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Del Martes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2020
131
68
Anyone here has a 2020 12.9” iPad Pro and using Adobe Digital Editions? If yes, how’s your experience of reading *PDF* books on it? Is the page turning smooth?

I have a 7th gen iPad. The page turning of PDF books and zooming in and out are terribly jerky. Haven’t tried epub files yet; I hate those. They don’t preserve the book’s original formatting.

If Adobe Digital Editions works smoothly on the 4th gen 12.9” iPad Pro, I might pick up one.

Many thanks in advance!
 

AutomaticApple

Suspended
Nov 28, 2018
7,401
3,378
Massachusetts
Anyone here has a 2020 12.9” iPad Pro and using Adobe Digital Editions? If yes, how’s your experience of reading *PDF* books on it? Is the page turning smooth?

I have a 7th gen iPad. The page turning of PDF books and zooming in and out are terribly jerky. Haven’t tried epub files yet; I hate those. They don’t preserve the book’s original formatting.

If Adobe Digital Editions works smoothly on the 4th gen 12.9” iPad Pro, I might pick up one.

Many thanks in advance!
It is a great experience on my 2020 11" iPad Pro. Pages turn smoothly. :)
 

Del Martes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2020
131
68
It is a great experience on my 2020 11" iPad Pro. Pages turn smoothly. :)
I picked up a silver, base 2020 12.9" iPad Pro today. Set it up and played with Adobe Digital Editions on it. Much smoother in page turning. Of course, no need to zoom in or out on a big screen like that.

An excellent book reader, the 12.9 iPad Pro. Years ago, I saw a large Kindle about the same size for PDF docs and books, but yesterday, when I checked online, I could not find any of that size.

For my needs, it's really a book reader with a big enough screen. Modern day laptops are made for watching movies; they are not for reading books. The screens are too short. The 12.9 iPad Pro in the portrait orientation, as a contrast, fits the bill perfectly. A page is displayed with large enough font, so I don't need to zoom in and out.

I don't play with augmented reality or the cameras. So if Apple could produce a no-frills, base level iPad Pro with the same 12.9 minus the extra fancy stuff, I'm sure there is a niche market for it.

Thanks very much again for chiming in!
 
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kristalsoldier

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2013
818
523
What’s the advantage of using Adobe Digital Editions to read PDF and ePub as compared to, say, PDF Reader (or Liquid Text or similar) and Books (or something similar)?
 

Del Martes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2020
131
68
What’s the advantage of using Adobe Digital Editions to read PDF and ePub as compared to, say, PDF Reader (or Liquid Text or similar) and Books (or something similar)?
Let me clarify. Some of the books I read are *borrowed* from Internet Archive. They are copy-righted. In order to protect the rights, Internet Archive has partnered with Adobe and uses its software—Adobe Digital Editions—to manage the rights. This is called digital rights management—DRM. But the software is VERY buggy on both the iOS and MacOS platforms. Specifically, the page turning, zooming in and out, and scrolling are very jerky!

After I upgraded to the iPad Pro 12.9”, the above problems are solved. However, Adobe Digital Editions(ADE) still failed to render a 1134-paged tome of The Riverside Chaucer. Other than the first 3 to 4 pages, the rest of the book are just blank! On my M1 base MBA, the entire book is rendered, but the scrolling and the page turning are still sluggish.

Most of the books I read are non-copyrighted. For them, I usually read on my 13.3” macBook Air with Apple’s default PDF viewer, Preview. If I read them on the 12.9 iPad Pro, I will probably try PDF Expert.

Considering the large contracts Adobe has reached with the multitude of universities and academic institutions, this shoddy piece of software of Adobe Digital Editions is beyond professional irresponsibility. It borders on criminal negligence and smacks of utter contempt for the reading public.

A lot of universities are now using e-textbooks, so students don’t have to lug around heavy textbooks. And these e-textbooks, because of their digital rights, are administered via Adobe Digital Editions(ADE) or its partner, Bluefire Reader, which isn’t any better. They are the ONLY deals in town. No others. Imagine you are a poor university student and you paid $70, $80, or $100 for an e-textbook, and then you are unable to navigate smoothly within the book!

I call on FBI and DOJ to investigate Adobe! :)
 

kristalsoldier

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2013
818
523
Let me clarify. Some of the books I read are *borrowed* from Internet Archive. They are copy-righted. In order to protect the rights, Internet Archive has partnered with Adobe and uses its software—Adobe Digital Editions—to manage the rights. This is called digital rights management—DRM. But the software is VERY buggy on both the iOS and MacOS platforms. Specifically, the page turning, zooming in and out, and scrolling are very jerky!

After I upgraded to the iPad Pro 12.9”, the above problems are solved. However, Adobe Digital Editions(ADE) still failed to render a 1134-paged tome of The Riverside Chaucer. Other than the first 3 to 4 pages, the rest of the book are just blank! On my M1 base MBA, the entire book is rendered, but the scrolling and the page turning are still sluggish.

Most of the books I read are non-copyrighted. For them, I usually read on my 13.3” macBook Air with Apple’s default PDF viewer, Preview. If I read them on the 12.9 iPad Pro, I will probably try PDF Expert.

Considering the large contracts Adobe has reached with the multitude of universities and academic institutions, this shoddy piece of software of Adobe Digital Editions is beyond professional irresponsibility. It borders on criminal negligence and smacks of utter contempt for the reading public.

A lot of universities are now using e-textbooks, so students don’t have to lug around heavy textbooks. And these e-textbooks, because of their digital rights, are administered via Adobe Digital Editions(ADE) or its partner, Bluefire Reader, which isn’t any better. They are the ONLY deals in town. No others. Imagine you are a poor university student and you paid $70, $80, or $100 for an e-textbook, and then you are unable to navigate smoothly within the book!

I call on FBI and DOJ to investigate Adobe! :)
Thanks for clarifying. Yes of course, I should have realised the university connection. Being in a similar setting, I now recall the library staff advising me on ADE. I baulked since I don’t like these restrictions and I am usually able to find workarounds.

I find PDF Expert to work well (I also have Liquid Text, which is a really interesting option also on hand).
 
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Del Martes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2020
131
68
If your books are not tied with DRM, there’s no need to use ADE. Any generic PDF reader would do and do a much better job!
 
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kristalsoldier

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2013
818
523
If your books are not tied with DRM, there’s no need to use ADE. Any generic PDF reader would do and do a much better job!
Yes, I try to ensure first that the books are not DRM’d. If they are, I try to find workarounds, if possible.
 

hollowsocket

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2018
29
19
Would it be illegal to remove DRM for personal use? If not, then certainly a college student could buy the textbook, remove DRM using a tool or script, and then import the resultant .pdf into GoodNotes (or other pdf reader/annotation software).
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
13,271
Would it be illegal to remove DRM for personal use? If not, then certainly a college student could buy the textbook, remove DRM using a tool or script, and then import the resultant .pdf into GoodNotes (or other pdf reader/annotation software).

In the US, there are few exceptions for legal DRM removal (e.g. blind and need to screen readers), but other than those it's illegal per DMCA. Thus far though, DMCA hasn't really held up in court.

 
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