[ale] [OT] how do I convert this web based book to pdf or doc

Ron Frazier (ALE) atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
Sat Feb 2 10:32:33 EST 2013


Hi Scott,

Thanks for the note.  I got my immediate problem solved of getting this 
"ebook" printed and bound so I can study it.  At this point, I can also 
read the CHM file on Windows.  Later, when I get to it, I'll probably 
revisit the conversion to PDF, epub, RTF issue so I can have one 
monolithic file which is readable on Windows, Linux, and Android.  Just 
haven't done it yet.  I appreciate you sharing this utility with me, and 
may end up using it.  I'm archiving all these tips in my email system so 
I can revisit them and research these various options when I can.  The 
format conversion issue turned out to be more complicated and time 
consuming than I thought, as with most things.

Sincerely,

Ron

On 2/1/2013 10:28 PM, Scott Castaline wrote:
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> On 02/01/2013 02:41 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>    
>> I hadn't thought of that.  That sounds pretty cool.  In my case,
>> the way I did things, I would have ended up with 20 or so PDF's,
>> since I printed each major topic in the book, but that still could
>> be handy.  Live and learn.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>      
> Ron, if you go that route of printing to several PDF files you can use
> PDF Chain (Linux app) that will merge the separate files into one file
> sort of like what cat does to text files. Pretty easy to use GUI too.
> It does not renumber the page numbers will kepp the original page
> numbers from the individual files.
>
>
>    
>> JD<jdp at algoloma.com>  wrote:
>>
>>      
>>> If you can print a document from any program, then you can print
>>> it directly into PDF on either Windows or Linux using a PDF
>>> printer driver.  This has been available for PDF since the
>>> beginning.
>>>
>>> There are a number of Free PDF drivers for Windows, in addition
>>> to the expensive commercial versions from Adobe (which nobody
>>> needs).  For Linux, there is a free PDF driver too - it shows up
>>> in CUPS. I don't recall how to make it happen, but it is easier
>>> than pretty much any printer driver to get working, IMHO.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 02/01/2013 01:54 PM, James Sumners wrote:
>>>        
>>>> What you linked to isn't really an "ebook". Yeah, it's digital
>>>>          
>>> content and
>>>        
>>>> they call it a "book," but eBooks have very specific formats.
>>>> Those
>>>>          
>>> formats
>>>        
>>>> _are_ just HTML/XHTML, but the files are organized according to
>>>> a
>>>>          
>>> standard.
>>>        
>>>> This website does not follow that standard at all. The links I
>>>> gave
>>>>          
>>> you
>>>        
>>>> should have made the process easier. 1) Convert the CHM to
>>>> HTML, 2)
>>>>          
>>> convert
>>>        
>>>> the HTML to PDF, and 3) print the PDF. I believe you could
>>>> have
>>>>          
>>> converted
>>>        
>>>> directly to PDF with the first tool; but I've never used it.
>>>>
>>>> As for people making eBooks easier to print -- good luck. The
>>>>          
>>> standard isn't
>>>        
>>>> designed for such, and it's a copyright violation. DRM free
>>>> eBooks
>>>>          
>>> (e.g. all
>>>        
>>>> O'Reilly eBooks) are only DRM free so that you can use them on
>>>> any _electronic_ device you wish to read it on. They're not DRM
>>>> free so
>>>>          
>>> that you
>>>        
>>>> can print them.
>>>>
>>>> That being said, using the second tool I linked to, Pandoc, you
>>>> could
>>>>          
>>>        
>>>> probably have made it even easier to print. Use Pandoc to
>>>> convert the
>>>>          
>>> HTML to
>>>        
>>>> LaTeX, which should strip out the circular links, and then
>>>> render the
>>>>          
>>> LaTeX
>>>        
>>>> to PDF.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 1:38 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
>>>> <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com>  wrote:
>>>>          
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> Just thought I'd post an update.  My main objective was to be
>>>>> able
>>>>>            
>>> to
>>>        
>>>>> download and print the ebook.  They provide it in a CHM
>>>>> format, but
>>>>>            
>>> I could
>>>        
>>>>> never read it for some reason.  I installed Calibre, then
>>>>> imported
>>>>>            
>>> the chm
>>>        
>>>>> file and then saved it back out.  Now, for some reason, I'm
>>>>> able to
>>>>>            
>>> read it
>>>        
>>>>> natively in Windows.  I printed it from there, which was
>>>>> somewhat of
>>>>>            
>>> a
>>>        
>>>>> nightmare.  I had to go to each major topic page in the table
>>>>> of
>>>>>            
>>> contents
>>>        
>>>>> then print it.  Fortunately, the print screen has an option
>>>>> to also
>>>>>            
>>> print
>>>        
>>>>> all linked documents one level down in the hierarchy.  So,
>>>>> by
>>>>>            
>>> printing each
>>>        
>>>>> main topic, I was also able to get almost all the sub topics.
>>>>> Of
>>>>>            
>>> course,
>>>        
>>>>> each page also linked to the previous and next topic, as well
>>>>> as
>>>>>            
>>> things
>>>        
>>>>> like the company home page, etc., so I had a lot of
>>>>> redundant
>>>>>            
>>> content that
>>>        
>>>>> I threw into the recycle bin.  But, over a period of a few
>>>>> hours, I
>>>>>            
>>> got it
>>>        
>>>>> printed.  I took it to office max and had it bound.  It
>>>>> turned out
>>>>>            
>>> to be 5
>>>        
>>>>> volumes each about 3/4" !
>>>>>            
>>>> th!
>>>>          
>>>>> ick printed on my laser printer single sided.  Now I have to
>>>>> set
>>>>>            
>>> about
>>>        
>>>>> learning the topic that's documented in the book, which
>>>>> relates to a specialized currency trading platform.  There
>>>>> was no way I was going
>>>>>            
>>> to try
>>>        
>>>>> to read all that on my computer monitor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe later, I'll get around to finishing converting this to
>>>>> PDF,
>>>>>            
>>> RTF, or
>>>        
>>>>> EPub, but I couldn't figure that out with a cursory review of
>>>>> the
>>>>>            
>>> Calibre
>>>        
>>>>> menus.  If any of you are thinking of publishing an ebook,
>>>>> PLEASE
>>>>>            
>>> PLEASE
>>>        
>>>>> make it printable in one simple procedure.  I still have to
>>>>> go
>>>>>            
>>> through and
>>>        
>>>>> hand number the pages and correlate that to the table of
>>>>> contents.
>>>>>            
>>> I'm
>>>        
>>>>> glad this info was provided to me free on the website by the
>>>>>            
>>> software
>>>        
>>>>> maker, but it has not been free in either time or supplies to
>>>>> get it
>>>>>            
>>> into
>>>        
>>>>> printed form.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the help and suggestions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>>
>>>>> Ron
>>>>>            
>>>>          
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________ Ale mailing list
>>> Ale at ale.org http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See JOBS,
>>> ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>        
>>
>> --
>>
>> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and
>> K-9 Mail. Please excuse my potential brevity.
>>
>> (To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying
>> to former messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will
>> go to the wrong address.  Please send all personal correspondence
>> to the new address.)
>>
>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might
>> want to call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from
>> alternate energy mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new
>> email messages very quickly.)
>>
>> Ron Frazier 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message. linuxdude AT
>> techstarship.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________ Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale See JOBS,
>> ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>      
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> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>    

-- 

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com



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