# Kindle DX question related to PDF files



## Khalampre (Aug 3, 2009)

Hi,

I am really thinking about buying a Kindle.  I am in grad school and taking a lot of distance education classes.  This means that I have to read a lot of PDF files.  Just today I spent 5 hours going though some PDF files to write a paper.  

If anyone can help me out with the following I would be a happy human.  

1. Can I transfer PDF files that I have made comments on from the Kindle to my computer and have the comments transfer as well?

2. Can I transfer PDF flies that I have made comments from my computer to the Kindle.  I have Adobe pro and I really like to add book marks, and comments so that I can find important text later to throw into a paper.  

2. Does the PDF support in the DX work well (pictures, graphs, etc)?

I understand there is no color.  I understand that there are not a lot of text books yet (I hope that changes).  I just want something that will keep my eyes from burning when I have to study.  

Thanks,

CK


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

PDF's look great on the DX in my opinion.  If the image isn't big enough in portrait mode, you can rotate to landscape and get a slightly larger image, but only half a page at a time.  You can transfer any PDF you want, as far as I know. . .I don't think hyperlinks and stuff will work, but you can search within a PDF, go to a specific page, or add a bookmark.  But you can't really edit them beyond that -- no additional notes or highlights.


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## ReconDelta (Jul 22, 2009)

I am in a similar situation and bought the DX mostly for PhD studies.  So I can have a PDF open for research and do my typing on a laptop.  I dont believe comments would transfer from your kindle to your desktop although that isn't really a problem, IMO.  I use the Kindle for reference to avoid printing out long PDFs.  I then take my notes on the laptop.  I also find searching the PDF much easier and faster on a laptop, then I pull the page up on the Kindle to do my reading and reference as I type. 

I've not done much work with Adobe pro and the Kindle, will have to test that out some myself.  Only owned my DX 4 days now.

The graphs and pictures in a PDF work really well in my experience so far.  

The DX will definitely help with eyestrain

Hope that helps


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

I just downloaded Oprah's free book of the day in pdf format.  I am hoping it transfers with normal size text for easy reading.  I have had some problems on the DX with the text too small.  

When the text is too small, I copy the original pdf into a text file then edit it (enlarging the text and increasing the line spacing) then re-save it as a new pdf.  That works every time.  Just more work.  I will let you know with the free download.

Well, the download went well except you have to read it in landscape mode.  The font is just too small for my older eyes.  I will try to convert it to a mobi file to see if I can treak the font size.  I do not know why we cannot adjust the size of fonts on pdf files, since pdfs come in on the DX.


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## muddyglass (Jun 3, 2009)

Khalampre said:



> Hi,
> 
> I am really thinking about buying a Kindle. I am in grad school and taking a lot of distance education classes. This means that I have to read a lot of PDF files. Just today I spent 5 hours going though some PDF files to write a paper.
> 
> ...


i also bought a kindle dx for ph.d. work. pdf files don't support comments/annotations at this time, period. (i already sent a polite email to amazon's kindle feedback asking for greater pdf functionality in future firmware upgrades.) however, i just take notes on physical paper (and soon in an oberon journal).

i mostly read math papers. equations look beautiful. pictures and graphs look decent if they are not too complex. for example, tables of values should look fine, but three dimensional multi-color coded objects that require significant processor power to draw would not.

the most annoying thing is having to read a paper with two or more columns and whose fonts are too small for the paper to be readable in portrait mode. landscape mode in this situation is a tremendous annoyance, to say the least.

if you are a grad student, you should consider installing the increased timeout hack so your kindle will only enter sleep mode after an hour of inactivity, or whatever other length of time you desire. this is invaluable for your studies. you can find the hack here: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=532339&postcount=100


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

Legalbs2,

I'd be interested in knowing if you have any problems with this book.
I put the PDF (from Oprah's site) on my wife's DX and when I tried to look at it the DX froze on page 4.
Happened twice, couldn't get past page 4 without a total lockup.
How's your DX digesting this book?

