/wiki/Usage
However, this is a command prompt tool and I cannot work out how to use it. If someone could provide a step-by-step example of how to use this tool, or if they could point me in the direction of an alternative program, I would be very grateful!

I would like to get a frontlighted Kindle, if this tool does work for the Kindle 3, would it also work in the same way for the Kindle Voyage? Is the Voyage just as good for annotating PDFs as the Kindle 3?

[HarryT]

The page you linked to appears to contain reasonably complete instructions for using the tool. If you can elaborate on what specific problems you're encountering, it would be a lot easier to help you.

Firstly, it's a Java tool. Do you have a Java runtime environment correctly installed and configured on your PC?

[Sinlight]

I have Java installed on my PC but I've never run anything like that in command prompt.

What would be really helpful if you could post an example of what you would type in command prompt to get the program to work. So for example I've downloaded all the files for that program, plus the PDF and PDR files into the following folder.

C:\Users\Admin\K
The PDF is called "something.pdf" and the PDR is "something.pdr"

In the instructions it says "You have to call java -jar kindle-annotator-0.3.jar <parameters> to run the annotator". It also says that the parameters are:
-in/--input filename Specify an input file.
-out/--output filename Specify an output file.

The version of the program I downloaded is 0.4.1. So, in command prompt I've specified C:\Users\Admin\K as the directory, then typed
"java -jar kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar <-in/--input C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out/--output C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf>"

This doesn't do anything. Could you please explain what I should be typing to get the program to run?

[HarryT]

Two points:

1. Leave off the angle brackets < >. They delimit the parameters - you don't type them.
2. When it says "-in/--input" it means that you type EITHER "-in" OR "--input". Not both .

[Sinlight]

Okay, I've tried typing "java -jar kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf "
and I've tried
"-jar kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf"

I just get a message saying ' "java" is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file '

If I type "kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf" nothing happens.

I'm sure I'm missing something quite simple here...

[HarryT]

You understand how the search path works on a PC, yes? The "java.exe" program either needs to be on the path, OR you need to enter the full path to wherever the "java.exe" program is, just as you'd do for any other command-line tool. On my Windows 7 PC, the Java executable is in the folder "C:\Windows\ SysWOW64".

[Sinlight]

Okay, my java program has the following file path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe"

What should I type to make java.exe use the kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar to combine the annotations in the PDR file with the PDF?

[susan_cassidy]

You have to either put that location (not the java.exe part, just the directory) in your PATH variable, or specify the whole thing (including the java.exe part) on the command-line.

[Sinlight]

Okay, but what should I actually type?

I've tried setting the path as C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin then typed java C:\Users\Admin\K\kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf and it came up with the message Could not load or find main class C:\Users\Admin\K\kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar.

[susan_cassidy]

You need to set the CLASSPATH variable to C:\Users\Admin\K. Are you sure that file is in that directory? Check the spelling. You shouldn't have set the PATH variable to just C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin, but to %PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin, to add the java directory to the existing path.

[Sinlight]

Yes, I'm sure it's in that directory and it's spelled correctly. Here is what I tried just now.

When I start in command prompt I start in C:\Users\Admin then I typed cd K to change to C:\Users\Admin\K Then I typed set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;C:\Users\Admin\K . Then I typed set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin .

Then again I typed java C:\Users\Admin\K\kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf . Pressed Enter.

But I still get the error message Could not load or find main class C:\Users\Admin\K\kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar. So I then typed cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin

Again I tried java C:\Users\Admin\K\kindle-annotator-0.4.1.jar -in C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdr -out C:\Users\Admin\K\something.pdf. Got the error message agan

[Sinlight]

Can anyone help with this? Maybe someone could try the program for themselves and see if it works?