Summary: /* Converting digital files */
[[Image:Pr kindle2 f.jpg|thumb|630px|left|Photo by Jon Snyder/Wired]]
The book is an antiquated method of delivering words to your brain. Just as the iPod compressed massive record collections onto tiny go-anywhere devices, so the e-book readers are putting entire libraries onto paper-thin portable devices you can shove in your (oversized) pocket.
Want to ditch the heavy backpack full of books and join the digital book revolution? Here's out guide to creating a digital copy of just about any book -- whether it's your own masterpiece or an old paper copy of Cervantes -- into a digital book.
''This article is part of '''a wiki anyone can edit.''' If you have advice to add about rolling your own e-books, log in and contribute.''
==Format Overview==
Before you get busy converting your library into e-books, just remember this: traditional books are anything but antiquated, as you are about to learn. Once you see just what you're in for on this shtick, you may well want to save those old, beautiful paper and board masterpieces. But, assuming you still want to go ahead on this folly, let's start with some formatting decisions. Unfortunately, due to the relatively new status of e-book readers, there is no one-size-fits-all format yet. The popular ePub format is probably the closest thing and works nearly everywhere, but sadly, not on Amazon's popular Kindle reader.
But once you've got your book in the ePub format, you're 90 percent there. All of the ''other'' major e-book readers, including Apple's iBooks on its iOS devices, the Barnes & Noble Nook and Sony's various readers can all handle the ePub format. That just leaves the Kindle. Luckily there is [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] a free and cross-platform (though rather ugly and unwieldy) e-book manager that can convert your ePub document into something the Kindle can display.
==Converting digital files==
You've penned your masterpiece and you want to give it to the world in digital form. How do you do that?
If you're starting with a Microsoft Word document, the simplest way to convert that to an e-book format is start by exporting it as an HTML file (Save As, choose "Web Page, Filtered (*.htm, *.html)" in the "Save as type" dropdown box). Once you have an HTML file, just use one of the many free HTML to ePub converters (the previously mentioned [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] can convert HTML to ePub).
After you've created your ePub file, you can use an ePub editor like [http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ Sigil] to cleanup any conversion errors, adjust styles, split files into chapters, create a table of contents and edit metadata.
Here is a list of conversion tools, including Calibre:
* [http://www.epubbud.com/ ePubBud.com] - Find out more online in [http://www.epubbud.com/help.php their FAQ].
* [http://www.juliansmart.com/ecub eCub Cross platform tool]
* [http://www.infogridpacific.com/igp/AZARDI/eScape%20-ODT2ePub/ eScape ePub Creator] - Converts OpenOffice documents to ePub format.
* [http://www.pincette.biz/odftoepub/index.xhtml ODFtoEpub] - Converts OpenOffice files to ePub format.
* [http://www.bookglutton.com/api BookGlutton] - Converts HTML web pages to ePub format.
* [http://www.easypress.com/products/aqpep/ EasyEPub] - Convert from Adobe InDesign or Quark format to ePub
<br />
You can also use these tools to convert from existing documents to ePub format:
* [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] - fantastic tool and comes with [http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/beyond-distance-research-alliance/projects/otter/about-oers/Creatingandformattingepub.pdf a great tutorial].
* [http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ Sigil] - Free cross-platform tool to edit ePub books
* [http://www.lexcycle.com/ Stanza Desktop]
<br />
==Converting dead trees==
The above techniques and tools work well if your source is already in digital form, but what if you want to convert an existing paper book? Well, it can be done -- using free software, no less -- but it takes a bit of work.
===Scanning===
First off you're going to need to scan the book in question. While there are [http://diybookscanner.org/ specialized V-shaped scanners] that make book scanning much easer, most of us have flatbed scanners. The problem with flatbed scanners is that books aren't flat.
Unless you plan to debind the book, you're probably going to end up with some warped text and shadows on the edges of each page when you convert the images to an ePub document. For most books, you can get the text looking pretty good if you scan carefully.
But if you want a pure, digital copy with searchable text and all, there is a way to do it.
===Using OCR===
The ideal process works like this: scan the entire book into images, run the images through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition optical character recognition] ('''OCR''') software to extract the text. Once you have the text, just follow the steps above to get an ePub document.
We'd recommend [http://www.paperfile.net/ FreeOCR], a non-commercial bit of software that's a free download.
The only catch -- aside from the time investment of scanning an entire book -- is the OCR software. While OCR tools like [http://www.paperfile.net/ FreeOCR] (which is what Google Books uses) are pretty good, a truly accurate OCR engine that can perfectly convert your text remains a pipe dream.
OCR software in its current state achieves an accuracy rate of above 95 percent. The quality of the output depends on the quality of the image you start with. So correcting an OCR'd document that started with a dirty scan job can be a tedious, time consuming process. Luckily, most antique books have rather large print, and translate well.
The reality is that you're going to have to go through afterwards and fix a few words and phrases yourself. But for books that hold personal memories and are long out-of-print -- maybe a cookbook that great-grandma Agnes wrote -- it can be worth it. You'll end up with a document that makes a wonderful gift you can share with your friends and family.
With a little patience and perseverance you can convert your own library and cram countless e-books into your backpack without the weight of the physical world on your shoulders.
