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BeBook supported formats and improving read quality

BeBook is a very versatile device and supports a lot of file formats. However the read-quality suffers from document to document. I have a 6" inch BeBook, which supports document on a 3.54 x 4.72 inches dosplay. Below mentioned are facts about how I manage to handle my commonly read file formats and port it for excellent reading quality on BeBook. 

Please note, some of these formats can be directly loaded to BeBook and read, but the look and feel, and reading quality is determined by the way the original documents were made. Most often, you will find the font to be too small even in landscape mode. Use the below options to make your ebooks more soothing and easier to read on BeBook.

I will keep updating this page as and when I try new formats. To get a list of know ebook formats check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats.

Acrobat Reader Documents (.pdf)

PDF is the most widely used format for electronic reading. I read lot of Self-help, motivational and technical material and most stuff is available on PDF. Even original manuals are available in PDF. These make good reading on my Notebook, but unfortunately these turned out to be very pinching on the eyes when I loaded it to my BeBook. Landscape mode did not help. 

Most ebook reader PDF can simply be copied to BeBook and read. These are created in suitable mobile device formats and are well displayed on BeBook. But standard A4 size (or higher) PDF documents will not give you a good read quality unless these were build with bigger font sizes. For instance, The Oracle manuals that I copied to BeBook failed to give me a good read quality, even at landscape mode.

I finally got hold of MobiPocket Reader to convert my PDF files to readable PRC file formats. PRC support on BeBook is excellent. PRC format is intended for mobile devices and is well suited for a 6 inch screen of BeBook (800x600 viewing).

Download MobiPocket reader from http://www.mobipocket.com (it is free) and install it on your Windows machine. Note, the site gives you free Mobipocket reader and creator software, you will require only reader for simple conversions. I have been able to convert all my PDF to PRC files with excellent reading quality.

Unfortunately for me, there is no Linux version of this software and I make use of my virtual machine to run this. 

The only drawback of prc file is the image handling. Sometimes the image content is completely removed or sometimes it is just shown in the format that the original book is having. This is OK for me but my recommendation is to not convert an image dependent technical document as it will be useless without the images itself.

Another point, if you have columned data in your document, it may be deemed unreadable when converted to PRC. PRC files will format data to the extent that the position of data as compared to other data on the same page is sacrificed. So tabular or column based data may not come out neatly.

Microsoft Word Documents (.doc)

The above info for PDF files applies to Word documents also. I convert all my word documents to PRC format before copying it to my BeBook.

OpenOffice.org Writer Documents (.odt)

There is no direct support for OpenOffice Writer documents on BeBook at this time. But the workaround is very easy. Save the OpenOffice Writer document as a Windows Word or PDF file.

Once you have it in Word or PDF format, make use of Mobipocket reader software to convert it to PRC files. 

Text Documents (.txt)

Copy the files as is. Text files are very nicely viewable on BeBook. The line terminations are not well handled and you will find lot of split lines, but never the less, it is good reading.

Microsoft PowerPoint Slides (.ppt)

Copy powerpoint slides as is to BeBook. The Landscape format is automatically chosen for slide viewing and is good to read. Slides that have multimedia data on it will not show up very well on the screen, but you will be able to read all the text information.

OpenOffice Impress Slides (.odp)

Impress files are not directly supported. Save these in the Powerpoint format and then upload to BeBook.

OpenOffice.org Draw file (.odg)

Open Office Draw file (.odg) is not readable on BeBook. Convert it to JPG format for this.

Microsoft Excel files (.xls)

This is asking too much from your ereader. BeBook or any other reader in the market I have come across do not have scrolling screen options (e-ink technology is not that advanced at this stage). I am sure this is not supported, but I am not trying it.

OpenOffice.org Calc files (.ods)

Still asking too much from BeBook. Not intersted in putting this on my BeBook either.

Secured Mobipocket files (.prc)

Secured Mobipocket files are same as the PRC files we discussed earlier, only that these are device locked. So to say, you will be able to read the file only on your device and cannot be shared with some other device. Normally, you will be required to provide Mobipocket PID to the website from where you are purchasing this format.

BeBook already comes configured with a Mobipocket PID. To find this out, press the OK button and choose "settings". Next select the "About" entry. The appearing page will have a Mobipocket PID entry. Copy this entry to the website and then download your PRC file.

Nowadays, I prefer buying books in PRC format not only because they are easy to read, but also because they are cheaper in price compared to paperbacks or even other formats (I do not know the reason for this).

Rich Text Format files (.rtf)

I was able to open a write file but the formatting was not proper. Simple write files will open and display clean formatting. However, complex rtf files with lot of graphical additions will suffer. The images could not be displayed either.

Browser pages (.html, .htm)

Support is good. You can copy and use. BeBook will auto-align the html data to fit it to the 6 inch screen.

FB2 format

to be tested.

Compressed files (.zip)

This was surprising. My BeBook displayed the list of files inside a zip file. I could navigate through the sub-folders inside the zip file and also open documents for reading purpose. Support is good.

Image Formats

I tested the following image formats.

Joint Photographic Expert Group Image files (.jpg)

JPG files are well supported and the picture will display in grayscale of 4 shades. This is kind of what you see in newspapers but that the best available on BeBook at this time.

Graphics Interchange format image files (.gif)

copy and use, well supported but the animation will not work. The image will show in 4-shades of gray scale.

Portable Network Graphics image files (.png)

Well supported, copy and use. The image will show in 4-shades of gray scale.

TIFF image files (.tif)

Well supported, copy and use. The image will show in 4-shades of gray scale.

Bitmap image files (.bmp)

Well supported, copy and use. The image will show in 4-shades of gray scale.

Outlook message files (.msg)

not supported, save these as text or html files and then copy it to BeBook.

Thunderbird message files (.eml)

not supported, save these as html or text files and then copy it to BeBook.


Few Draw backs


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This page was created on 04-Jul-09. Last updated on 05-Jul-09.
please forward all queries to amar@amar-padhi.com