[NTLK] Converting NewtonBooks to ePub

[Matthias Melcher]

Ok, so I expanded the newton-framework to convert Newton Book packages into PDFs. It's a little command line tool "newtc" that runs on Apple Silicon Macs:

robowerk.de/downloads/newtc.zip <http://robowerk.de/downloads/newtc.zip>

The code is not signed, so you will have to try to run it, cancel, go into System Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and allow the tool to run. Then run it again, and answer the dialog boxes. Phew.

It's a command line tool, so you have to use it from the Terminal. Copy the tool into a convenient location and run it like thisL

newtc -pkg some_book.pkg -opdf new_book.pdf

For example, download a book from Unna and enter:

newtc -pkg ~/Downloads/80_Days.pkg -opdf 80_Days.pdf
open 80_Days.pdf

and you will be able to find out how Mr. Phileas Fogg made it around the world in 80 days.


newtc translates only text entries and only Western texts. It does not render images because Newton Books use the PICT format which is notoriously difficult to render. 

newtc uses PDF fonts which a different than Newton fonts. A lot of formatting is lost because letter widths are different, and some fonts are simply not available on a standard PDF. newtc supports bold and italics attributes, but no further layouts like multi column rendering, or block alignment.

I hope this little tool is helpful for basic translation of Newton books. If there are major rendering errors, or if there is a specific document where you would *really* love a better layout, let me know, and I will see what I can do.


Happy book worming.