Kindle Skills - pdf files

May 27, 2010 by Cindy O'Neal

PDF files

The Kindle 2 and DX and have been able to "read" pdf files natively for some time now. This means you can, without converting, put a pdf file right into the Documents folder on your Kindle. When you disconnect from the USB connection to your computer and view the Home screen, your pdf file will appear with a small pdf annotation to the left of the file name.

PDF files on the Kindle DX are really quite good, mainly because the screen is considerably larger than the Kindle 2. Reading a pdf file on a  Kindle 2, while better than nothing, can still be a pretty rough experience. I am hoping with the new update (soon?) the Kindle experience with pdf files should be even better than now. I think I remember reading we are going to be able to zoom in on pages in a pdf document so we can see them better. We shall see.

Right now it helps to think of a pdf file as more of an image, or set of images. This is why you have fewer options for viewing it. When you have a pdf file open in your Kindle, press the Menu button. Depending on how the pdf was created, you may see different menu options, more or less. You may or may not be able to search the text of a pdf file. Bookmarks are pretty straightforward, and of course when you close anything you are reading on your Kindle, then open it later, you are always brought to the last page you viewed.