Paul


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

PaulGuy said:


> Legalbs2,
> 
> I'd be interested in knowing if you have any problems with this book.
> I put the PDF (from Oprah's site) on my wife's DX and when I tried to look at it the DX froze on page 4.
> ...


Me too, Paul It locked on page 4. I did it twice and both times had to reboot the Kindle. What I did was to download the book into my documents on my computer then moved the file to my desktop then attached the Kindle and transfer the desktop version to the DX. Worked great.

I think the problem is that we are trying to download the book onto the Kindle. You should FIRST download the book to someplace on your computer THEN transfer that download off your computer to your Kindle. That worked well.

However, pdf is smaller print. Bummer.

Beth


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

Hi Beth (my sisters name too ) and thanks for the info,
I downloaded the PDF to my desktop them mounted the DX and dragged the file into the documents folder on the DX.
Ejected the DX.
I did not download the file directly to the kindle dx.


So are you saying you now can get past page 4?
I stopped trying after 3 attempts.
Even grabbed the file again from O thinking perhaps mine had been corrupted.
No go.


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## Khalampre (Aug 3, 2009)

Ann in Arlington and ReconDelta,

Sounds like it would do most of what I want.  I have read up on the Kindle some, but I do not pretend to know anything about it.  If the notes do not transfer I think that I could live with that because it is easy to type a few words into a pdf search and hit the quote you are looking for.  

This brings up another question.  I assume that because the Kindle has a keyboard you can type in a pdf.  Is this a false assumption?  I would like to carry fewer things around, not more (a note pad in this case).  

Last question for now.  The DX looks big.  I have had my hands on a gen 1 Kindle and liked it, and would be sold on a gen 2 if it had pdf support (I know you can convert pdfs but I have read that it is a hit or miss kind of a deal).  Is the DX too large, or is it something that I could read almost anywhere.  

Ok one more question.  Does it have a case that would allow you to throw it in a backpack, or does it need some sort of armor?

Thanks,

CK

p.s.  legalbs2, Thanks for the heads up on the O book download.  My wife will be pleased.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Khalampre said:


> This brings up another question. I assume that because the Kindle has a keyboard you can type in a pdf. Is this a false assumption? I would like to carry fewer things around, not more (a note pad in this case).


You can make yourself a note 'document' but it wouldn't be PDF, just regular formatting. Go to www.edukindle.com for a free 'notes' document. There's also a calander/organizer app. Either or both of those might suffice for you.


> Last question for now. The DX looks big. I have had my hands on a gen 1 Kindle and liked it, and would be sold on a gen 2 if it had pdf support (I know you can convert pdfs but I have read that it is a hit or miss kind of a deal). Is the DX too large, or is it something that I could read almost anywhere.


That's something for you to decide, I'm afraid. I don't personally think it's too big. It is about the size of the zipper portfolios you can buy, or that are sometimes given away with corporate logos. One side has a 8.5x11 pad and the other has pocket with smaller pockets on it. The DX actually would fit in that pocket -- I've got one of them and I've put my DX in it. 


> Ok one more question. Does it have a case that would allow you to throw it in a backpack, or does it need some sort of armor?


 It does not come with a case. . .you'll want to find something for protection if you're going to be carrying it around in a briefcase or backpack. There are a lot of cases and/or covers on Amazon -- search for DX accessories. Also Oberon Design makes a Very Classy all leather cover. And to go back to your notetaking question, you might be able to find a cover that has the DX on one side and allows for a notepad on the other so you could just use a pen for notetaking. And, as I said above, the pocket of one of the pretty standard zipper cases works if you're not going to be mashing on it. I do suggest something fabric over the screen -- I used a 'Sham Wow' -- to protect it from scratches.


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## ReconDelta (Jul 22, 2009)

CK,

I considered the K2 due to the cost, I hate paying the geek tax on a newly released item, the DX.  I even ordered the DX, to cancel and place a K2 order two days later, then re-ordered the DX.  Ultimately I realized nothing is more important for "school" work than screen real estate.    After using the DX, I know it was the right choice.    The K2 would absolutely be too small to effectively handle text book sized documents, in fact I wish the DX was about 50% larger.  

