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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Converting a PDF for viewing on your Kindle, I-Pad, Tablet, or Smartphone

Like many of us, I have learned to enjoy the benefits of e:readers.  For me, I love electronic quilt books as I don't have to file them and I can easily enjoy, get inspired, and plan my next project while I'm traveling.  

I've also found them to be a great organizational tool for free PDF documents that I find on the internet, or may create myself through Word documents and then CONVERT them to be readable on any device that you can load a Kindle APP (e.g. ipad, table, PC, smartphone, etc.).  To convert a PDF to be viewable thru your Kindle APP, the steps are quite simple.  You may want to follow along using a free downloadable PDF from Quilting Arts, on Free-Motion Quilting, or convert a PDF that you currently have on your computer.



Quilting Arts has a free downloadable PDF that I downloaded, submitted by email for conversion to Kindle, and now have it viewable in my Kindle APP.

Convert PDF to Kindle Instructions
1.   Log in to your Amazon.com account.
2.  Click YOUR ACCOUNT>MANAGE YOUR CONTENT AND DEVICES .
3.  Click on SETTINGS and scroll down till you see "Send to Kindle email settings.

In this section you will see the unique email account that Amazon has assigned to your Kindle account.  Copy this email address.

4.        Within your email software, prepare to send an email message  to the unique email account which Amazon assigned to your Kindle account.  Paste this email address into your email message, in the send to address box.

5.  Make sure the body of your email address is blank (no text, no signatures, etc).


6.  Attach the PDF file that you want converted for viewing on your kindle, tablet, smartphone.

7.  In the subject line, enter "Convert".

8.  Send your email.

9.  Turn on your ereader device.  Activate the wireless function and the Kindle APP. The e:version of your PDF should download instantly and quickly, but I have experienced some delays with converting large files, or submitting a number of files at the same time.  Still, it doesn't stop me from submitting large files or alot of files at once.  
For those that may want to convert a WORD document, you need to first convert it to a PDF before you can submit it to the Convert utility via email.  There are tips and tricks for using MSWORD to format a document for the Kindle APP, which can be fairly easy for some and challenging for others. Either way, it is too much to share at this time.  You can search the internet for these tips, but keep in mind that HTML code is what the Kindle APP uses so certain characters in MSWord can cause problems with formatting for an ereader (e.g. add a blank page, or make part of a page blank, etc.).  Quotation marks, apostrophes ( '14), Ellipses (....) and dashes (-) will result in junk characters in your e:book if you have such characters in your word document that you submit to convert for viewing in Kindle.  Special formatting in MSWORD such as page numbers, headers, footers, table of contents, etc., as well as style sheets, do not convert.  You can certainly hire conversion services, but with a little bit of playtime you'll most likely be happy with what you can easily convert for your own use in your Kindle App.





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7 comments:

Deanna Stevens said...

Excellent article. I had the first part down but the PDF file only & convert, I did not know.. THANKS :)
D Stevens...

Jacqueline said...

It all sounds like Greek to me.

Dana Gaffney said...

I use Calibre to convert books for my ipad, it's a free download and will convert any format including pdf to whatever format you like. Just another option for you :)

Wendyb said...

fantastic advice....thanks so much....I often tear my hair out when I buy a book, wondering which version will be the best for my purposes....now I don't need to worry! This, I'm saving! You're a legend :o)

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

I haven't even been able to download a book to my Nook because even though I downloaded the software needed to do this, it just doesn't work when I try it. Can your PDF downloading work on a Nook? I find that as soon as I figure out some of these devices they come out with new ones and sometimes it makes what you have obsolete and so I really don't like all these devices when in a few years you cannot even use them. Such a waste of money. I do better having just a laptop. I'm glad you shared this post and I will give it a try if it works on a Nook. If it does, then maybe my Nook will be useful to me, since I haven't been able to use it yet.

SewCalGal said...

Daryl asked about the Nook, which I do not have experience with. But after a quick search of the internet, it doesn't look like the Kindle APP is easily supported on the Nook, although there is a trick to get it work: https://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/message/5666

Allie said...

Ooh this is brilliant, can't wait to try it - thanks!!!