# Calibre changes the formatting when I convert?



## KyahCA (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm having a problem trying to convert a PDF ebook into a mobi. The formatting is perfectly fine, what you would expect in an ebook. Proper paragraphs, etc. However, once I convert the file into a mobi using Calibre, it changes the format so that it is no longer in proper paragraphs. Basically, the format has changed so that it shows two lines, then a space, then two more lines, then a space, etc.

Obviously this is very frustrating. I'm new to using the Calibre program, so I would appreciate any help to convert the file properly without changing the formatting.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm sure someone with experience will come along and be able to assist with Calibre -- I personally find it more trouble than it's worth and there are, for me, easier ways to convert files for use on Kindle.

For example, you can download the 'send to kindle' applet from Amazon and use it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=201238330

Essentially you send the file to Amazon and they convert it for you, archive it in your account if you wish, and then send it to your Kindle.

You can also, with many PDF readers, simply extract the text using the reader. The plain text might convert better than the PDF.

I've also found simpler converters on line.

That said, it may be the problem is in how the PDF was built. Might be that any 'automatic' conversion is going to look wonky, in which case you may need something that can actually edit the resultant file. Which may or may not be Calibre. 

Good luck.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

I love Calibre, but all PDF files are not created equal, and they usually don't convert terribly well, no matter what I use to convert it, including Amazon's conversion service. I really don't like PDFs and avoid them when I can. If i do get one I read it on an iPad or my Fire using an app made for that purpose.


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## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

I agree with the others. I don't think I've ever had a good conversion from PDF to mobi via Calibre.  Sending it to my Kindle address with "convert" in the subject has worked for some PDFs, but not all.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Meemo said:


> I love Calibre, but all PDF files are not created equal, and they usually don't convert terribly well, no matter what I use to convert it, including Amazon's conversion service. I really don't like PDFs and avoid them when I can. If i do get one I read it on an iPad or my Fire using an app made for that purpose.


^^^This.

Many many many times, PDFs don't convert well to any format. I find I'm better off reading them on my iPad using the GoodReader app.

However, there's a utility that supposedly does a decent job on many of them; I haven't yet tried it myself, but I have a PDF I'm eventually going to test it on. If anyone else tries it, I'd love to hear how it went. http://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/


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## WDR (Jan 8, 2014)

KyahCA,

-And other readers, forgive me if below gets a tad technical. It's the nature of the beast&#8230;

First of all, don't panic. Calibre is a great program for what it does, but for professional level creation of ebooks, it does fall a little short in some areas.

Several things went wrong with your conversion:


A PDF file is not *flowable text*. It is meant to be a digital fax file, so that the text can be printed onto a specific-size paper. So it is formatted exactly the way it would appear as printed. This is good for printing, lousy for ebook files. Ebook files are flowable text. The words will shift around and adjust to the size of the display-exactly the way text on a web page moves around when you change the window size.
There are two invisible characters: the _new-line_ and the _end-of-line_. They sound like the same thing, but they differ in an important way. The new-line is used when you've reached the edge of the paper/display. To continue the next character, you have to step down to the next line or go off the paper/display. The end-of-line character terminates the complete line and tells the display to move to the next line, no matter what. Think of the end-of-line more as an end-of-paragraph character, and it will make a little more sense. In an ebook, the new-line character is ephemeral and is only used when needed. But in a PDF, the new-line character is significant and must be set so that text doesn't continue through the margin and off the paper when printed. So when Calibre sees new-line characters in a PDF, they are treated like end-of-line(paragraph) characters. This is why the ebook got messed up.
When Calibre converted your PDF, it found new-line characters, and broke up each line into a separate paragraph. Look carefully at your new ebook file. The new paragraphs are exactly the separate lines from your PDF file. Calibre is not an artificially intelligent program nor can it read your mind. Therefore, it can only work from what you gave it.
An ebook is a self-contained web site. Each chapter is a single web page. The default typesetting of web pages is to display the text in block paragraphs like a technical book, not in indented and un-spaced paragraphs as in a literary book. So when Calibre took each separate line in your PDF to be a paragraph due to the new-line character, it presented them as block paragraphs separated by a blank line in your ebook.
The resulting ebook looks fine in Calibre because it knows the page size of your PDF. But ebook readers _don't use_ any page-size definition in their typesetting definitions. Therefore, your ebook breaks up into short little block paragraphs separated by a blank line and looks terrible.

The way to fix it:

Don't use PDF as the source for your ebook. That's good for the printed page, not for ebook generating. Think of PDF as a write-only file. You can't come back from it.
Go back to your original source of your text-your word processor-and save your manuscript as either a DOC or an RTF file. I strongly recommend the DOCX format.
Now when you convert it using Calibre, it will properly display as flowable text for an ebook reader.

_*ADDED WARNING:* _Calibre may or may not generate an ebook that will pass muster by the distributors for their individual devices. Make sure you use software supplied by the distributors for the final conversion into their format. Often their software will make the final adjustments necessary. Always download that file from the distributor before putting it up for sale to make sure that it is formatted the way you wanted it to appear.

_edited: For clarity. I'll probably do it a couple more times, too, until it is easy to understand for anyone._


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