Kindle Scribe: PDF Secrets
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- Hello Everyone! Love reading PDFs on a large e-ink screen…great! Want to read those PDFs and write on them on the Kindle Scribe…you’ve clicked on the right video! Join me in unravelling the Kindle Scribe’s PDF secrets!
Enjoy!
0:00 Intro
0:45 Different Options for Different Paths
1:32 USB-C Method
6:28 These don’t look like anything
7:53 Send-to-Kindle Method
9:17 Coffee Break
10:24 Send-to-Kindle Benefits
13:01 Writing Options on PDFs
14:29 Selection, Copy, and Paste Options
14:48 Other Things to Mention
16:03 Annotated PDF Export
19:11 Amazon’s Document Dance - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Another option to moving PDFs and other documents to the Scribe is to use Calibre. It'll automatically connect to the Scribe without any additional software when you connect via USB-C. Then use "Send to Main Memory" to move the converted KFX files to the Kindle. Then you'll get writable sticky note capability for PDFs and eBooks. (I'm not affiliated with Calibre in any way.) The new format is KFX. For purchased eBooks you'll also need to enter your Scribe serial number using a DRM plugin. (I use an M1 Mac.) (Side loading PDFs currently do not support "write-on" capability.)
Thank you for this! I have pinned this comment to the top of the thread in case this info can be of help to others.
Can you export the annotated PDFs from the Scribe by USB/Calibre or is it bizarrely only through Amazon’s cloud? Planning to get a e-reader that can do some notes, but don’t want to share my note contents to Amazon - thus inbetween this and a Kobo Elipsa.
@@moskari26 I haven't tried moving the PDF from the Scribe to my M1 Mac using Calibre. However, it you use the send feature going through Amazon's servers you'll get a searchable PDF, that is, you can search for your handwritten notes inside the PDF. If you want to convert your handwriting to text, just lasso the text, paste into a Scribe notebook, and send from there. The result is a downloadable OCR editable text file from my handwriting.
This is brilliant, thanks for info.
Amazing information in this concise video. Also loved the halftime coffee segment!
Thanks for the great comment! Glad you enjoyed the review! I thought people would enjoy the coffee break and really nice to hear that you did!
Thanks, I found this video to be jam packed with important information on the Scribe's handling of PDF's!
Thank you! Always great to hear that people found the review useful, and especially great to hear that it was "jam packed" with useful info! Awesome to hear!
this is one of those videos that needed to be made, and you made it and added so much polish to it. awesome stuff!
Wow! Don't really know what to say...except thank you so much for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it and it's great if this video can leave people a bit more informed about this device.
Thank you, you made one of the best review on K. Scribe I found on TH-cam 🎉❤
Thank you! Really good to hear that you enjoyed the review and I'm glad people have been finding it helpful!
Very best review I have seen. Thanks!
Thank you! That’s so great to hear and I’m glad you enjoyed the review!
Excellent informative video. Does this apply to older versions of the Kindle Scribe? I bought a refurbished first release, so wondering if I’m ‘disadvantaged’ in any way. Looking forward to your next episode !
Thanks for your comment and support! Glad you enjoyed the review. As far as I’m aware, the PDF experience is the same on all Kindle Scribe units…however, those running older software may have different options.
Excellent review, all points are relevant ... what can we do about the 'magnificent' Cloud-based business model?
Cloud, unfair snooping and DRM: Calibre was and remains one of the best steps against this and DRM in general; what else can we code to open up these Linux-based walled gardens ?
PDF (besides WWW articles Send to Kindle) is my main reason to buy 10-13" readers; i need to review 100s of 2-column science papers... tough call on the current crop
e.g., just zoom and crop the margins of a PDF page, then scroll to the next... redo for 50 pages... ouch 🙂
Thank you! Completely agree Re: PDF reading on e-readers...why hasn't a manufacturer (aside from Onyx Boox devices...and there may be some data privacy concerns there) made PDF reading modes a priority? In my experience, only some Pocketbook devices come close. If you're stuck in a search for a good 10 or 13 inch PDF
e-reader, you may want to give the Fujitsu Quaderno (2nd Gen) devices a look. If only Fujitsu sold these devices via Amazon or even through their own online store outside of Japan....sigh.
I've scoured the ruins of Google Search trying to find people talking about privacy concerns regarding the Kindle Scribe, and it blows my mind how much people don't care. Appreciate your video - nice to know others share my thoughts.
Did you keep the Scribe or just use one for the video? I love it for reading but Idk.
Thanks for the comment! I’m also surprised that so many people don’t seem to have thought about the possible data privacy issues on the Kindle Scribe. It makes me wonder why.
I’d say it is a nice device to read e-books on, and I’d probably keep it for that reason. Amazon’s ecosystem of e-books is probably the largest out there. However, I’m not sure how much confidential note-taking or PDF reading I’d recommend for the long term.
How about the "convert" opition of sending an email to your kindle device email address with attached a pdf file by typing "convert" on the subject of the email? Is it still working in the Kindle Scribe?
Many thanks for this very informative video.
I do care about privacy, but I need to buy a Kindle. Is there a way to do both?!
Glad this video was helpful! Regarding potentially better "data security" on the Kindle Scribe, see the top comment by another viewer. This may help...however, I don't have experience using the software he mentioned and cannot speak to the experience of using it myself.
Thank you @theinktelligent It helped me to not to choose Kindle Scribe for reading my technical PDF books. I contacted Amazon's customer support and asked if there is any plan to change users' experience, unify feature set and adjust whistle-sync policy. I asked about the quality of notes if that's another PDF layer and if notes are saved as raster or vector images, but they didn't give me any answer. They promised me to forward those questions to their Product team.
