[Suzanne]

I downloaded The Surgeon which Maureen told us about today. It was a PDF document. I went ahead and translated it with the Mobipocket thing. When I went to email it to my Kindle, I clicked on the wrong document to attach and attached and sent the PDF document instead of the .prc document which the Mobipocket thing made. I quickly realized my error and sent myself another email to my Kindle account with the .prc document as an attachment.

Lo and behold, a few seconds later, both documents were downloaded to my Kindle! The one was the .prc document and has the author's name on the right side; the other is the PDF document and has my email address on the right side.

The .prc document does have the cover picture, but other than that, from a quick glance they seem the same.

 

[HappyGuy]

Yes, PDF files translate (usually). I sent the PDF to be translated also - but mine was intentionally. PDFs convert ok, with a few caveats. Apparently, tables and multi-column documents are problematic as are some diagrams. And of course, no color pictures come through - though they may be converted to black and white.  But I've had pretty good success with PDFs. I even scanned in three book I own, saved the results as PDFs and sent them off. they came back fine (it was the DragonSinger series)

And for all of you copyright police out there, I figure it's like making a back copy of software. 

 

[Leslie]

If you look at the FAQ here on this site, I have some screenshots of PDFs that worked well and not so well, to give you some examples.

L

 

[Suzanne]

Oh, I didn't know that, FearNot. I think I have tried to email a PDF before and it just never came through. So I assumed that was a format I needed to translate myself. As for that book, The Surgeon, I'm ditching the PDF file and will read my translated .prc file.

 

[marianneg]

I think the amazon conversion is basically the Mobipocket Creator under the hood.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I think the amazon conversion is basically the Mobipocket Creator under the hood.

You may be right. In my opinion, the advantage of doing it yourself is that you can edit title and author data so it doesn't show up as you e-mail address for the author.

Ann

 

[marianneg]

You may be right. In my opinion, the advantage of doing it yourself is that you can edit title and author data so it doesn't show up as you e-mail address for the author.

Ann

I definitely agree. I'm far to

Spoiler

anal

to trust my conversions to amazon!

 

[Leslie]

I probably do it about 50/50. It depends on what computer I am on, if I have Mobipocket creator up and running, which email client is open, etc. Mostly whatever is easiest and convenient at a given moment.

L

 

[Anju]

Guess I better get mobipocket as I really would like the authors show up on my kindle.  Is the conversion there in your FAQ Leslie?  Guess I could look rather than bug  you.

 

[Leslie]

Guess I better get mobipocket as I really would like the authors show up on my kindle. Is the conversion there in your FAQ Leslie? Guess I could look rather than bug you.

I don't think I talk about it in the book. I felt like the topic was out of the realm of "frequently asked questions." But Mobipocket Creator is pretty easy to use. You can ignore alot of the stuff about putting in a synopsis, price, etc. because you are not deploying the book for sale anywhere.

Feel free to post here with questions or send me a PM. I am happy to help!

L

 

[Anju]

Thanks Leslie - you have no idea what you have gotten yourself in for - Pidgeon92 spent HOURS with me the other day getting my furbaby pictures over LOL 

I'll probably try this afternoon, when I am free.  Amazing how busy  you get when you retire 

 

[Leslie]

That's fine, Anju! I'll be ready.

When you download the software, make sure to get the professional edition (which is the one I am familiar with). It's free.

L

 

[chocochibi]

Where do you get Mobipocket creator from?
<sorry if it's already posted somewhere else>

 

[Leslie]

Where do you get Mobipocket creator from?
<sorry if it's already posted somewhere else>

www.mobipocket.com

On the left hand side, near the bottom, is an option for software downloads. Choose that and then choose the professional version of creator.

L

 

[Ann in Arlington]

www.mobipocket.com

On the left hand side, near the bottom, is an option for software downloads. Choose that and then choose the professional version of creator.

L

And to clarify/emphasize: It is important to get the professional version as the regular version won't convert PDF's, which is, generally, the main reason people want it.

Ann

 

[geko29]

While the book is still available free (so as to not violate the spirit of the copyright), if you PM me an email address, I'll send you the copy I converted, with all the metadata correct.  There's even a synopsis and a review, which I don't know if the kindle supports, but hey, it's in there.

 

[HappyGuy]

Well, who knows ... maybe one of these days when we connect to WN, we'll get a firmware update that will allow us to upload PDFs directly to the Kindle ... sigh.