Alternate way to create pdf's

[mpeg2]

I've tried using Foxit's pdf printer software to convert from various file formats to PDF for the eSlick. I found it to be fairly slow & doesn't have the ability to control font size and other formatting parameters. I'm also primarily a linux user, so have to run it in a virtual machine.

I've found an alternate path which works in all OS's, is faster & gives complete control over fonts, formating & so on - its also fast.

OpenOffice allows exporting directly to a PDF file - very quickly. I've created a template which works for eSlick (3.6x4.7"). Word files can be opened directly - others can be simply copy/pasted. Changing the font/size & paragraph formatting is relatively quick.

I've been using this for HTML books and find it very useful...

Rich

[stevil]

I use the pdf function on the mac and adobe pdf printer, the mac one makes smaller files.

[dracodoc]

Pdf format was created from a printer standard, and that's why it can be displayed in various platform with same result. pdf printer is like a virtual printer, you can only change your fonts and format in your application before you print, not in your printer driver. Actually, even adobe acrobat use a virtual printer driver to create pdf in last step. The pdfmaker for word from adobe just add some meta information like bookmark and links before print.

If you have the content in editable format, like word, html, of course you should use appropriate application to control the format. Besides, foxit pdf printer is not slow in my windows xp, so I think your case could be related to the virtual machine or other settings in linux.

I also tried with MS word template to create pdf for eslick from text. But I have to change the font and leading space between lines even with the template. I'm lazy, so I wrote a groovy script (which is based on java) to convert plain text into pdf directly. I only need click one button if I don't want to change the font and other settings :)

But this util is not easy to share with others: you have to install JRE, groovy, download iText lib. It could be a hassle for people not familiar with programming.

So I wish foxit can come up with a special utils to convert suitable content into pdf specially optimized for eslick.
One of the main selling point of eslick is its pdf reading capability, but most user only have pdfs not suitable for eslick (reflow and fit width, landscape can only solve maybe 40% problems, and not perfectly), or many other format which can be converted to pdf with foxit pdfcreator but still not optimized for eslick.
Sony reader users create a whole bunch of utilities to convert various content into sony's LRF format, these software are very important to users. Foxit should not be satisfied with just foxit pdfcreator...
Of course, I'm not suggesting foxit to provide a software to convert any format. word files can be controlled by user easily, this software should focus on plain text and html. There is no really good software to create pdf for eslick with text and html -- of course you can use word or openoffice, but that is time consuming, plain text don't have much format requirement, it can be and should be converted in batch mode.
I think this software should work like this:
1. user can define various template to optimize pdf for eslick, like page size, margin, font, font size, leading space between lines, justified, etc
2. plain text file can be converted with one click, or in batch mode.
3. html file should be at least converted in plain text mode.

[Yau-Hsien]

I used LaTeX to write documents. It's an easy way to create PDF. I counted the size of eSlick display and set the size of the document as 90mm x 117mm, and it worked fast. The PDF looked fine. However, when the size was doubled, it jamed in the compiling process.

[christina]

Thanks to your suggestions for creator. I will let our developers know this.

[vitalyb]

Hi mpeg2,

Thanks a lot for posting your tip about Open Office. I was really losing hope after fighting constantly both with Office and Foxit PDF creator. I had broken/merged words in reflow and if I chose not to use it, I had to face with variable font that was horrible to control.

Now from Open Office I have a great control on the final view of the page in an easy way. It is awesome!

I still can't use reflow (at least in my own made PDFs) but I am not too bothered with it as the fonts are fine. Would be great if reflow worked but at least I can read books now!

[lance_]

Originally Posted by mpeg2

I've been using this for HTML books and find it very useful...

Rich

I use HTMLDOC for that. There's a linux version. It generates very nice PDFs out of HTML including bookmarks for chapters and such. Sample it via the web based front-end here: http://www.easysw.com/htmldoc/pdf-o-matic.php

The latest version is payware, but you can find an older freeware version. Apt-get install htmldoc is good enough. It's easiest if you use single-page html files. Alternatively, download CHM versions of the html book if they exist, and use chm2pdf (it's a htmldoc frontend.) If it's got to be in multiple html files, you've got to specify the order that they belong in.