# Help- Reading PDFs on a Kindle



## sparky76 (Sep 29, 2010)

I recently got my wife the Kindle Wifi. I have several books in PDF format, and I'd like for my wife to be able to read these books on her Kindle, but it isn't working out very well so I think I must be missing something. 

I can get the PDFs to the Kindle via the USB connection or by emailing them. That seems to work. The problem is that the text always is very small, and I haven't been able to figure out how to enlarge it so the book is read-able.

The zoom function will make the section you zoom on larger but doesn't do word wrap so it doesn't really help. I haven't been able to figure out anything else to do to make this work.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks


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## shalym (Sep 1, 2010)

sparky76 said:


> I recently got my wife the Kindle Wifi. I have several books in PDF format, and I'd like for my wife to be able to read these books on her Kindle, but it isn't working out very well so I think I must be missing something.
> 
> I can get the PDFs to the Kindle via the USB connection or by emailing them. That seems to work. The problem is that the text always is very small, and I haven't been able to figure out how to enlarge it so the book is read-able.
> 
> ...


When you email them, are you putting "convert" in the subject line? If you don't do that, they will just show as native pdf.

Shari


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Shari is right: though the Kindle can read PDF natively, on the K3 it's not ideal because of screen size.  If it's a mostly text file, it should convert fairly well -- you want .mobi, .prc, or.azw(Kindle native) for the final format.  This will allow you to change font size etc.

You can send it to Amazon with "convert" in the subject, or you can do it yourself with one of several conversion programs that are readily available.  MobiPocket works decently, but is only available for PC.  Calibre is very well liked by a lot of members here. . .it does a lot more than just convert.  There's also a web based solution called "2EPUB".  All these are free.


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## sparky76 (Sep 29, 2010)

Thank you for the responses. I wasn't putting "convert" in the subject line. 

Does Amazon charge to convert them?  I remember seeing something about that and getting a little confused because I thought the kindle was supposed to read PDFs without needing to convert them.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If you send to the @kindle.com address they will charge, and the file will go straight to your Kindle.  15¢ per MB.

If you send to the @free.kindle.com address they will not charge and you'll get an e-mail back to the address of record at Amazon with a link to the book file.  You'll have to load it on the kindle via the USB cord.

BUT if you have K3, the @free.kindle.com address will allow it to be sent directly to the Kindle, but it won't download unless you connect via WiFi.  If you connect via 3G, you'll just get a message that there's a file waiting for the next time you can connect via WiFi.


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