I need to share a story with someone using an i-Pad. The story was written in MS Word 2010. I know i-Pads can handle PDF format, but is there a better way for me to send the story?
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With the iBooks software
With the iBooks software (free download from Apple), iPads can easily handle .epub format ebooks. That's my preferred format for anything over a few pages of reading on the iPad.
DocsToGo and Dropbox
I currently use the DocsToGo app in conjunction with Dropbox to coordinate MS Word files between my iPhone and my Windows laptop. My latest story was written half on laptop and half on my iPhone and the two files are kept seamlessly in step by Dropbox.
If the person has the DocsToGo app installed on their IPad, you can simply email the Word file and when they click on it they can Open With DocsToGo
Charlotte
Why not just save it as a .docx and let 'em have it?
The iPad does include basic word processing software, and should be capable of reading most of the more common formats of document.
Melanie E.
Basic?
"Pages" is pretty comprehensive. Not exactly basic.
Ask them
I like .epub Calibre is a free software that will change formats between a bunch of types. Download that and then ask what format they would want.
http://calibre-ebook.com/
Reading on an iPad
I assume your friend is not very computer literate or there would be no question. If you are comfortable doing it I'd suggest sending it in ePub format with a cover that is easy to read when it sits on the shelf of her iBooks app. This will give the most book like reading experience and offer her the facility of choosing a type size that is easiest to read. If however you go with sending it as a PDF don't forget to make the first page a recognisable cover and the typing of the story of a readable size.
Rhona McCloud
How to convert to ePub?
What program do you use to convert MS Word docs to ePub? I can't see a way of doing it from within Word.
Converting to ePub
I wouldn't do it from within Word. Knowing how Microsoft's developers think, the resulting file is likely to be three times the size it should be and almost incompatible with anyone else's reader.
Export it (Save as...) as .rtf or, preferably, .html and use a third party program to convert/consolidate the files into .epub. Calibre, as mentioned above, does that perfectly, although the title page it generates sucks a bit. Better to fake up your own.
If you want to have more control over the process then try Sigil, an epub publishing program, although you may have to build it yourself.
Penny
pdf
i books opens pdf's as well as epub's
Doesn't your MS Word have a PDF save feature?
My MS Word can save files for MS doc., docx, PDF, and Open Office file. Open your story and hit file, scroll down until you come to PDF and save it. Then send that PDF file to your friend.
If by some weird strange happenstance you don't have save to PDF in your MS Word there are free PDF converters on the web. Put "Word doc to PDF converter" without the quotes, in your Google search engine and look for the freebies.
I'm sure you can find a free PDF converter at "download.com". Watch out for the ones that will load your computer with trash along with the program. Read the reviews before touching a download. CNet.com used to be free of all that clutter but over the years they have developed trash fleas along with a lot of other things.
I long for the early years when the only time I ever got a virus was when I did it to myself. Had to low level reformat the HD to get rid of that monster.
Have fun with life. It's too short to take it seriously.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Thank You
Thank You everyone for your advice, I used a lot of it to create my e-book. I spent all day yesterday working on transforming my book into an e-book.
- Started with my MS Word document (had to merge 3 files into one and chose to change some formatting in the document to help conversion)
- Converted the .docx file with Calibre (only really problem here was that it only included 2 of about 8 pictures)
- Edited the eBook in Sigil
- Used Photoshop Elements to prepare the pictures and to create a Cover Page
- Used Calibre for viewing e-book and sending to a folder for sharing
- Used DropBox to share the e-book with the individuals i-Pad (time will tell if this works)
Thanks for the help. You all helped me figure it all out so I could pull off this task.
Keep Smiling, Keep Writing
Teek
It really shouldn't be this difficult
We're in the 21st century and sending a file from the most popular word processor to the most popular mobile device really should not take a day!
I think getting the iPad user to download DocsToGo and then Emailing the Word doc would have been a lot easier than using ePub. Even so...
Um
The word document could be read by Pages, so no need to involve docstogo.
You are now an up and running publisher as well as an author!
Hope it works for you and if Dropbox fails then there seems no reason it can't just be emailed as an attachment unless the pictures make it too large (they probably have no need to be high quality so 8 shouldn't be a problem)
Rhona McCloud
It's only hard the first time....
It sounds like an involved series of steps, but if the outcome is a success, it doesn't much matter how involved the recipe was.
I'm still experimenting with the best way to accomplish the same thing.
I hope you don't mind... I have added your 'recipe' to my list.
While it seems there should be a simple,effortless way to do this, jumping through all these hoops is wonderfully aerobic exercise! ;-)
K@
bumps on the road
Transitioning from one format to the other should be simple. It probably would have been a LOT simpler if I hadn't put in some formatting elements to mess things up.
I often use TABLES in my documents to give a cleaner crispier look. In this document, I had used a lot of them when I didn't really need to. All I was trying to do was separate out one type of perspective from another. Well, TABLES in the conversion caused problems. So with the single box tables, I just changed those all back to regular text but had a colored background behind them.
Look over your document to begin with. If you have a formatting element that isn't really needed, one that would be awkward on a web page versus a printed page, then rethink the inclusion. Don't forget to look at the options available for conversion, one click on the right option can make all the difference (like with those tables). I still think there was probably a button to get those pictures transferred, but I couldn't figure that out.
Getting a document to look good on a printed paper where you know the size of the print and the width of the paper is one thing, but it is slightly different when you allow for different sized print and the width of the paper keeps changing. What took the most time for me wasn't the conversion, but getting the pictures back in it which the conversion had left out. Then like any good girl, I wanted to make it look pretty.
It was all a learning experience, and yes the first time you do something new, it will always take longer than the next time. Good Luck
Keep Smiling, Keep Writing
Teek