[[Category:Software]]
[[Category:Gadgets]]
[[Category:E-Books]]
The book is an antiquated method of delivering words to your brain. Just as the iPod compressed massive record collections onto tiny go-anywhere devices, so the e-book readers are putting entire libraries onto paper-thin portable devices you can shove in your (oversized) pocket.
Want to ditch the heavy backpack full of books and join the digital book revolution? Here's out guide to creating a digital copy of just about any book -- whether it's your own masterpiece or an old paper copy of Cervantes -- into a digital book.
''This article is part of '''a wiki anyone can edit.''' If you have advice to add about rolling your own e-books, log in and contribute.''
==Format Overview==
Before you get busy converting your library into e-books, just remember this: traditional books are anything but antiquated, as you are about to learn. Once you see just what you're in for on this shtick, you may well want to save those old, beautiful paper and board masterpieces. But, assuming you still want to go ahead on this folly, let's start with some formatting decisions. Unfortunately, due to the relatively new status of e-book readers, there is no one-size-fits-all format yet. The popular ePub format is probably the closest thing and works nearly everywhere, but sadly, not on Amazon's popular Kindle reader.
But once you've got your book in the ePub format, you're 90 percent there. All of the ''other'' major e-book readers, including Apple's iBooks on its iOS devices, the Barnes & Noble Nook and Sony's various readers can all handle the ePub format. That just leaves the Kindle. Luckily there is [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] a free and cross-platform (though rather ugly and unwieldy) e-book manager that can convert your ePub document into something the Kindle can display.
==Converting digital files==
You've penned your masterpiece and you want to give it to the world in digital form. How do you do that?
If you're starting with a Microsoft Word document, the simplest way to convert that to an e-book format is start by exporting it as an HTML file (Save As, choose "Web Page, Filtered (*.htm, *.html)" in the "Save as type" dropdown box). Once you have an HTML file, just use one of the many free HTML to ePub converters (the previously mentioned [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] can convert HTML to ePub).
After you've created your ePub file, you can use an ePub editor like [http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ Sigil] to cleanup any conversion errors, adjust styles, split files into chapters, create a table of contents and edit metadata.
Here is a list of conversion tools, including Calibre:
* [http://www.epubbud.com/ ePubBud.com] - Find out more online in [http://www.epubbud.com/help.php their FAQ].
* [http://www.juliansmart.com/ecub eCub Cross platform tool]
* [http://www.infogridpacific.com/igp/AZARDI/eScape%20-ODT2ePub/ eScape ePub Creator] - Converts OpenOffice documents to ePub format.
* [http://www.pincette.biz/odftoepub/index.xhtml ODFtoEpub] - Converts OpenOffice files to ePub format.
* [http://www.bookglutton.com/api BookGlutton] - Converts HTML web pages to ePub format.
* [http://www.easypress.com/products/aqpep/ EasyEPub] - Convert from Adobe InDesign or Quark format to ePub
<br />
You can also use these tools to convert from existing documents to ePub format:
* [http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre] - fantastic tool and comes with [http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/beyond-distance-research-alliance/projects/otter/about-oers/Creatingandformattingepub.pdf a great tutorial].
* [http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ Sigil] - Free cross-platform tool to edit ePub books
* [http://www.lexcycle.com/ Stanza Desktop]
<br />
==Converting dead trees==
The above techniques and tools work well if your source is already in digital form, but what if you want to convert an existing paper book? Well, it can be done -- using free software, no less -- but it takes a bit of work.
===Scanning===
First off you're going to need to scan the book in question. While there are [http://diybookscanner.org/ specialized V-shaped scanners] that make book scanning much easer, most of us have flatbed scanners. The problem with flatbed scanners is that books aren't flat.
Unless you plan to debind the book, you're probably going to end up with some warped text and shadows on the edges of each page when you convert the images to an ePub document. For most books, you can get the text looking pretty good if you scan carefully.
But if you want a pure, digital copy with searchable text and all, there is a way to do it.
===Using OCR===
The ideal process works like this: scan the entire book into images, run the images through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition optical character recognition] ('''OCR''') software to extract the text. Once you have the text, just follow the steps above to get an ePub document.
We'd recommend [http://www.paperfile.net/ FreeOCR], a non-commercial bit of software that's a free download.
The only catch -- aside from the time investment of scanning an entire book -- is the OCR software. While OCR tools like [http://www.paperfile.net/ FreeOCR] (which is what Google Books uses) are pretty good, a truly accurate OCR engine that can perfectly convert your text remains a pipe dream.
OCR software in its current state achieves an accuracy rate of above 95 percent. The quality of the output depends on the quality of the image you start with. So correcting an OCR'd document that started with a dirty scan job can be a tedious, time consuming process. Luckily, most antique books have rather large print, and translate well.
The reality is that you're going to have to go through afterwards and fix a few words and phrases yourself. But for books that hold personal memories and are long out-of-print -- maybe a cookbook that great-grandma Agnes wrote -- it can be worth it. You'll end up with a document that makes a wonderful gift you can share with your friends and family.
With a little patience and perseverance you can convert your own library and cram countless e-books into your backpack without the weight of the physical world on your shoulders.
[[Category:Software]]
[[Category:Gadgets]]
[[Category:E-Books]]
No comments:
Post a Comment