PDF's on iPad?

[carpets]

There have been some similar threads, but very little discussion. So here goes again!

What thoughts from the forum on being able to use your own existing PDF's, and for that matter free ePub files with iBooks app on the iPad?

If not with iBooks, will it be possible to manage and keep these files on the iPad in some form?

 

[mkrishnan]

Since these things can be done now, on the iPhone and iPod touch, I don't think there's any reason to expect they will not be possible on the iPad as well.

 

[carpets]

Since these things can be done now, on the iPhone and iPod touch, I don't think there's any reason to expect they will not be possible on the iPad as well.

Of course I am aware of third party apps that are available for viewing PDF's and eBooks.

I wondered if this functionality would be provided natively with iBooks / iTunes in a similar fashion to my own CD's ripped onto iTunes and then playing in iPod app on my iPhone alongside my iTunes Store purchases?

With respect, I can't believe anyone is able to do this on their iPhone / iPod Touch now!

 

[MadGoat]

Of course I am aware of third party apps that are available for viewing PDF's and eBooks.

I wondered if this functionality would be provided natively with iBooks / iTunes in a similar fashion to my own CD's ripped onto iTunes and then playing in iPod app on my iPhone alongside my iTunes Store purchases?

With respect, I can't believe anyone is able to do this on their iPhone / iPod Touch now!

As much as we would love to be able to use our own material, we won't really know until the end of march if we can.

 

[carpets]

Assuming iTunes will be the catalyst for managing books on the iPad in the same way as iTunes currently handles photos, videos, music at present. It would seem inconceivable for Apple to not permit us to use our own content (eBooks, PDF's etc.).

This would surely be a glaring mistake to not allow this functionality?

Surely most people will have many legitimate documents they will want easy access to alongside purchased material in the iBooks app in their iPads?

 

[mkrishnan]

It would seem inconceivable for Apple to not permit us to use our own content (eBooks, PDF's etc.).

Have you been following the way Apple does business in the last decade?

We'll have to wait and see. I think they mumble something about non-DRM ePub books being usable, but who knows exactly how it will work.

 

[Hawke]

Well when last I was at apple's website I did read that .pdf should be viewable on the iPad, just as they are on the iPhone and iPod Touch

 

[carpets]

Well when last I was at apple's website I did read that .pdf should be viewable on the iPad, just as they are on the iPhone and iPod Touch

Yes, agreed. That is possible with .doc files and .pdf etc. as an email attachment.

But I would like to store PDF's on the device and be able to manage them with the eminent simplicity the iPod / iTunes interfaces offer!

Perhaps I am asking too much

 

[Sydde]

Yes, agreed. That is possible with .doc files and .pdf etc. as an email attachment.

But I would like to store PDF's on the device and be able to manage them with the eminent simplicity the iPod / iTunes interfaces offer!

Perhaps I am asking too much

Look at the app "Files" from Olive Toast. $5 might be a bit much for what should be free, but it looks like what you want. Hopefully it will scale well for the iPad.

 

[chriszzz]

I will be using the app I currently use on my iPhone, Goodreader.
http://www.goodiware.com/goodreader.html

I already contacted the developer and can confirm they are working on a version optimized for the iPad.

 

[Sparced]

I brought this up in another thread. If people outside 'merica aren't permitted to download the iBooks application then we are forced to use third party apps.

Day one I want to import all my PDF's into iTunes, tag them, organise them into stacks where appropriate i.e magazines and do that flicking the pages over with one finger as demonstrated. Screw the camera, flash and the inability to use the iPad as a rain hat.

 

[Chew]

I have a question related to this topic. In my daily job, it's very common to read a lot of scientific papers (papers each of which is about 8 pages in length). I'd love not to have to print them all but to read them, e.g., on the iPad. BUT what I'd really need would be a possibility to mark text passages and to add comments. That is, I'd need something like an Adobe Acrobat Pro application and an input pen. So I could work with my papers just like they were on physical paper.

Did anyone hear of some company going to release such a thing for the iPad (i.e. app + pen)?

Thanks!

 

[macduke]

The iPad is supposed to have a better file system for storage, etc. I hope that at some point they bring over Preview from OS X. Being a design student, many of my professors give handouts, assignment sheets, etc via PDF in their labshare folder. It would be nice to carry those around with me and pull them up easily when I need to reference something.

iDisk.app, I assume, would have an iPad version. It lets you cache files, I believe, so you could do something similar with PDFs if you have MobileMe?

 

[G4R2]

As far as native support, I'm wondering if the Photo app will have improved support for PDF's.

When the iPhone first came out and prior to the app store, the only real way to get PDF's onto the device WITHOUT relying on the Mail.app's internet connection was via the Photo application. Unfortunately, the Photo app handled PDF's using the iPods file scheme which simultaneously downsized the image and increased the file size by relying on iTunes to load it onto the phone.

Hopefully the Photo app on the iPad will support increased PDF resolutions. Strangely, this may provide a fairly decent way to organize PDF's via iPhoto although clearly it would lack the annotation tools of Preview and Adobe's Reader.

 

[Chew]

Hm no, I don't own MobileMe, I'm afraid.

I could buy it, this wouldn't be a great problem. The Photo app also sounds good.

