DIY Ebooks, part 2

(Responding to the post below, Caroline asked a great question about ebook and scan formats. As I started to answer her, I realized that my answer was getting so long it probably makes a better blog post than comment response. So, Caroline, here goes:)

Trying to use ebooks (like reference books) as PDFs can be cumbersome, especially if the file is really large and not optimized for use as a book.

As an alternative, I turn the PDFs I create into .pdb files, which I can annotate and organize with chapter headings and photos. I can read these in either eReader or Mobipocket, both of which are free and available on multiple platforms, including Windows Mobile.

Here's my process:

1. Scan as PDFs -- Creates an image of the page for future use and reference.

2. OCR them and save as plain .txt files -- Gives me an open source copy of the book's text, which, like the PDFs, I should be able to use well into the future.

3. Edit/clean up as Word documents -- I work with this program all the time, so it's the easiest one for me to work with. I've also created several macros to help me clean up text after scanning.

4. Convert to .pdb -- These are easy to create (through the eReader book creator), inserts pictures well, and works with both eReader and Mobipocket.

5. For books with lots of pictures, such as biographies, I also save the photos as Tiffs. To insert these into a .pdb file, I have to convert them to PNGs first.

Mobipocket also offers an much more streamlined (and free) alternative to creating ebooks -- just drop-and-drag a PDF, Word doc, or other file onto the Mobipocket window, and it will convert itself to an ebook automatically. It's not as "clean" as an edited ebook, but it's a quick way to make a smaller ebook.