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Convert pretty much any text into the Kindle format with Stanza desktop app

11.10.08 | 3 Comments

Stanza is an iPhone app that lets you read public domain books on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Why do you, a Kindle owner, care? Because the company behind Stanza is working on a desktop version of the app (OS X and Windows only, no Linux, boo) that not only greatly improves the PC reading experience, but also lets you convert any text you’re reading into the Kindle format without having to use Mobipocket Creator.

There’s nothing wrong with Mobipocket Creator–I use it all the time to convert articles and text into formats that will work on the Kindle. Stanza, however, ~~is faster~~ requires fewer steps, works on Apple (Mobipocket’s software is Windows [XP?] only), and also functions as a great screen reader. It can display text in columns, as a constantly scrolling vertical pane, or even as a single line of horizontal text scrolling across the screen.

With Stanza installed on your desktop, you can grab a text (or copy and paste text–say, an article on a website), begin reading it on the screen, and then export it to any number of ebook formats–including the default .azw format used by the Kindle.

Another screen reader option for Apple users

Tofu is another screen reader that works even better than Stanza. It’s fast, lightweight, and easy to use. It won’t convert files to the Kindle format, however.

I tested Stanza on Windows XP and OS X 10.4.4, and it functions reasonably well on both. The biggest drawback to it is it doesn’t handle special characters or graphic files well. By design it removes graphics, but in my experience it didn’t do it cleanly or invisibly. If special formatting is crucial, you might be better off using Mobipocket Creator, and cleaning up the text in Word first. But for quick conversions from desktop to Kindle, it’s the fastest solution I’ve found (next to using Amazon’s own Kindle email service, of course.)

A couple of other things to know about Stanza’s desktop app: it’s currently in beta, and it’s a little buggy and slow (not to mention a pretty big application–over 50 MB!–considering how little it actually does). The OS X version is robust, but the Windows version is currently lacking several useful features. And while it’s free for now, there’s no promise it will remain free when they release the first official version. (Mobipocket Creator, on the other hand, is definitely free.)

Download Stanza here.