The keyboard is not worth taking long PhD style notes.  Carry a notepad, or a netbook with you, or just work at your desk.  I'm not the type of person that enjoys doing my work at a Starbucks, I prefer working in an office, so portability wasn't such an issue.  For transporting around to classes; with the Amazon or another case the DX would be fine in a backback or my preference a laptop bag with the laptop.

While the DX isn't perfect, IMHO this is a great investment for a student.


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## Khalampre (Aug 3, 2009)

Thanks a lot guys and gals.  

It is looking more and more like I will buy a DX.  The type of notes I take on pdf files are short and in most cases something like "example of poor soil".  Just something to remind me what I am looking for when I am looking for it.  

Took a look at the cases and I have to say that I am not seeing anything that looks tough.  Then again my Zune has a metal case, so I may be expecting a bit too much protection.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

PaulGuy,  If you have a pc, you need to download the book, which you said you did.  Then open it to make sure you can see all pages.  If okay, then open your Kindle  Documents folder and paste or drag the new book file into that folder.  Eject your Kindle and it should open fine. 

If you have a Mac, when you download a file it goes into the Download folder.  You then have to open the book in the Download folder to install it onto your desktop.  Then proceed as above.

Yes, I see the entire book; however, you probably will want to read it in landscape as the pdf book has a smaller text size.  I am trying to get Amazon to convert the pdf book into another format, so that the Kindle fonts will work.  No luck so far.

Has anyone tried to have Amazon convert a pdf so that the fonts work?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I would convert a PDF to Kindle format with Calibre or MobiPocket Creator and then move that file to the Kindle. . . .one advantage is that you can specifiy the metadata:  title and author.  

I would guess that, as the DX reads PDF's natively, if you send it to Amazon, it won't be converted because it doesn't need to be to be read.  If you have a Kindle other than the DX it might convert.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

Khalampre,

You might try a leather case from www.buymedge.com.  The Executive case has a couple of pockets for a note pad plus a sewed in pocket for a light.  The Kindle DX light is coming out soon from the same company.  It is already out for the K2.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I would convert a PDF to Kindle format with Calibre or MobiPocket Creator and then move that file to the Kindle. . . .one advantage is that you can specifiy the metadata: title and author.
> 
> I would guess that, as the DX reads PDF's natively, if you send it to Amazon, it won't be converted because it doesn't need to be to be read. If you have a Kindle other than the DX it might convert.


Thanks, Ann, I will give Calibre a try. I thought I already tried that, but now can't remember. Old age... So once it is converted from a pdf to an azw, you think the Kindle DX fonts sizes will work? I hope so.


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

Thanks Beth,

The only thing I didn't try was opening the PDF file before transfer, I'll give it a shot.
I sent the PDF to [email protected] and got the .azw file for my K2, worked great.
Still would like to get the PDF native file to work on the DX.

Paul


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

I have Calibre and it's a useful program but I have to say, at least in my limited trials, Amazon's conversion service to AZW looks better than the Mobi file does on the Kindle.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I would think that if you sent the PDF to your [email protected] it would be converted with no problems. I can't see why Amazon wouldn't convert it. It has no way of knowing if it's going to a K2 or DX that way.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

That being said, I sent the Oprah book PDF to both my [email protected] and [email protected] accounts and both of them converted just fine. And yes, I can adjust the fonts just fine.

Reading it on my K2 on font 5 right now.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

PaulGuy said:


> I have Calibre and it's a useful program but I have to say, at least in my limited trials, Amazon's conversion service to AZW looks better than the Mobi file does on the Kindle.


Yes, Paul, you are correct. I have a KDX and I converted the native pdf book to a mobi book and lost some formatting; however the text is much larger and can be adjusted. So it is a trade off, I guess. I can either read it under my Documents on my DX as a pdf or as a Book as a mobi file.