The real issues will be that I work with linux in my office. So if PDF file transfer would need to happen through iTunes, I won't have great chances. And I still need a decent solution to do PDF annotation. I'd really love to take a pen and just write into the PDFs just like my professor did it in one of his lectures on his tablet PC.

 

[macduke]

Hm no, I don't own MobileMe, I'm afraid.

I could buy it, this wouldn't be a great problem. The Photo app also sounds good.

The real issues will be that I work with linux in my office. So if PDF file transfer would need to happen through iTunes, I won't have great chances. And I still need a decent solution to do PDF annotation. I'd really love to take a pen and just write into the PDFs just like my professor did it in one of his lectures on his tablet PC.

You can upload files directly to your iDisk from just about any browser using me.com. So should work on Linux.

 

[Chew]

You can upload files directly to your iDisk from just about any browser using me.com. So should work on Linux.

Hm, but if I could annotate the documents on my iPad, I would not be able to re-upload them, correct? How could I get annotated (if possible) documents back to any computer at all?

Anyway, sounds quite cool, thanks. I hope this gives the opportunity to maintain some order with the papers. It's not too easy keeping them all clearly arranged on the desk. And you cannot search them.

 

[anthonymoody]

You can upload files directly to your iDisk from just about any browser using me.com. So should work on Linux.

Hm, but if I could annotate the documents on my iPad, I would not be able to re-upload them, correct? How could I get annotated (if possible) documents back to any computer at all?

Anyway, sounds quite cool, thanks. I hope this gives the opportunity to maintain some order with the papers. It's not too easy keeping them all clearly arranged on the desk. And you cannot search them.

I find iDisk works well enough on the iPhone. You can create folders, subfolders, etc. ANd open a PDF to read on the iPhone. What's not clear is what or whether Apple will do anything to increase the functionality on an iPad. For example - creating subfolders and moving stuff around can be done in a browser window, but not easily within the iDisk app itself. My hope is that Apple blows out a more robust version of iDisk with the iPad.

 

[Chew]

Just found this:

http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wo...dd-annotations-to-pdf-documents-on-the-iphone

Does anyone know this app? Is it easy to work with it? I wonder how it is to use your finger for writing. I still feel I'd rather have a pen. I don't exactly have thick fingers, but they aren't nearly as exact as...well, a pen And as my comments to PDFs may well include formulas, I will be really in need of a clear and exact interface.

I own an iPod touch, is there any free app allowing me to test some finger-writing?

But, as I live in Germany, it just turned out I'll have to wait until the end April anyway -.- Viewed from the bright side, perhaps there are already some decent PDF annotating apps available until then (and perhaps a pen? ). It's just my hope that there will be a lot of people like me asking for the possibility to use their PDFs on the iPad just as if they were printed.

 

[Eso]

The iBookstore is a separate app available in the app store, so I do not believe there will be a way to sync content with the app through iTunes.

I haven't seen anything in the iBooks app that allows you to open a book stored on the device itself either - even if assuming file access between apps or USB mass storage are features of the new OS.

 

[Night Spring]

I haven't seen anything in the iBooks app that allows you to open a book stored on the device itself either - even if assuming file access between apps or USB mass storage are features of the new OS.

Where are you "seeing" the iBooks app? Also, when you purchase a book through the iBooks store, I assume it is downloaded and stored somewhere on the iPad, which the iBooks app must open the next time you want to read that book. So I'm thinking you need to modify or qualify the statement you made above about iBooks app not being able to "open a book stored on the device itself."

 

[dave1812dave]

goodreader app is awesome! I just discovered it for my touch a few days ago.

 

[Eso]

Where are you "seeing" the iBooks app?

I "saw" it in the keynote presentation, photo gallery, iPad video, and hands-on reports from tech websites.

So I'm thinking you need to modify or qualify the statement you made above about iBooks app not being able to "open a book stored on the device itself."

Ok. It doesn't appear that you will be able to load a book into the device from any source other than the iBookstore, which includes transferring an ePub file from a desktop computer to the iPad as a USB mass storage device, into a separate file storage app from the app store, syncing ebooks through iTunes, or loading an ebook from the desktop over WiFi.

 

[Night Spring]

I "saw" it in the keynote presentation, photo gallery, iPad video, and hands-on reports from tech websites.

Ok. But I also saw the iWorks suite in the keynote, and I didn't see any way to save, transfer, or print the documents you create or edit using iWorks. I'm not saying iBooks will allow users to load their own content onto it -- it very well may not -- but I think just because we didn't see it during the keynote and no one has reported it from their brief hands-on sessions with the iPad, doesn't mean that it's definitely not possible. (and thanks for the clarification!)

 

[darngooddesign]

Ok. It doesn't appear that you will be able to load a book into the device from any source other than the iBookstore, which includes transferring an ePub file from a desktop computer to the iPad as a USB mass storage device, into a separate file storage app from the app store, syncing ebooks through iTunes, or loading an ebook from the desktop over WiFi.

I disagree, I think you will be able to load other ePub files much in the same way you can load other MP3 files that you bought from Amazon, for example, or ripped on from a CD. We're just waiting on the new version of iTunes, released when the iPad is released, to recognize ePub files as a library item.