PressReader files

[Commodore64user]

Sometimes I like to download some publications from PressReader, however when they do the conversion [PressReader website] from PDF (or whatever file they use) to ePub, if an article spreads over "n" pages, it is rendered "n" times.

So in this example, the article "How to rescue Europe" starts on page 26 of the PDF and continues on page 27, where it occupies about half that page. Then "Chinese whisperers" starts on the second half of page 27 and ends in page 28. "Odessa's vanishing lads" then occupies just the final half of page 28. As you can see in the ToC they are rendered 2, 2 and 1 times respectively

My question is, Is there some sort of "style tweak" I could use to match the titles of the articles and hide all the repetitions? Ideally I would like to add it to a profile. Thanks!

edit: also, I would like to hide a specific chapter called "Contents", it always has the same name.

edit 2: adding screenshot of the print-matched PDF version (which is not available for download).

Edit 3: here is a clearer explanation of what i need: Essentially it is an automated hidden flow that first removes from the flow the ToC-level-1 chapter "Contents" (this bit is important as the conversion also duplicates articles shown on the magazine's ToC -original file- via links, hope that is clear enough..?) and then checks all the ToC-level-3 ones and hides the ones with similar names (i.e repetitions) keeping only one copy of each article. This would ideally be triggered via profiles or could be applied (on opening) to all files that start with the name "Name of newspaper/magazine"

[Frenzie]

I think "if it has the same name" is a bit too advanced. It might be possible with a user patch but really the problem is the nonsensical ToC itself. "Page 28" isn't something that should be in there. Maybe they have some support?

[Commodore64user]

Okay so i have developed the description of what i want/need a little further.

As you said, this has user patch written all over it.

Essentially it is an automated hidden flow that first removes from the flow the ToC-level-1 chapter "Contents" (this bit is important as the conversion also duplicates articles shown on the magazine's ToC -original file- via links, hope that is clear enough..?) and then checks all the ToC-level-3 ones and hides the ones with similar names (i.e repetitions) keeping only one copy of each article.

This would ideally be triggered via profiles or could be applied (on opening) to all files that start with the name "Name of newspaper/magazine"

How can i make it happen?

[Frenzie]

I'm not sure if there's a sane way to do that. Are you sure they didn't just misunderstand the same way I did when they said working as intended? A ToC entry for every "page" an article is on is a bit odd, but it's very different from repeating the article itself multiple times.

[Commodore64user]

No, they were quite clear about not wanting to touch how it works. I guess is more related to, it works good enough and they don't want to waste engineer's time (and company money) over it. Also, I would imagine most people use the app so I am probably in the minority that downloads the e-reader version.

It does make 'some' sense when you understand how they approach the problem, with the consequence that articles are repeated multiple times, the alternative would be way worse, that some articles or portions of articles are not printed at all.

Essentially the level-2 in ToC is there to help you know where an article is found in the physical version. What they do in the conversion process is: first show you a small picture of the original page and then, print every article found on said page in full, rinse and repeat for every page. That guarantees that someone reading the physical paper can say the article on page 26 and the person with the ePub can find it. This is particularly true if in the case of newspapers the article begins in the front page but continues on page 17, if someone says to you, the article is on page 17 but fails to mention where it begins you are not left wondering where it starts, or you don't have to jump around following links. The side effect again is that articles are printed multiple times when they spread over multiple pages.

Doing it that way, you are guaranteed not to miss anything but leaves me trying to solve this now...

If you have a library card you should definitely check it out, there are lots publications also it would make this conversation a lot simpler, ;) and even if you don't have one, go to a hotel (or other place listed on their app/website, they call them hotspots) as most offer free passes when you connect to their wifi

[Commodore64user]

One more thing about their ToC: level 1 is the general sections, say "Technology" or "Europe", or "Britain", level 2 is page (from PDF/physical) and level 3 is the name of article.

[Frenzie]

would make this conversation a lot simpler

The problem is clear. It's just a very strange and unusual problem.

[jonnyl2]

It's a crapshoot, but have you tried the alternative TOC? It sometimes works wonders.

Edit: Nvm, it's an ePub converted from PDF, so probably little chance of it being effective.

[Commodore64user]

for clarification, is not the ToC that is the problem. The articles are repeated "n" times, depending on how many "n" pages they are spread in.