Anyway what would you recommend for reading and taking notes for PDFs (with some diagrams, source code, etc.). I'm rather interested in a color screen A4 size, maybe based on Gallery 3 or Kaleido 3 screen. Is there any vendor that offers a device with a good software that can properly crop pages, display PDF in two page layout? I'm not looking for a tablet, just a decent e-reader with ability to make notes. I'm looking for a good quality for a price.
Firstly, thank you for your comment! Nice to hear that you were able to get in touch with Amazon, and it would be interesting to know what their road map is going forward.
It would be great if I could just give you a quick answer to your question but, right now, there aren’t many devices in the e-ink market that satisfy all of those requirements. There really should be, but it doesn’t seem to be a focus for most manufacturers. However, I can give you the following information and maybe one of these brands will be of interest in your search. Please see below.
Kindle Scribe:
I know you said you’ve decided against a Kindle Scribe, and it is hard for me to recommend it because of the aspects I cover in this video, but please see the top pinned comment by another viewer. Apparently using software called Calibre MIGHT improve the experience somewhat….however, I don’t have experience using this software and can’t personally vouch for it.
Kobo Elipsa 2E:
Here is my full review of the device:
th-cam.com/video/L-gI32uDDGc/w-d-xo.html
and here is my most recent follow up review:
th-cam.com/video/i2fz89q8AKM/w-d-xo.html
Onyx Boox Note Air 3 C:
The Air 3C is a 10.3 inch, android OS based, Kaleido 3 screen color e-reader that could probably satisfy most if not all of your requirements. Onyx Boox devices today are some of the most powerful and capable e-readers available. They also offer, in my opinion, probably the most advanced PDF cropping and enhancement options…but unfortunately there is a growing chorus of data privacy concerns around those devices. Specifically, concerns have been raised over the tendency of the devices to “phone home” to the company’s servers in China. I don’t have the technical experience necessary to validate these concerns or dismiss them, but it may be something to be concerned about. Some of the larger e-ink reviewers have essentially just hand waved this issue away, but I would suggest looking into this and making your own decision and if this is something that concerns you. A few videos have been posted to youtube on this topic. One possible workaround I’ve heard people discuss is just using the device completely offline once set up, but that might nullify a large feature set that some are hoping to use.
Remarkable 2:
The Remarkable 2 is, so far, the best note-taking experience I have had on an e-ink device and has been the most natural to write on. It’s not the newest out there and may have a successor/new additional model coming soon (possibly 2025). You can annotate PDFs on the device with several pen types, use some of the best pen tilt shading in the industry, and even use different layers to write on in your document (including on PDFs). However, at least in past software versions, the one PDF cropping tool available was pretty terrible and didn’t work well.
Lately, Remarkable has been tweaking their software, mainly in the area of user experience, and this has produced a very mixed reaction from users. I haven’t been updating my Remarkable 2 unit much as a result. I feel the worst part of the Remarkable 2 has always been it’s companion app and cloud synching system. You can largely avoid this by using the slightly more complicated USB method to import and export PDFs onto the device (support.remarkable.com/s/article/Exporting-files), but you then have less options (ex. fewer file type options on export of the document). But, to my knowledge, the core note-taking excellence and ability to mark up PDFs on the device remains a great experience.
A few things have changed since I posted this, but here’s a link to my most recent Remarkable 2 mini review to give you a quick idea of the device’s capabilities:
th-cam.com/video/qTBgLlTYJpY/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunately, the Remarkable 2 does not feature a color e-ink screen.
Fujitsu Quaderno A4 and A5:
These devices are the spiritual successor to the Sony DPT-RP1 and DPT-CP1 and come in a 13.3 inch and 10.3 inch screen size respectively. They are both greyscale devices and are not color e-ink e-readers. However, for sheer reliability and simplicity it doesn’t get much better. These can ONLY read and mark up PDFs, but are very lightweight, have decent software, and are said to have a great writing experience. My direct experience is using the (discontinued) Sony DPT-RP1 which, despite some issues, was a truly excellent device which was held back by a badly designed stylus. These units appear to have fixed that issue and really look excellent for simple note-taking and PDF annotation and export.
Importantly, these devices allow a split screen mode where you can read and annotate a PDF on one side, and have either the next page of that same PDF, another PDF entirely, or a note pad on the other side of the screen. Very cool abilities if you’ll only be working with notes and PDFs.
The main problems with these devices is that they are a) somewhat expensive, and b) are hard to purchase from a retailer that I would consider truly reputable (if you live outside of Japan, that is).
Some reviewers have also critiqued the battery life on these devices. However, their methodology in determining this may be questionable. There are indications that certain reviewers may have left the wi-fi connection on the device on at all times when testing the device. Considering the device has NO internet browsing capability and only uses this to transfer files and fetch software updates, it seems spectacularly unlikely to me that most users would use the device this way in real world usage.
Other devices that you may want to consider are:
-Pocketbook Inkpad X Pro
-A 10.3 Black and White e-ink note-taking capable e-reader that is quite lightweight (350 ish grams)
-Pocketbook Inkpad EO
-A 10.3 Color e-ink device using Kaleido 3 screen technology.
-Note: Thought to actually be made by Bigme in collaboration with Pocketbook.
-Definitely on the heavier side of most e-readers at roughly 1 pound in weight!
-The Mobiscribe Wave Color Kaleido 3
-A 7.8 inch color e-ink note-taking focused e-reader which can also read and annotate PDF documents.
Hopefully, this information can give you a better idea of some other e-ink options out there.
I purchased the kindle Scribe n I don’t really see anything great. It’s way overpriced n I feel if you’re going to do lots of reading just get a lower priced kindle.
I'd say the Kindle Scribe does seem overpriced for what you get. If the PDF experience was less locked to the Send-to-Kindle system the overall price might seem more fair.