Amazon will only convert pdfs to azws for K1 and K2's.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Yes, Paul, you are correct. I have a KDX and I converted the native pdf book to a mobi book and lost some formatting; however the text is much larger and can be adjusted. So it is a trade off, I guess. I can either read it under my Documents on my DX as a pdf or as a Book as a mobi file.
> 
> Amazon will only convert pdfs to azws for K1 and K2's.


I have the .azw file if you'd like me to email it to you.

Again, did you try sending it to your [email protected] address?


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

PaulGuy said:


> Thanks Beth,
> 
> The only thing I didn't try was opening the PDF file before transfer, I'll give it a shot.
> I sent the PDF to [email protected] and got the .azw file for my K2, worked great.
> ...


The pdf does work on the KDX, but it is under your Personal Documents and is smaller text that can be read in landscape, which makes it larger. However, I converted the pdf to mobi and it now appears under My Books in a much larger readable size that will allow font changes; however, some of the formatting is off.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> I have the .azw file if you'd like me to email it to you.
> 
> Again, did you try sending it to your [email protected] address?


Yes, please email me the azw file. I have a KDX. Should work. How would you email it to me? Do you need my personal email address? free.kindle.com only converts for free for K1 and K2 Kindles, not the DX.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Yes, please email me the azw file. I have a KDX. Should work. How would you email it to me? Do you need my personal email address? free.kindle.com only converts for free for K1 and K2 Kindles, not the DX.


just PM me with your Personal email address.

This is the first time I've heard that the @free.kindle.com doesn't work for people with DXs.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Yes, please email me the azw file. I have a KDX. Should work. How would you email it to me? Do you need my personal email address? *free.kindle.com only converts for free for K1 and K2 Kindles, not the DX.*


This is incorrect. It works just fine for the DX. I just tested it.

This is the process.

1. Compose an email and send to [email protected] 
2. Attach the file you want to convert (I attached a word document).
3. You will receive a message at the email account that is attached to your Amazon account. Note: this might not be the email address that you mailed the attachment from (in my case, it wasn't). You can't force it to come to a specific email address; it will go to your Amazon-linked address.
4. In the email message will be a link for the .azw file. Click it.
5. You may get a message asking you to login to your Amazon account. If so, do so.
6. The next message will ask you what to do with the file. Choose save. (I saved to my download folder.)
7. Connect the DX with the USB cable. 
8. Open Windows explorer. Transfer/copy the file from the download location to the documents folder on the DX.
9. Safely unmount the DX from your computer.
10. The file will be listed on your home page. Open and enjoy.

L


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

But. . . .here's where I think there might be an issue.  We're talking about converting a PDF file to azw for reading on a DX.  Now, if you send a PDF to your DX via Amazon, no conversion happens because it's not needed -- it stays a PDF that can be read natively on the DX.

I think it is entirely possible that if 
                  (1) you send a PDF to the free.kindle.com address and 
                  (2) the ONLY Kindle on your account is a DX
that Amazon will NOT convert the PDF to azw.

I can't test it because I also have a K1. . . .legal says it hasn't worked for her.  I'd be interested if others who only have a DX could try it and confirm that what legal says is true for them as well.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> just PM me with your Personal email address.
> 
> This is the first time I've heard that the @free.kindle.com doesn't work for people with DXs.


It works fine for the KDX, Amazon just will not convert pdf files FREE. They will charge owners of KDX since the pdfs can be transferred to our DX without conversion. K1 and K2 have to have the pdfs converted to work on them, therefore, you get them Free. Does that make sense? I hope so. The file you sent was great, but it had several full black pages where I think pictures must have been.


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

Leslie said:


> This is incorrect. It works just fine for the DX. I just tested it.
> 
> This is the process.
> 
> ...


Amazon will not convert native pdfs into azw for KDX owners. They have to pay, since the KDX transfers pdf files natively. I can pay to have a pdf converted however.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> They have to pay, since the KDX transfers pdf files natively. I can pay to have a pdf converted however.


See, that makes no sense. It seems to me that if you send it to the DX directly, no conversion will take place, and they'll probably charge the fee. It DOES make sense that if the only Kindle you have is a KDX that Amazon KNOWS this and if you try sending a PDF to the free address, no conversion will take place.

