Ebooks, Ebooks, Ebooks . . . . Help Needed!

BookDove · 07-31-12 at 12:26 PM

Hello out there!

I have been reading the ebooks posted on some of the amazing forums in this site (Thank you to all of the contributers!) and I wanted to know how I could upload ebooks- do I have to scan some of the books I already have (How do you scan??

) or use some other foreign method? Which site should I put my ebooks on, and how do I find ebooks I don't have to share? I really feel awful about reading these books and not sharing some of my own! If anyone could help answer some of these questions and direct me through this, I would be eternally grateful!

Thank you, even if you don't know how to answer my questions!

BookDove · 07-31-12 at 12:47 PM

Wait, I should have posted this in the ebook section. . . .ok, I'm making the same thread there as well!

**Shawn_7** · 07-31-12 at 01:07 PM

Hi BookDove, nice nickname and nice signature too :)

Now, if you haven't ebooks but paper books if you want to upload them yes, you must use a scanner and scan those that you want to upload, usually every scanner has a OCR software, which means you'll have your books in some format (.pdf, .doc, .rtf, etc.).

Unluckily OCR software make some errors, so you'll have to check the results. Then my advice is to convert these files in .pdf, or if you can also in ebook formats - mobi, Epub.

That can be done using Calibre, e free software you can download from

Code: Select All

http://calibre-ebook.com/

**clenchdwarf** · 07-31-12 at 01:32 PM

What I've done with some books is this:
1) Scan to multipage tif, usually at 300 dpi. 150 dpi is usually legible, but 300 looks better. This takes a while using a flatbed scanner, maybe as much as 1 minute per page. A more efficient way is to sacrifice the book (cut the binding off) and use a sheet feed scanner (like most printer/scanner combos).
2) If the images are sideways or upside down, fix that with Irfanview's "Batch conversion" function.
3) Import into Acrobat. Or use a pdf plugin in Irfanview.

This may not be suitable for e-readers; most of the stuff I scan is either technical (with diagrams and photos) or Criterion booklets. For something like a novel that is entirely text, you'd want to OCR it.

Some people use digital cameras to quickly scan books; I think I saw that at Instructibles, or maybe Make. That would be the most practical approach for oversized books and magazines, since big flatbed scanners are rare and expensive.

Avaxhome.ws has a lot of ebooks and magazines (and plenty of music and movies). Torrents or eDonkey are a reasonable choice for ebooks since the file sizes are relatively small. eDonkey is easiest because you can just keep ebooks in a shared folder on your computer and searches will find it, or you can post the eD2k links on an appropriate forum.

whitewolfgs · 07-31-12 at 02:24 PM

Or, if you already have an e-reader and ebooks you have, all you would have to do is upload them to a suitable file locker. What I noticed with Barnes and Noble (If you have a nook) is that they try and keep you from doing this by having the filenames something like "0e1345947.epub" so that you wouldn't know which book it was you were taking from the device itself. Easiest way to solve this is to remove the books from your device and add them one at a time and rename them manually.

Or, if you do stumble upon ebooks somewhere on the net that you save/like, just save them and upload them to share.

Hope this helped!

**rainbowspinner** · 07-31-12 at 02:47 PM

Here's a thread set up in off-topics that should provide some help:
Ebook 101-How to's and tips

And another one set up for scanning info:
SCANNING - How-to's, Tips, and Suggestions

BookDove · 08-15-12 at 08:50 AM

Wow, I didn't know that so many people would reply! Thank you rainbowspinner for the links, (bookdragon was very thorough on that thread) whitewolfgs (I have a Nook, so your info really helped!) clenchdwarf for the step-by-step instructions (and the link to the avaxhome.ws website) and Shawn_7 for the simple overview (I downloaded Calibre, and I like your signature and profile picture! :) ) In September or October (I'll get stable Internet connection then) expect some media from me! Thank you all so much once again!

07-31-12 at 01:07 PM	#3
Shawn_7 Elder Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Eventyrland Posts: 3,514	Hi BookDove, nice nickname and nice signature too :) Now, if you haven't ebooks but paper books if you want to upload them yes, you must use a scanner and scan those that you want to upload, usually every scanner has a OCR software, which means you'll have your books in some format (.pdf, .doc, .rtf, etc.). Unluckily OCR software make some errors, so you'll have to check the results. Then my advice is to convert these files in .pdf, or if you can also in ebook formats - mobi, Epub. That can be done using Calibre, e free software you can download from Code: Select All http://calibre-ebook.com/

07-31-12 at 01:32 PM	#4
clenchdwarf Expert Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 814	What I've done with some books is this: 1) Scan to multipage tif, usually at 300 dpi. 150 dpi is usually legible, but 300 looks better. This takes a while using a flatbed scanner, maybe as much as 1 minute per page. A more efficient way is to sacrifice the book (cut the binding off) and use a sheet feed scanner (like most printer/scanner combos). 2) If the images are sideways or upside down, fix that with Irfanview's "Batch conversion" function. 3) Import into Acrobat. Or use a pdf plugin in Irfanview. This may not be suitable for e-readers; most of the stuff I scan is either technical (with diagrams and photos) or Criterion booklets. For something like a novel that is entirely text, you'd want to OCR it. Some people use digital cameras to quickly scan books; I think I saw that at Instructibles, or maybe Make. That would be the most practical approach for oversized books and magazines, since big flatbed scanners are rare and expensive. Avaxhome.ws has a lot of ebooks and magazines (and plenty of music and movies). Torrents or eDonkey are a reasonable choice for ebooks since the file sizes are relatively small. eDonkey is easiest because you can just keep ebooks in a shared folder on your computer and searches will find it, or you can post the eD2k links on an appropriate forum. Last edited by clenchdwarf; 07-31-12 at 01:41 PM.

07-31-12 at 02:47 PM	#6
rainbowspinner Elder Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 2,557	Here's a thread set up in off-topics that should provide some help: Ebook 101-How to's and tips And another one set up for scanning info: SCANNING - How-to's, Tips, and Suggestions Last edited by rainbowspinner; 07-31-12 at 02:52 PM.

07-31-12 at 12:47 PM	#2
BookDove Newcomer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Anywhere with unicorns (they ARE real!) Posts: 8	Wait, I should have posted this in the ebook section. . . .ok, I'm making the same thread there as well!

07-31-12 at 02:24 PM	#5
whitewolfgs Novice Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 148	Or, if you already have an e-reader and ebooks you have, all you would have to do is upload them to a suitable file locker. What I noticed with Barnes and Noble (If you have a nook) is that they try and keep you from doing this by having the filenames something like "0e1345947.epub" so that you wouldn't know which book it was you were taking from the device itself. Easiest way to solve this is to remove the books from your device and add them one at a time and rename them manually. Or, if you do stumble upon ebooks somewhere on the net that you save/like, just save them and upload them to share. Hope this helped!

08-15-12 at 08:50 AM	#7
BookDove Newcomer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Anywhere with unicorns (they ARE real!) Posts: 8	Wow, I didn't know that so many people would reply! Thank you rainbowspinner for the links, (bookdragon was very thorough on that thread) whitewolfgs (I have a Nook, so your info really helped!) clenchdwarf for the step-by-step instructions (and the link to the avaxhome.ws website) and Shawn_7 for the simple overview (I downloaded Calibre, and I like your signature and profile picture! :) ) In September or October (I'll get stable Internet connection then) expect some media from me! Thank you all so much once again!