ELECTRONIC BOOK FORMATS

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File swappers post e-books in a wide variety of formats to accommodate different reading styles and mechanical devices. Because book files are relatively small compared to songs and movies, many people offer the same book in several different formats to ensure compatibility. The eBookMall (http://www. ebookmall.com/choose-format) contains a good description of competing e-book formats and the devices they use. Here’s a look at the e-book formats most often traded on the Internet.

CHM

Type of file: Book

Usual contents: Text, graphics, and hyperlinks

Copy protection: No

Official website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library

Programs used: Microsoft HTML Help

CHM (compiled HTML) files are often used for creating help files in Windows applications, but have also grown popular for distributing e-books as well. Unlike ordinary text files, CHM files can be searched, compressed, and organized into topics for easy browsing while displaying graphics embedded within text.

TXT OR ASCII

Type of file: Book

Usual contents: Book in unformatted text

Copy protection: No

Official website: None

Programs used: Any word processor or text editor

TXT or ASCII is plain, unformatted text, and this is by far the most versatile-format and the choice of many. Although this format won’t display artwork and formatting, like boldface and italics, text files can be viewed on any computer or converted into many different file formats.

RTF

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: No

Official website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnrtfspec/html/rtfspec.asp

Programs used: Microsoft Word (http://www.microsoft.com/word) and other word processors

One step up from plain text, Microsoft’s Rich Text Format (RTF) mixes plain text with formatting codes that can be read by many word processors. RTF files can be converted into other formats or can be viewed by most word processors, including those that run on other operating systems such as Linux or Mac OS (OpenOffice.org or Word for Macintosh, for example).

HTML

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: No

Official website: http://www.w3.org/markup

Programs used: Any Web browser; some word processors

Any device that can browse websites can read the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, as the book is simply stored as a large web page. HTML preserves formatting and graphics, but doesn’t compress files, leading to awkward sizes for large documents. Its portability and formatting make it a popular choice for books with embedded pictures.

LIT

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: Yes

Official website: http://www.microsoft.com/reader

Programs used: Microsoft Reader

Microsoft Reader’s LIT format presents books in a neatly formatted package, including the book’s cover, if desired. Readers can easily jump from one page to another, look up words in the built-in dictionary, change the font size for easy reading, draw notes in the margin, highlight and attach comments to passages, and add bookmarks. Microsoft Reader also includes a built-in library that manages book collections. Books can be copy-protected or not. Reader files are fairly easy to create with a plug-in for Microsoft Reader. Best yet, the program is free.

The format’s biggest problem is that once a book’s been converted into LIT, it can’t be converted back into plain text. That makes it difficult to correct the misspellings often found in scanned-in e-books, or to view the text on an incompatible device. Because Microsoft Reader only runs on Windows or Microsoft’s PocketPCs, users of Mac OS, Linux, and other operating systems can’t read LIT files.

Frustrated when the LIT format’s copy protection prevented him from reading his Microsoft Reader books on his older PDA, programmer Dan Jackson wrote Convert LIT to crack the encryption on copy-protected LIT files. Once cracked, the LIT files can be converted to other formats and read on other devices. The Convert LIT program is illegal in many countries, including the United States under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and it is currently hosted on a server in Poland (http://www.convertlit.com).

DOC

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: Optional

Official website: http://www.microsoft.com/word

Programs used: Microsoft Word (http://www.microsoft.com/word) and other word processors

Many traders swap books in Microsoft Word format, since Word is the most popular word processor around. Once opened in Word, a DOC file can be printed, spell-checked, edited, reformatted, or saved in other formats. (Some documents that are just straight ASCII text may also use a .doc extension.)

PDB AND PRC

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: Optional

Official website: http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com

Programs used: Palm Reader (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/help/palmreader/guide)

The PDB (Palm Database) format belongs to Palm Reader, which started as the Peanut Reader, distributed by PeanutPress. Although the format began primarily for PalmPilot owners to read e-books, it’s also available for Windows, Macintosh, and PocketPC formats, as well as for any device using the Palm OS. The reader program is free, but some of the e-books use copy protection.

PDF

Type of file: Formatted text

Usual contents: Book

Copy protection: Optional

Official website: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat

Programs used: Adobe Acrobat Reader

Portable Document Format (PDF) files can only be viewed using Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader software, available for most operating systems including handheld devices. Although some books have copy protection, many don’t, allowing users to save the book into other formats and to print pages.

Although PDF files tend to be large, they preserve the “look and feel” of the book’s printed page, including all fonts and graphics. The latest version of Acrobat Reader also plays embedded sounds and video. PDF remains a popular format for manuals, textbooks, and other books with lots of graphics.

As with Microsoft’s Reader program, Adobe’s copy protection has been cracked. The Advanced PDF Password Recovery program (http://www. elcomsoft.com/apdfpr.html) is hosted on a Russian site to avoid the reach of the United States’ DMCA laws. If you want to convert a non–copy-protected PDF file into a Word document, you can use the Solid Converter PDF program (http://www.solidpdf.com) or PDF Converter (http://www.caere.com).

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