But I can't test it because I have a K1 as well. . . .

I don't know, but it seems that there ought to be _some_ method for doing conversions in case you _don't_ want it in PDF format. I've not looked into it because I convert things myself if I want them converted. . . . .


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

Calibre does not convert the pdf to azw.  It will convert to mobi and works fairly well except you lose formatting.  I can send a native pdf to Amazon, but they will charge a fee for the pdf to azw conversion, since pdf does not NEED to be converted to work on my only Kindle the DX.  Whew.

I am going to send the pdf for conversion to azw and pay for it.  Will let you know.  Thanks.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> But. . . .here's where I think there might be an issue. We're talking about converting a PDF file to azw for reading on a DX. Now, if you send a PDF to your DX via Amazon, no conversion happens because it's not needed -- it stays a PDF that can be read natively on the DX.
> 
> I think it is entirely possible that if
> (1) you send a PDF to the free.kindle.com address and
> ...


I just sent a PDF file to my [email protected] account. It came back to my email (amazon linked account) as a PDF file -- which made the mailing it to my free.kindle email pretty pointless since nothing was changed! LOL. I tranferred the file to my DX, opened it -- it's a PDF. In portrait mode, the text was very small. Switch to landscape mode and it becomes readable. It is not ideal, but that is the trade-off with PDFs. They are not optimized for the Kindle (or any ereader, for that matter). The page is a static image and is not easily manipulable. You are going to have problems like small and difficult to read fonts. On the other hand, tables and graphics will convert properly, as opposed to this:

















which are examples of charts and tables in a physics article (PDF) that I converted, both with Mobipocket Creator and through the Amazon conversion service.

Okay, then I sent the PDF to [email protected] which is the free account associated with my K2. This time, it got converted to an .azw file which I transferred with the USB cable. Looking at the file, the formatting isn't perfect. On the other hand, now it has locations (not page numbers), and I can annotate and highlight. Clearly, there are trade-offs.

Since Beth doesn't have a non-DX kindle attached to her account, I guess the only option for converting PDF files to another format would be to use an software program such as Mobipocket Creator (which I have used and which is free) or Calibre or Stanza (neither of which I have used).

Hope this helps.

L


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Calibre does not convert the pdf to azw. It will convert to mobi and works fairly well except you lose formatting. I can send a native pdf to Amazon, but they will charge a fee for the pdf to azw conversion, since pdf does not NEED to be converted to work on my only Kindle the DX. Whew.


You will lose formatting. That's right. That's the trade-off.

On the other hand, K1 and K2 owners had no option. They HAD to convert PDFs to read them on their devices, often with suboptimal results (see my screenshots in prior message). With a DX, you have a choice: 1) use PDF natively and put up with non-sizable font, inability to highlight, etc; 2) convert the file (either with an external program or through your K1 or K2 account, if you have one, like I do) and put up with less than optimal formatting.

Depending on what exactly you are reading is probably going to dictate which is the best approach for you.

L


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Calibre does not convert the pdf to azw. It will convert to mobi and works fairly well except you lose formatting.


.mobi and .azw are equivalent. The trade-off, as noted, is the loss of formatting, esp. in complex design elements, such as tables.

L


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

Thanks, Leslie.  I will use both MobiCreator on my PC and Calibre on my Mac.  I also had someone with a K2 email me their converted azw, which worked great too.  Mobi files can be used with the fonts on KDX, but the mobi format is off.  

The free Oprah book was a pdf and the text is small, so the azs and the mobi version work better.  Larger text over formatting.  Not a hard choice for those of us with older eyes.

Thanks everyone.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Thanks, Leslie. I will use both MobiCreator on my PC and Calibre on my Mac. I also had someone with a K2 email me their converted azw, which worked great too. Mobi files can be used with the fonts on KDX, but the mobi format is off.
> 
> The free Oprah book was a pdf and the text is small, so the azw and the mobi version work better. Larger text over formatting. Not a hard choice for those of us with older eyes.
> 
> Thanks everyone.


My pleasure. Glad I could help.

