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

Ron Frazier (ALE) atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
Fri Feb 1 14:41:18 EST 2013


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


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
>> 
>
>
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--

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Ron Frazier
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linuxdude AT techstarship.com




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