PRS-600 PDF Paragraph formats incorrect with larger fonts

3rdDegree · 02-22-2010, 09:46 PM

Hello All,

I had asked this question here, but there was no reply. I now realise that it seems to have been a stupid or frequently asked question. But this problem is really getting me upset!

I am reading a PDF on the Sony 600. When I change fonts to be larger, the entire paragraph layout get's totally messed up. In fact, it makes reading a book very annoying. Different paragraphs get concatenated onto each other; blank line between sections are lost; and so on. I don't see the same problems when reading the same book in Digital Editions. SO I think this is a problem with the Sony reader's software.

Is there nothing that can be done about this. Most of the books I have been looking at seem to be in PDF only (not ePUB, which I think works better) and if this what the Sony reader does for all PDF's, then I really find it unusable!

Many thanks
Martin

SCION · 02-22-2010, 10:06 PM

All ebook readers handle PDFs that way. The purpose of a PDF file is to preserve text. Adjusting fonts messes up that preservation. You need to stay away from ebooks in PDF format. I feel your pain. I have several library books that are only available in PDF. I have to just deal with the default small (S) text size, but the 900 has a margin crop feature. This gets rid of all that white space in the margins, hence making the text more readable. There's no option for this on the 600.

wallcraft · 02-22-2010, 10:25 PM

As SCION said, this is most likely just the way mobile Adobe Digital Editions "reflows" PDFs on all devices. Sometimes this works well but often it contains various artifacts such as those you describe in the older thread.

One thing to try is to strip the DRM (Adobe ADEPT DRM for EPUB circumvented, look at recent comments on the blog for the latest stuff including for PDFs) and then reflow the entire document by using Calibre to convert to ePub. This may do no better, but it is worth trying.

Mike_73 · 02-23-2010, 02:17 AM

You could possibly markup all text, copy for wordprocessing and save it in a more usable format. I'm using PDFs a lot and have the same issues. Just seems that I don't bother that much. As long as I know where a chapter starts and ends and the font is readable, I'm fine. But for my next book, I'll give conversion a try to see if it maybe pleases more

I would love the crop function on the 600!!!

3rdDegree · 02-23-2010, 04:52 PM

Thanks you all for the reply. At least now I know I'm not alone. I'll try the reformatting (copying and pasting is not really practical) and will try to get ePUB's from now on.

Elfwreck · 02-23-2010, 05:16 PM

How badly the formatting changes when you reflow depends on how the PDF was made. If it was tagged for accessibility--made to be able to be read by readaloud software for the blind--it reflows better. I don't know if ADE or Adobe Reader will even tell you if a file is tagged.

Most commercial PDFs aren't tagged. Tagging is possible with Acrobat Professional, but not with 3rd party or free software. (Also, not possible to do to DRM'd books; they'd have to be cracked first.)

If you can edit the PDF file, cropping out the white borders is sometimes enough of a change to not need to reflow. But overall... PDF is a lousy ebook format for exactly this reason; it's locked to one page size and doesn't work well on screens that aren't that size.

grooks · 02-23-2010, 10:09 PM

Reading a PDF in landscape mode works for me. It will preserve the formatting but break each page into a top half and bottom half.

CelesteGB · 02-24-2010, 07:08 PM

Wow, I should have come here sooner. I had a book that I was reading and couldn't figure out why I would get half a page and then it would continue to a full page on the next. I had changed the font (the small being too small for just about anyone

) I'll have to try some of these suggestions (and stay away from PDF format in the future)

02-22-2010, 09:46 PM	#1
3rdDegree Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Sony PRS-600	PDF Paragraph formats incorrect with larger fonts Hello All, I had asked this question here, but there was no reply. I now realise that it seems to have been a stupid or frequently asked question. But this problem is really getting me upset! I am reading a PDF on the Sony 600. When I change fonts to be larger, the entire paragraph layout get's totally messed up. In fact, it makes reading a book very annoying. Different paragraphs get concatenated onto each other; blank line between sections are lost; and so on. I don't see the same problems when reading the same book in Digital Editions. SO I think this is a problem with the Sony reader's software. Is there nothing that can be done about this. Most of the books I have been looking at seem to be in PDF only (not ePUB, which I think works better) and if this what the Sony reader does for all PDF's, then I really find it unusable! Many thanks Martin

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02-22-2010, 10:06 PM	#2
SCION Séduisant Posts: 4,706 Karma: 2107018 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Texas, USA Device: Boox Note Air2+; Kobo Libra2; Kindle Scribe, Oasis3; iPad Mini6	All ebook readers handle PDFs that way. The purpose of a PDF file is to preserve text. Adjusting fonts messes up that preservation. You need to stay away from ebooks in PDF format. I feel your pain. I have several library books that are only available in PDF. I have to just deal with the default small (S) text size, but the 900 has a margin crop feature. This gets rid of all that white space in the margins, hence making the text more readable. There's no option for this on the 600.

02-22-2010, 10:25 PM	#3
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	As SCION said, this is most likely just the way mobile Adobe Digital Editions "reflows" PDFs on all devices. Sometimes this works well but often it contains various artifacts such as those you describe in the older thread. One thing to try is to strip the DRM (Adobe ADEPT DRM for EPUB circumvented, look at recent comments on the blog for the latest stuff including for PDFs) and then reflow the entire document by using Calibre to convert to ePub. This may do no better, but it is worth trying.

02-23-2010, 02:17 AM	#4
Mike_73 Guru Posts: 750 Karma: 1323 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS-505, PRS-600, iPad 16GB Wifi, Kindle Voyage, Nexus 6, Razr HD	You could possibly markup all text, copy for wordprocessing and save it in a more usable format. I'm using PDFs a lot and have the same issues. Just seems that I don't bother that much. As long as I know where a chapter starts and ends and the font is readable, I'm fine. But for my next book, I'll give conversion a try to see if it maybe pleases more I would love the crop function on the 600!!!

02-23-2010, 04:52 PM	#5
3rdDegree Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Sony PRS-600	Thanks you all for the reply. At least now I know I'm not alone. I'll try the reformatting (copying and pasting is not really practical) and will try to get ePUB's from now on.

02-23-2010, 05:16 PM	#6
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,185 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	How badly the formatting changes when you reflow depends on how the PDF was made. If it was tagged for accessibility--made to be able to be read by readaloud software for the blind--it reflows better. I don't know if ADE or Adobe Reader will even tell you if a file is tagged. Most commercial PDFs aren't tagged. Tagging is possible with Acrobat Professional, but not with 3rd party or free software. (Also, not possible to do to DRM'd books; they'd have to be cracked first.) If you can edit the PDF file, cropping out the white borders is sometimes enough of a change to not need to reflow. But overall... PDF is a lousy ebook format for exactly this reason; it's locked to one page size and doesn't work well on screens that aren't that size.

02-23-2010, 10:09 PM	#7
grooks Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 30250 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Device: Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma	Reading a PDF in landscape mode works for me. It will preserve the formatting but break each page into a top half and bottom half.

02-24-2010, 07:08 PM	#8
CelesteGB Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS600	Wow, I should have come here sooner. I had a book that I was reading and couldn't figure out why I would get half a page and then it would continue to a full page on the next. I had changed the font (the small being too small for just about anyone ) I'll have to try some of these suggestions (and stay away from PDF format in the future)

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