Kinworm: Convert PDF for Kindle 3 with Calibre

Convert PDF for Kindle 3 with Calibre

Tuesday, June 07, 2011 - Categories calibre , file formats , pdf

Convert PDF for Kindle 3

How to convert your PDF files into a Kindle format in just 7 steps using the free Calibre ebook software. There are different ways to convert PDF documents into a Kindle-friendly format such as MOBI files. Today we'll look at how well Calibre can do this, especially with some newer enhancements to the conversion process.

Note: The PDF file needs to be an unprotected document for you to convert it to a Kindle format. Lots of people read PDF files for their work, as documents which have been downloaded from the Internet and as free books which you can get hold of - sometimes bought on a CD/DVD from sites such as eBay.

You will need the Calibre software which you can get here >> Calibre

Add a PDF file into Calibre

Step 1: First you need to add your PDF file into the Calibre software. Click on the "Add Books" icon which is top-left, locate your PDF and select the "Open" button. This will now add your document into Calibre. If it can't place your file into Calibre then this may be due to a corrupt file or one which has some protection placed on it.


Click on Convert Books in Calibre

Step 2: Your PDF book should show up in Calibre. You can edit any information such as Title or Author by single-clicking inside the row or column of information. Or select the book and press E which will allow you to edit all the book/document details.

When you're ready to Convert your PDF to a Kindle format, select the "Convert Books" icon at the top or press C.


Output format should be MOBI

Step 3: A conversion screen will appear. The only important point to note is that you need to select the Output Format (top-right) as MOBI. You can do other things like add in a cover image and change some book details if you want to. Otherwise just press OK.


Calibre showing MOBI and PDF formats

Step 4: Depending on the file size of the PDF, the speed of your computer and other factors, it could take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes for the conversion to be complete.

On the bottom-right of your Calibre screen, you can see "Jobs" and a number which means how many jobs or tasks the software is currently carrying out. This should change to 0 when Calibre has finished. And also underneath the book cover, it will read "Formats" and MOBI should appear.


Badly formatted MOBI example

Step 5: Many PDF files convert badly into a Kindle format. PDFs are notoriously bad to convert to most file formats unfortunately. The above example shows the PDF file I converted on its first attempt. You can view the converted document using the Calibre software - just click on the MOBI link under the image of the book/document cover on the right of the screen.

You can see that paragraphs are broken down into a couple of lines at a time which would be pretty annoying to read. If your PDF conversion comes out like this or is poorly presented, carry on to the next step.


Heuristic Processing in Calibre

Step 6: Calibre now has some additional Heuristic Processing to help convert PDF files better. Start the conversion process again using Step 2. Carry on to the instructions for Step 3 - but don't click the OK button yet.

Choose "Heuristic Processing" in the left side-bar and click on "Enable Heuristic Processing." Make sure your output format is MOBI at the top-right and then click the OK button.


Well formatted MOBI file for your Kindle

Step 7: Heuristic Processing works better for the majority of my PDF files. You can see in the example above how much better that formatting is when I added the Heuristic Processing option. It's exactly the same file that I converted previously. It isn't foolproof - there are some PDF files which are full of complex formatting and simply won't convert well whatever you do. But the PDF to MOBI conversion works better than ever now on Calibre.

3 Response to "Convert PDF for Kindle 3 with Calibre"

KiaZiShiru says:

8 June 2011 06:07

great guide, thank you :)
I've been doing stuff like this more and more :) Always handy to have a guide to explain it to others quickly

Roger says:

13 June 2011 09:20

Very helpful, Marie.

Thanks,

Roger

KinWorm says:

13 June 2011 19:26

Thanks Kia and Roger. Sorry it took a while to publish your comments - that's because they were buried under spam.