Need advice on best eBook compiler for me

[John J. Williams]

I need to produce secure ebooks mostly from pdf but some from htm
files. My system is Windows 98SE.

Recently, I purchased FasteBooks, v. 1.3. This program purports to be
loaded with the features I need. However, I have found, after paying
for it, that it is buggy and that important features don't work. For
example, it does not appear to allow Searches to be done regardless of
whether the eBook is from a pdf or htm file, and regardless of how
specified. Upon exiting from a pdf eBook, it always produces an error
message, usually harmless, but on occasion has locked up my system.
For htm ebooks, the only way I can advance pages is using the scroll
bar.

At this point, I am very frustrated and disgusted. While I have gotten
fairly fast responses from its makers, nothing they have told me
corrects some of the more serious problems I have encountered with
Fastebooks. Potentially, it appears to be a tremendous ebook compiler
program, but its makers just don't seem to be able to produce it
bug-free and stable enough to be useful.

I do not need an ebook compiler that is also a wordprocessor or
webpage editor, however, it must be able to optimally and error-free
handle pdf and htm files. And it must be very secure against copyright
infringement. And I must be able to use it to produce ebooks on a
standalone basis without uploading my publications to the compiler
maker.

There are now a bunch of ebook compilers on the market. I can't find a
website that comprehensively evaluates them. When I do an Internet
search using +"ebook software" +reviews, I get a lot of websites, but
after viewing dozens of them, not a single one actually reviews ebook
compilers - virtually all are just ebook compiler sales websites that
just abuse those keywords to trick people into visting their websites.

Got any suggestions, insights, comments, etc? Thanks. John Williams

[unknown]

John;

I'm not sure if this will help you or not - but here goes.

http://www.openoffice.org/ is a MS Office look-alike that has PDF out.
Best of all - it's free. (it is a bit slow compared to MS Office)

The other suggestion is Adobe Acrobat 5.0 (6.0 is the latest - but
more about that later).

I've been using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 for several years now, and have been
happy with it. Not sure why your pdf documents don't allow the Find
Feature to work?

One nice feature about Adobe Acrobat 5.0 is that it allows for tagged
Documents (not with Office '97), and that allows you to "ReFlow" text
for a PDA, etc.,,, (re-formats text to fit whatever sized screen)

Also Adobe Acrobat 5.0 allows you to optimize your pdf for print,
screen or e-books.

I thought about upgrading to Adobe Acrobat 6.0 - but most of the
reviews I saw were somewhat negative - you might want to do some
research also.

I saw some really good prices (for Adobe Acrobat 5.0) at
www.pricewatch.com (less than $200)

Another choice in the free department is www.ghostscript.com - but I
don't have any experience with it (other than knowing that it exists).

And finally http://www.tinaja.com/ may have some pdf resources that
might help.

My $.02 cents.

J.D.

Post by John J. Williams
I need to produce secure ebooks mostly from pdf but some from htm
files. My system is Windows 98SE.
Recently, I purchased FasteBooks, v. 1.3. This program purports to be
loaded with the features I need. However, I have found, after paying
for it, that it is buggy and that important features don't work. For
example, it does not appear to allow Searches to be done regardless of
whether the eBook is from a pdf or htm file, and regardless of how
specified. Upon exiting from a pdf eBook, it always produces an error
message, usually harmless, but on occasion has locked up my system.
For htm ebooks, the only way I can advance pages is using the scroll
bar.
At this point, I am very frustrated and disgusted. While I have gotten
fairly fast responses from its makers, nothing they have told me
corrects some of the more serious problems I have encountered with
Fastebooks. Potentially, it appears to be a tremendous ebook compiler
program, but its makers just don't seem to be able to produce it
bug-free and stable enough to be useful.
I do not need an ebook compiler that is also a wordprocessor or
webpage editor, however, it must be able to optimally and error-free
handle pdf and htm files. And it must be very secure against copyright
infringement. And I must be able to use it to produce ebooks on a
standalone basis without uploading my publications to the compiler
maker.
There are now a bunch of ebook compilers on the market. I can't find a
website that comprehensively evaluates them. When I do an Internet
search using +"ebook software" +reviews, I get a lot of websites, but
after viewing dozens of them, not a single one actually reviews ebook
compilers - virtually all are just ebook compiler sales websites that
just abuse those keywords to trick people into visting their websites.
Got any suggestions, insights, comments, etc? Thanks. John Williams