Mobi file from PDF

[paulc]

Can anyone offer advise on creating a mobi file from PDF? I don't want to go the native authoring route. The PDF files would include type,logos,charts & pictures.

[Shawn]

Hi Paul

I haven't used it, but the official Mobipocket creator Publisher version is supposed to be able to convert PDFs to Mobi format.
Mobipocket Developer Center - How do I create a Mobipocket eBook

PDFs weren't really designed to be exportable into other formats, so a lot would depend on how the PDF was originally created. In some cases I've had better luck exporting text out of the PDF as RTF in Acrobat and then converting that with one of the .epub tools listed below. See the FAQ at the above link for more info on problems converting from PDF.

Is there a reason why you want to use .mobi over .epub? It seems like epub files are gaining traction with the latest announcements from Apple, Sony, Barne & Noble, etc.

Calibre and Stanza are both good tools to convert between mobi, PDF or epub or any number of formats.
calibre - E-book management
Stanza: a Revolution in Reading | Lexcycle

A while back Indesign magazine had a good series about going from InDesign to ePub you can still download it from here. It might be useful if you have access to the originals if they were done in InDesign.
Making eBooks from InDesign, Part 1 | CreativePro.com

Good Luck
Shawn

[William Campbell]

Since you're asking about the .mobi format, I'll assume you want to create an ebook compatible with Kindle. Putting a PDF into .mobi format is going to be an ugly result. You are best to start over and generate fresh HTML, and feed that to Mobipocket creator. But if it's true, and you want to put this on the Kindle, keep in mind, the Kindle can read PDFs without modification. However, on a Kindle 2's small screen, and the fact that PDFs will not allow resizing text, you should keep your fonts at 16 point or higher, or it will be unreadable.

I work with every e-book format that's popular. To best answer this question, it would help to know what you are hoping to achieve. More specifics would help.

[paulcrot]

Thanks guys for the responses.

I work for a printer who needs to repurpose documents for kindle etc.

Because we have a PDF workflow we wanted to use that format as a starting point for creating e-content. It seems to be a bust in as much as there's too much reformating required ( we naturally want to avoid editing), but I don't seem to have any better luck working from something like Word either.

I've been exporting HTML from these programmes & creating mobi files from Creator or Calibre. One doesn't seem particularly better than the other

Do I need to use something like an HTML editor to fix up these jobs. Thanks

[William Campbell]

Where do the documents begin? (what program)

Ultimately, for the cleanest .prc file for Kindle use, you want to export the doc to HTML and feed that to mobicreater. But along the way, you'll want to clean up the HTML. Ebooks need to flow freely, and lots can get in the way of that.

As for editing/cleaning up HTML, a text editor is best. I use Notepad++ (open source). Graphical solutions just muck things up, which is exactly what ebooks don't want getting in the way.

If you want to outsource conversions, we do it here.