L


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## Khalampre (Aug 3, 2009)

That is not so impressive.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Khalampre said:


> That is not so impressive.


No. . .but, again, so you know what you're looking at: the original was a PDF file that had tables, columns, equations, or other types of formatting, that was sent to Amazon for conversion to a Kindle compatible format. And the screen shot is from a K2. The conversion will NOT work well for that sort of document. For one that is all text, however, it does much better.

Third party applications, also work and allow a little more control over the formatting and 'metadata'. The Kindle DX would have read the PDF natively, just like with a PDF reader on your computer, and would have displayed the document much better.

Leslie's post above is excellent in setting forth the pros and cons. . . . .


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

I agree with Ann, the KDX displays native pdf files exactly as they are, tables and all.  However, the text is on the smaller size, but is readable with ease in landscape mode.

I transfered the Oprah book over as it's native pdf and it is perfect, cover and all, plus the Part covers.  However, as an azw file, you can enlarge the fonts if you so desire or make them small; however, the Part cover pages appear as full black blank pages and no cover.


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> I would think that if you sent the PDF to your [email protected] it would be converted with no problems. I can't see why Amazon wouldn't convert it. It has no way of knowing if it's going to a K2 or DX that way.


What a good point !!


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Khalampre said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am really thinking about buying a Kindle. I am in grad school and taking a lot of distance education classes. This means that I have to read a lot of PDF files. Just today I spent 5 hours going though some PDF files to write a paper.
> 
> ...


 In a way, yes. You can make notes/comments on a *converted*-PDF - it's not possible at this point with a natively-supported PDF file. We can have original PDFs on the DX and also can take a copy of that and convert it (use a slightly different name) via Amazon's [you]@free.kindle.com or convert it yourself with MobiPocket Creator (PC) or with Calibre or Stanza (all free utilities).

Then you can make comments on that copy and any notes/comments you make will be automatically placed in the "My Clippings" file, the pure-text file that you can copy/move to the computer and edit and print.



> 2. Can I transfer PDF flies that I have made comments from my computer to the Kindle. I have Adobe pro and I really like to add book marks, and comments so that I can find important text later to throw into a paper.


 I don't know but I'm fairly sure that's not possible with the restricted Adobe license Amazon appears to have.



> 2. Does the PDF support in the DX work well (pictures, graphs, etc)?
> 
> I understand there is no color. I understand that there are not a lot of text books yet (I hope that changes). I just want something that will keep my eyes from burning when I have to study.


 There are good photo samples in this forum. I also have images from the DX screen to show material in vertical and landscape modes, at http://www.pbase.com/andrys/kindleplus


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

artsandhistoryfan said:


> What a good point !!


Except, as Leslie demonstrated above, each Kindle has a dedicated e-mail address. (I'd forgotten that myself.) And Amazon knows whether the Kindle is a DX or not. So it won't convert if being sent to a DX address, even the free one. NOW, if you have a second Kindle, you can send for conversion to the non-DX address. . .then load it onto which ever Kindle you want.


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## rspro (Aug 5, 2009)

I actually have the Sony PRS-505, Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. I really did get the DX to help support my habit of using and reading PDFs. I had written some reviews on the following website before I registered here.

http://ceoproductivity.com/blog/innovation/kindle-dx-and-pdf-use/

As I experiment more and learn more, I'll post the info here. Cheers!


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## legalbs2 (May 27, 2009)

rspro said:


> I actually have the Sony PRS-505, Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. I really did get the DX to help support my habit of using and reading PDFs. I had written some reviews on the following website before I registered here.
> 
> http://ceoproductivity.com/blog/innovation/kindle-dx-and-pdf-use/
> 
> As I experiment more and learn more, I'll post the info here. Cheers!


