PDF to EPUB
Turn a PDF into an EPUB ebook whose text flows to fit a phone, tablet or e-reader, instead of fixed pages you have to zoom and scroll. The PDF is read and the book is made on your own device, so it is never uploaded.
How to use it
- Choose your PDF, or drag it onto the box.
- Check the title and author, and whether to use the first page as the cover.
- Press Convert to EPUB and save the book.
What you get
A real ebook, not pictures of pages. FilePresto reads the words on each page with their position, size and style, and rebuilds the paragraphs, headings, lists and chapters, so the text reflows and you can change the font size on your reader. Running headers, footers and page numbers are left out, words split with a hyphen at the end of a line are joined up again, and pages set in two columns are read in the right order.
Pictures are kept and placed where they appear in the text. The contents list is made from the headings, and the first page becomes the cover unless you untick that box. The book is standard EPUB 3 and passes the EPUBCheck test used by ebook shops.
Which PDFs work best
Books, reports, articles and guides made from a word processor or publishing program convert best. Magazines, forms, spreadsheets and pages full of tables or maths are approximated: tables come out as lines of text, formulas are not rebuilt, and diagrams drawn with lines rather than stored as pictures are not carried over. It has been tested with English, French and German.
Scanned PDFs are pictures of pages with no words inside. The page tells you if yours is one; use Make PDF searchable first, then convert the result. Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first with Remove PDF password.
Your PDF stays on your device
The whole conversion happens inside your browser. The page locks itself before your PDF is opened, so nothing in it can be sent anywhere, and the PDF reader never runs scripts that a PDF may contain.
Check the result
A PDF records where every word sits on a fixed page; it does not say which words make a paragraph or a heading. FilePresto works that out from the layout, which suits most documents well, but unusual layouts may not come out exactly as you expect. Open the book and look through it before you rely on it.
Questions
Can I read it on a Kindle?
Yes. Amazon’s Send to Kindle accepts EPUB files: email the book to your Kindle address, or use the Send to Kindle app or web page, and it arrives in your Kindle library.
Why does my book look different from the PDF?
An ebook reflows its text to fit the screen and the font size you choose, so it cannot keep the PDF’s exact pages. The words, headings, chapters and pictures are kept; page layout, columns and decorations are not.
How big a PDF can I convert?
Up to 300 MB on a computer. On a phone the limit is 20 MB for now, until larger files have been tested on phones. Most books take a few seconds; long illustrated books take longer.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The work happens inside your web browser, on your own device. Before your file is opened, this page locks itself: from then on your browser refuses to let it fetch, upload or send anything at all. You can check: once the page has loaded, switch off your internet connection and it will still work. How the lock works.