The Sony Reader can handle PDF files, but not perfectly.
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The Sony Reader supports a variety of e-book file formats. Many documents and e-books can be converted to a format supported by the Sony Reader using Sony's Connect Reader Software or third-party programs such as Calibre. Although any PDF file is supported, formatting the PDF specifically for the Sony Reader will yield better results.
Supported Formats
The Sony Reader supports plain text files ending in .txt, rich text files, the native BBeB e-book files ending in .lrf, PDF files and certain image files. Supported image formats include JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG. If the original file is available and in any of the supported file formats, there is no need to convert it to PDF.
Text Flow
The text in plain text, rich text and BBeB files can reflow based on the text size you select on the Sony Reader. For example, you can increase the size of the text on the Reader, and the text on the screen will reformat to fix properly using that text size. This is not the case with PDF and image files. Initially a PDF will be displayed to fit on the screen. Pressing the size button will not increase the display size. The only way to increase the size is to switch to landscape mode by pressing the size button for five seconds.
Creating a PDF Formatted for the Sony Reader
You can create a PDF formatted specifically for the Sony Reader if you have the original document and PDF creation software such as Adobe Acrobat Pro or the open-source PDF Creator (See Resources). The page size you select will depend on the viewing mode you plan to use. To create a PDF for normal viewing, the page size should be 3.47 inches wide by 4.54 inches high. To view the document in landscape mode, create a PDF with a page size of 4.41 inches wide by 6.09 inches high. In either mode the starting font size for a legible document is 7. Large fonts will quickly take up space on the page because of the small page size.
Converting a PDF to Another Format
When possible, the best option is to convert the PDF to another format that flows more easily across the screen of the Sony Reader. If you have the source document, such as a Microsoft Word document, simply convert it to another compatible format. For example, a Word document can be converted to a rich text or plain text file. If you have a PDF authoring program, such as Acrobat Pro, it may be possible to convert the PDF to a compatible format. Acrobat Pro supports converting a PDF to a rich text document.
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- Sean Gallup/Getty Images News/Getty Images