Excellent explanation of the pdf problems with the KDX. Running the pdf files through a conversion does increase the font size and allow you to adjust the fonts and lines per page at the expense of some formatting problems and loss of pictures. There has to be a method of editing the pdfs before transfer to the Kindles and still keep the native pdf everything.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

legalbs2 said:


> Excellent explanation of the pdf problems with the KDX. Running the pdf files through a conversion does increase the font size and allow you to adjust the fonts and lines per page at the expense of some formatting problems and loss of pictures. *There has to be a method of editing the pdfs before transfer to the Kindles and still keep the native pdf everything.*


If you find something, let us know, but I have my doubts, since that is precisely one of the things the PDF format is designed to prevent: editing of the document.

L


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## Khalampre (Aug 3, 2009)

I have to admit that the more I read the more I get stuck on the fence. I do not mind being an early adopter of technology, but it sounds like the K2 and the KDX had some features removed that the K1 had.  This seems kind of, well not like progress to me. Granted, I do not own any of the Kindles.  For something being marketed to students it does not seem to be there quite yet.  It will be interesting to see what happens with plasticlogic comes out with their reader.  I wonder if the prices will drop?  

I think that a lot of what will either push me to buy one or cause me to wait is the number of PDF files that I have for next semester.  If the number looks like it will be high then I am in, if not I may wait and see if something new is around the corner.  Any rumors floating around that y'all have heard about?


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Khalampre said:


> I have to admit that the more I read the more I get stuck on the fence. I do not mind being an early adopter of technology, but it sounds like the K2 and the KDX had some features removed that the K1 had. This seems kind of, well not like progress to me. Granted, I do not own any of the Kindles. For something being marketed to students it does not seem to be there quite yet. It will be interesting to see what happens with plasticlogic comes out with their reader. I wonder if the prices will drop?


The biggest things they removed from the K1 were the SD card for storage and the replaceable battery.

The original K1 could store approximately 200 books; on the K2 this was increased to 1500 books and the DX, 3500 books. So, in my opinion, the SD card became less important and I don't miss it at all. Granted, I don't have thousands of books on my K like some folks do, but even so, I didn't see it as that big a deal. However, the SD card did seem to be a source of problems on the original K1 causing freeze-ups, resets, etc. -- I think I even heard about a few people who had to have their K1 replaced because the SD card caused irreparable damage to the device. So given that, I can see why it might be considered a design improvement not to include it in newer versions.

As for the battery: user replaceable isn't such a big deal to me. I know there are people here who will violently disagree with me but in my own experience, my electronic devices usually wear out (or are replaced) long before the battery ever needs to be replaced.

The K1 did have some fun little quirks and shortcuts which were also eliminated and some of those I miss (Alt-J to change the justification, for example). But I really think the designers were trying to make the Kindle as user foolproof as humanly possible, knowing that the age of users seems to range from about 6 to 106. The fewer buttons you have to push, the fewer commands you have to remember, the easier it is to use. That seems to be what they were striving for and I think they mostly succeeded.

L


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Except, as Leslie demonstrated above, each Kindle has a dedicated e-mail address. (I'd forgotten that myself.) And Amazon knows whether the Kindle is a DX or not. So it won't convert if being sent to a DX address, even the free one. NOW, if you have a second Kindle, you can send for conversion to the non-DX address. . .then load it onto which ever Kindle you want.


 Ah, yes. I read the post from the point of view I do have both types of Kindles and I think Heather does too. 
Thanks, Leslie and Ann. And I WILL send from my K2 to my K2 address when not wanting to convert it myself (very likely if only 15c for a small file) to take advantage of this.


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## artsandhistoryfan (Feb 7, 2009)

Leslie said:


> The biggest things they removed from the K1 were the SD card for storage and the replaceable battery.
> 
> The original K1 could store approximately 200 books; on the K2 this was increased to 1500 books and the DX, 3500 books. So, in my opinion, the SD card became less important and I don't miss it at all. Granted, I don't have thousands of books on my K like some folks do, but even so, I didn't see it as that big a deal. However, the SD card did seem to be a source of problems on the original K1 causing freeze-ups, resets, etc. -- I think I even heard about a few people who had to have their K1 replaced because the SD card caused irreparable damage to the device. So given that, I can see why it might be considered a design improvement not to include it in newer versions.
> 
> ...


 This could not be explained any better. Thanks.


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