The free software Calibre allows to convert various ebook formats (such as EPUB and MOBI) into PDF documents.
Unfortunately, the default settings of Calibre do not result in the creation of easily readable documents.
Thus, I have provided here some sample settings for a nice looking PDF output for Calibre:
- First, import the book you would like to convert to Calibre. For this, just drag and drop the file from your file browser onto the Calibre screen.
- Right click the book and select the option Convert Books / Convert Individually
- Change the output to PDF on the top right corner of the screen
- Go the the page ‘Page Setup’ and change all margins to 75 pt.
- Go the the Page ‘PDF Output’ and set the following settings:
Now you can start the conversion. Right click the book after the conversion has completed and select ‘Open containing folder’ to access the converted PDF file.
Thank you. Works great after checking the “Override paper size set in output profile”.
I have used a similar setting for a long time, but I found that you couldn’t search in the converted PDF, and the text couldn’t been copied. Do you know how to solve this problem?
That is strange. The PDF should be searchable – did this happen after an update from calibre?
Thank you! Your instructions resulted in a much nicer looking PDF. The only proble I have now is the cover image is repeated twice.
Strange that the cover image is repeated – I never came across that. Is that so with all books?
Hello,
On the page setup page… Do I leave the default or do I change it to the device Im using (in my case, an iPad)?
On the pdf output page… Can I use Helvetica Neue instead of the Calibri when selecting Serif and Sans family?
On the pdf output page… Should I select the “Override paper size set in output” box on top?
Thank you,
Eva
Selecting Helvetica Neue should not be a problem. As for the other settings, you can just leave the default. Hope this helps!
Hello, Can you use this method to do bulk conversions? Thanks
Yes, I think this should work for bulk conversions!
Thank you for posting this! Extremely helpful.
Thank you. This worked perfectly – looks great in iBooks, Kindle reader app and of course in Adobe reader.
I have a question about keeping a watermark. Can calibre be set to keep the watermark set in a .docx? These are not DRM control or anything – just the .docx inserts that inform the reader they have received their requested version. Thank you again,
Thank you for your question.
I don’t know if you can do this directly in Calibre. But I think it should be fairly simple to add the watermark on the PDF that Calibre generates.
Maybe with a tool such as this: iLove PDF Watermark.
I think there are some Desktop based apps for this as well!
Thank you Max,
It gives a very good looking PDF.