hakapeszik Loc: nyc

two questions from a new member:

1) can an SLR camera take a picture in PDF?
2) i just bought a cannon Rebel - i want to take pictures of books - and down-load it to a some device (yet unknown) so I can read in NYC subway. What is the best setting for taking pictures like that?

thank you one and all in advance for any help.

iresq Loc: Annapolis MD

1) no.
2) You can take photos then print them in PDF (you'll need to get a pdf printer available online).

Does not sound efficient to me.

SpeedyWilson Loc: Upstate South Carolina

I'm thinking that a flatbed scanner would be a better device to make a digital copy of the book, and then convert each page to pdf format. But, I've never used a camera to photograph a book; so I could be wrong.

Or, you could read some books already scanned:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Try a search for "PDF995", its free software that lets you "print" anything, including images, to PDF format. I have used it for several years and it works VERY well. They have a PRO format too, I think its around $39.95 but about all it adds is the ability to alter existing PDF documents, never had a use for that so I never bought it.

wschubert Loc: Clarkston Washington

Just an aside, if you just want to read it later on you do not have to have it in PDF format. All depends on the reader you will be using.

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

PhotoShopElements converts scanned images to PDF files. Using a camera to convert a book to digital format seems a bit cumbersome, but I've done similar things before. I've still got the tripod I used with a shelf/table built into the legs so I could point the camera straight down, thereby maintaining a degree of equality from shot to shot. Just flip the pages and click away, page after page after page. And then use software to crop/convert the images to PDF files for your viewer. PDF files are much smaller, file-wise, than editable graphic files. Good luck.

Pepper Loc: Planet Earth Country USA

You could just scan the document into you computer and click on "save as" then choose PDF doc.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I the book is available digitally, it would seem FAR less work to buy an iPad, Kindle, or similar device, and just download the darn thing! What you are proposing can work, but it will require a LOT of time.

snowbear

Not the best way to do it. In addition, it could possibly break copyright laws.

Probably a whole lot easier to just carry the book along.

hakapeszik Loc: nyc

45+ years ago my brother was writing his doctor thesis in history.
I went with him to the 42nd st library in nyc. They did not allow photo-copies as they ruin the old books (scanners would too) but they let me take pictures of his sources. I had an slr camera - high contrast film - which I developed myself and he was able read the sources using a projector onto the wall.

The books I read are not on kindle and they are not copyrighted.
some are even available free off the web - not sure what format they store it in. I don't yet have a kindle kind of machine - i will need to look into that too.

thank you all for your answers. hakapeszik

snowbear

Are you familiar with Project Gutenberg? if not, they have somewhere around 36,000 free books in kindle and other formats. It might save you a little time.

The catalog is at http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/

rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA

What's a "Kindle" format? ...Never heard of it.

snowbear

The proprietary file format for the Amazon Kindle e-reader. It has the file extension AZW.

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Howdy,

I use a free program called ' CutePDF '
It installs as a printer so you go to printers to print a picture and you'll see CutePDF in there as one of your printers.

You click and it saves the file, either picture of even a document and it saves it as a pdf file. Works on every type file I've had so far.

Sarge

Dave K

There's a much easier way to go about this, Kakapeszik. You can either buy an e-book reader (Kindle or the like), or you can download a free e-pub reader from Adobe Digital Editions - http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/ directly onto your computer. Epub is, perhaps, one of the most common ebook formats, and it's free. If you'd rather, you can also download a great many books in pdf format.

There are hundreds of thousands of books now available online, and on probably any topic one can name - even rocket science. Many, many of them are free, while some sites - one of which I'll talk about in a bit - charge a very modest fee, depending upon the book's type, genre, and other factors.

I'm a member of an online ebook source called Smashwords.com. It's not only a wonderful source for new books - again, many of which are free - but it's also a place where you, if you've a mind to, can publish books of your own. I know. I have. If you'd like, you may view my book list and profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dhkeith. And, yes, this is an unabashed plug for my books, although actually checking them out is purely optional. My point is that I know Smashwords and most of their books are available in ePub, Kindle, Nook, Mobi, pdf, and even rtf, among other formats.

I'd also suggest you Google "Free ebooks" as well as check out www.googlebooks.com. If you're a reader, I'm thinking you'll find many things you'll like.

Good luck and enjoy the books.
Dave K