Can any PDF be converted to ePub for better reading?

[HappyDude20]

I have some PDF files of writings my friends wrote a long time ago; kinda like a script...it was saved in PDF format years ago and would love to convert it to ePub format so it shows up in iBooks and I wow my friends.

Any way this is possible?

I get the feeling this might be a headache, seeing as numerous PDFs have photos in them, alongside PDF magazines I have that I get the feeling doesn't/wouldn't convert to ePub format so easily...

...but i'm asking, for the first time in this subject; so please go easy on me.

 

[DannyBres]

You dont need to with ibooks 1.1

 

[HappyDude20]

You dont need to with ibooks 1.1

No I know, in fact its currently already in iBooks as a PDF file, the thing is I actually wanna read it as if I was reading an eBook, ePub file, like the iBooks I've purchased in the iBookstore. I truly love the way the text can be enlarged and the reading is focused on the words itself, rather than a PDF file filled with photos and I gotta zoom in to read small text at random portions of the page..

iBooks books has gotten me back into reading which I must say is astonishing, seeing as how I know my University has a certain book i've been wanting to read for free at the library, but find reading the book easier on my iPad for $12.99 rather than free from my University library.

 

[Plisar]

You can convert OCR'd PDFs to ePub using Calibre, but it can really screw up the text. It's one of the reasons why I ended up returning a Nook, a Kindle, and a Sony Reader...

 

[chrono1081]

All of my text got screwed up too I had a bunch of eBooks I converted with Calibre and the pages ended up out of order

 

[Plisar]

All of my text got screwed up too I had a bunch of eBooks I converted with Calibre and the pages ended up out of order

And this isn't a Calibre problem, this is an issue of compatibility. ePub is made for reflowing, so that text can easily be resized. PDFs were made to reproduce perfectly what one sees on a page. With OCR, reflow and conversion is possible, but it has to be perfectly configured for an easy conversion to occur.

If you convert it to TXT or HTML and edit all the line breaks, you can get a nice ePub file, but this is a lengthy and time consuming process.

 

[HappyDude20]

Hmm, so in other words it would be best to just stick with reading PDF files as PDF files?

My sister sent me a free guest code for some PDF eBook website where I chose to download Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, it came as a standard PDF...I kinda wanted to convert and read it in ePub, iBooks page turning font resizing format but guess it just be impossible.

Oh well, I asked.

Guess iBookstore is gonna be getting more $$$ from me than I originally thought.

 

[Zimmy68]

The only solution that worked best for me is opening the file in the full version of Adobe Acrobat (not Reader) and export the file as an rtf.
Then import that into Calibre.

 

[ScrewTheDaisies]

I do the same, but I export it as HTML instead of RTF (I don't remember why anymore--it had something to do with a Calibre bug involving RTF to ePub that probably got fixed a few version ago). If you don't have the full version of Acrobat, Adobe has a free online PDF to HTML converter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tluVq9EhqaM

I find converting to HTML (or RTF) fixes a lot of line break problems, though usually some will still remain, and they can be fixed manually (or you can be lazy like me and just overlook them).

 

[jason.bourne]

I do the same, but I export it as HTML instead of RTF (I don't remember why anymore--it had something to do with a Calibre bug involving RTF to ePub that probably got fixed a few version ago). If you don't have the full version of Acrobat, Adobe has a free online PDF to HTML converter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tluVq9EhqaM

I find converting to HTML (or RTF) fixes a lot of line break problems, though usually some will still remain, and they can be fixed manually (or you can be lazy like me and just overlook them).

I don't think you meant to post that youtube link...if you did I don't get it.

 

[miles01110]

Hmm, so in other words it would be best to just stick with reading PDF files as PDF files?

It would be best to stick with reading PDF files on a decently sized screen.

 

[Ipadq]

I do the same, but I export it as HTML instead of RTF (I don't remember why anymore--it had something to do with a Calibre bug involving RTF to ePub that probably got fixed a few version ago). If you don't have the full version of Acrobat, Adobe has a free online PDF to HTML converter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tluVq9EhqaM

I find converting to HTML (or RTF) fixes a lot of line break problems, though usually some will still remain, and they can be fixed manually (or you can be lazy like me and just overlook them).

That link puzzled me too.

The PDF to rtf or HTML route seems to the best option. It all depends on how good your starting point is (i.e. how well made is your PDF). An extreme makover can only do so much for an ugly duckling.

 

[miamijim]

I have been using Calibre and working my way through my PDF's and converting them to ePub format for use in Stanza..

All great so far, and the read is so much nicer.