How To Read Scanlations On A Kindle

[snarp]

These instructions work for Windows XP and Vista. Not for Macs!

Step 1

Download and install CutePDF. CutePDF is a program that adds itself to your list of printers, so that when you print something with CutePDF selected as your printer, the print job will be saved as a PDF file.

Step 2

Put a volume worth of scans all in one folder, with no subfolders. Right click, and in the context menu select "Sort By >> Name."

Make sure you've got the folder sorted so that the images in order. You may need to rename some of them if the scans are from multiple different sources, or from one source with inconsistent naming habits - say, if the files from chapters 1-6 are titled like "Toma_no_Shinzou_v1_page001," but 7 on are just "p0001," the pages will be out of order when alphabetized.

Step 3



Select all the images. Right-click, and select "Print" from the context menu.

Step 4

A window like this will show up:



Where it says "Printer" in the upper left, select "CutePDF Writer." In the column on the right, select "Full page photo." If "Fit picture to frame" is selected, deselect it.

Step 5

Is the page in the preview right-side up? If not, in the lower right corner, click "Options." In the next window, click "Printer Properties." In the next window, under "Orientation," make certain "Portrait" is selected. Click "OK."



Step 6

Back in the "Print Pictures" window, use the arrows under the preview picture to flip around a little and make sure your pages look okay. If they do, click "Print."

Step 7

Wait for it to process the "print job." When it's done, wait a few more seconds. CutePDF's "Save As" dialog box will eventually show up, asking you where to save your PDF file.



Step 8

Open the PDF file to make sure it came out right. If so, copy it over to the Kindle. Yay!

Step 9 (Optional)

crap the text is too small to be legible (switch into landscape reading mode, which totally ruins it)

In conclusion, maybe manga publishers should start releasing ebooks formatted for reading on small e-ink screens. Also, license Heart of Thomas.

Comments

[havocthecat]

Huh, interesting. Does this work with a Kindle1 as well as a Kindle2?

[snarp]

Unfortunately, I don't think so; they released a firmware upgrade for the Kindle 2 not long ago that lets it read PDFs, but I don't think they ever added that to the original. You can use a piece of software called Mangle, but it's more cumbersome, and I don't think there's a zoom-in feature when the text is too small to read.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

*squints* I'm slightly confused. Why do you have to download CutePDF? Is printing to PDF and/or fitting to frame and/or rotating not built into the print/preview command on Windows?

(I guess it's been long enough now that I'm starting to get out of touch, which is annoying.)

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

(also thanks! passing along to a friend...)

[snarp]

Nope. Windows print-to-file uses XPS format, not PDF.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK. If I select a bunch of JPGs on my computer and choose Print, it launches Preview, and I can just click the PDF button from the print screen (PostScript is an option too). You can also click on Scale to Fit and whichever orientation you want there, and the rest of the instructions would probably be adaptable, I imagine.

Not that I have a Kindle. I'm afraid I'd wind up in the poorhouse.