Summary
This article walks through how to convert an Pressbooks EPUB file to a readable PDF file using easily available open-source software. Please note ET&S do not support the software(s) and web items recommended in this article.
How-To
The Pressbooks default PDF export tool, mPDF, is no longer being developed and due to security reasons is not recommended for use with Pressbooks. Trying to export to mPDF format will generate an error and the book will not be exported. However, you can use an open source EPUB to PDF software package to convert those files to readable PDFs.
We recommend Calibre . Calibre is a freeware (donationware) eBook manager that can export eBooks to multiple formats.
If you would prefer to not utilize a 3rd party application, you can convert on the web using a tool such as CloudConvert. Basic instructions on CloudConvert are below.
Task: Exporting to EPUB format
Instructions
Step 1 - In Pressbooks, open the homepage of the book you would like to convert (please note that the publisher of the book must have allowed for EPUB exports to see EPUB on the homepage).
Step 2 - Click on Download this Book and the EPUB
Step 3 - Save the EPUB to a readily accessible folder such as Documents
Outcome
You now know how to export to the EPUB format.
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Task: Using Calibre to convert to PDF
Instructions
Step 1 - Open Calibre
Step 2 - Click Add Book button in the toolbar at the top
Step 3 - Navigate to the folder where the EPUB file was saved (See Exporting to EPUB format above)
Step 4 - Click on EPUB file
Step 5 - The book will be listed in the main Calibre screen
Step 6 - Select book(s) you wish to convert - Multiple books can be chosen by holding CTRL or CMD and clicking on individual titles to highlight book titles
Step 7 - Click the dropdown arrow next to Convert Books button on the top toolbar and choose Convert Individually
Step 8 - In the upper right corner of the next screen choose PDF from the drop-down menu
Step 9 - If multiple books were chosen you will see a screen for each book and must choose PDF each time
Step 10 - Click Save to convert the book.
Step 11 - Clicking the Convert books button directly will bring up a different screen where PDF can be selected, and all the selected books will be converted to PDF at once
Step 12 - PDFs will be saved in the default Calibre folder, set when Calibre was first set up, under the author’s name
Outcome
You now know how to use Calibre to convert to a PDF.
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Task: Converting to PDF using Cloud Convert
Instructions
Step 1 - Download the EPUB file you would like to use.
Step 2 - Go to CloudConvert
Step 3 - Click on the Select File button
Step 4 - Find the EPUB file you would like to have converted to PDF
Step 5 - Select PDF under Convert to and Documents
Step 6 - Click Convert
Step 7 - Once the converted file opens be sure to download it to your machine.
Outcome
You now know how to use CloudConvert to convert to a PDF.
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