Can you upload your own ebooks onto the iPad?

[w...b]

I just got mine yesterday. Testing out the 16g and maybe getting a 3G later.

The real reason I got it was so that I could upload my numerous ebooks on to it so I can read on the go. I haven't fully played around with it on iTunes yet but I just wanted to check on here first.

Wade

[DannySmurf]

As long as they're not DRMed, yes. Just import them into iTunes and then sync your device and your books will show up in iBooks.

[Frado]

How about cover arts? I imported some books( from stanza eventually) in my iTunes, but some don't have cover arts( I downloaded some cover arts in Stanza, appearantly they weren't exported).
How to fix cover arts? Can't look for them on iTunes, or will iBooks try to find it?

[CristobalHuet]

The ultimate app for encoding eBooks is "Calibre". They even have a specific iPad setting and allow you to remove the first image, set metadata, cover art, build tables of contents/chapters and other goodies.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

I've had success while using some .lit files and even reformatting existing .epub files.

A word of caution though: PDF to ePub is terrible. I've got some books in PDF that I can't turn into ePub to read on iPad, so for those, I'll go with Goodreader.

[DannySmurf]

Originally Posted by CristobalHuet

The ultimate app for encoding eBooks is "Calibre". They even have a specific iPad setting and allow you to remove the first image, set metadata, cover art, build tables of contents/chapters and other goodies.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

I've had success while using some .lit files and even reformatting existing .epub files.

A word of caution though: PDF to ePub is terrible. I've got some books in PDF that I can't turn into ePub to read on iPad, so for those, I'll go with Goodreader.

Last I checked, you could import PDF books into iTunes as well.

[spinedoc77]

Originally Posted by CristobalHuet

The ultimate app for encoding eBooks is "Calibre". They even have a specific iPad setting and allow you to remove the first image, set metadata, cover art, build tables of contents/chapters and other goodies.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

I've had success while using some .lit files and even reformatting existing .epub files.

A word of caution though: PDF to ePub is terrible. I've got some books in PDF that I can't turn into ePub to read on iPad, so for those, I'll go with Goodreader.

I tried using Calibre but it was crazy slow, I think after 2 hours of it being on 1% converted I gave up on it.

[CristobalHuet]

Originally Posted by DannySmurf

Last I checked, you could import PDF books into iTunes as well.

SERIOUSLY? *runs to check*

EDIT: nyet. Not working, I'm pretty positive it only takes ePUB.

Originally Posted by spinedoc77

I tried using Calibre but it was crazy slow, I think after 2 hours of it being on 1% converted I gave up on it.

Really? It takes a few minutes to batch convert a dozen or so books for me. That doesn't sound normal in your case.

[awmazz]

Can you upload your own ebooks onto the iPad?

As easily as command-O.

iTunes automatically puts them into Books and syncs them to iBooks.

[alecgold]

Originally Posted by spinedoc77

I tried using Calibre but it was crazy slow, I think after 2 hours of it being on 1% converted I gave up on it.

I did 369 books with it and iirc it took around an hour. Not bad I would say.

[Frado]

for PDF you'll need GoodReader

[iserian]

Yep - as others have said you can add your art work in Calibre and export as epub directly into I-tunes - Your cover art should follow.

[spinedoc77]

I was on a laptop at work, so maybe thats why, keep in mind that these are 300mb textbook scans. I played with it today and was able to convert one of them in a reasonable amount of time on my more powerful home desktop. I synced it into ibooks.

It looks horrible, ibooks doesn't pick up the text so you can't change font, font size, background, etc. It's pretty bad, but yes it is doable. I'd much rather read em in iannotate.

[MrDouglas]

Is there anyone who knows what book cover proportions the iBook covers has? Here in Sweden we only have the books from Project Gutenberg, and as you all know the cover art is not that awsome for those books...

Regards,
Douglas

[fandsw]

Originally Posted by MrDouglas

Is there anyone who knows what book cover proportions the iBook covers has? Here in Sweden we only have the books from Project Gutenberg, and as you all know the cover art is not that awsome for those books...

Regards,
Douglas

I just grabbed the cover art from Amazon.com's site, and they match Apple's ebooks perfectly.

[Chupa Chupa]

Originally Posted by spinedoc77

I tried using Calibre but it was crazy slow, I think after 2 hours of it being on 1% converted I gave up on it.

Then something is wrong with the file you are trying to convert. Either it has DRM or some weird formatting. Calibre takes about 2-4 min w/ a good file.

[spinedoc77]

Originally Posted by Chupa Chupa

Then something is wrong with the file you are trying to convert. Either it has DRM or some weird formatting. Calibre takes about 2-4 min w/ a good file.

Yeah its not bad at all, I think it was my work laptop that was slow.

[sracer]

Originally Posted by Frado

How about cover arts? I imported some books( from stanza eventually) in my iTunes, but some don't have cover arts( I downloaded some cover arts in Stanza, appearantly they weren't exported).
How to fix cover arts? Can't look for them on iTunes, or will iBooks try to find it?

You can set the cover art for books just like you set the cover art for music. Right-click on the book, Get info, Artwork.

[DannySmurf]

Originally Posted by CristobalHuet;

SERIOUSLY? *runs to check*

EDIT: nyet. Not working, I'm pretty positive it only takes ePUB.

Hmm, strange. I could have swore I tried that when I got my iPad. It was slow as he'll, but I'm sure I worked. Ah well, Calibre works too, usually.

[lorrainec]

I purchase books for my sony ereader and have always used the sony software - reader library. But I can't import epub books to itunes from the reader library - no error message, just no action. Has anyone tried this?