k2pdfopt: optimize PDF files for use on mobile devices

If you usually read on mobile devices, you will have found that sometimes reading files that are not optimized for these devices is not the best idea. In fact, it is only necessary to read a justified text of a web page to verify that the separation between words is not too good. This is something that happens even more if it fits with PDF files and also on tablets or e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. To avoid this type of problem, today we present you k2pdfopt, a small application that will solve the readability problems typical of mobile devices.

The idea is to avoid that we are fighting with him PDF file to read it well, which can include that we are constantly zooming or fighting with the scroll bars. We could always convert it to another format, such as the ePub to which we could convert a file with Caliber, but we can also change the characteristics of the PDF file to better suit a screen so small that it fits in the palm of our hand. k2pdfop does just the latter, "reading" the PDF or DjVu file and "copying" it into what would be a smaller page while removing margins and respecting images, graphics and original source.

How to use k2pdfopt in Ubuntu

1. Let's go to the page willus.com/k2pdfopt/download and we download the binary file for Linux 32/64-bit depending on our operating system.
2. We give it execution permissions with the following command:

   • chmod +x k2pdfopt

3. With the permissions granted, we open a terminal and go to the folder where the file that we want to modify is located.
4. Inside the folder, we execute the following command (where we will have to change the name "file.pdf" by the name of our PDF or DjVu):

   • k2pdfopt -as archivo.pdf

5. A list will appear with all the available options. We hit Enter to confirm.
6. It will start working, we wait for it to finish and, in seconds, we will have our PDF optimized to read it on mobile devices.

If in step 4 we do not introduce any option (which would look like: k2pdfopt file.pdf), we can choose what to do at the moment all the options appear.

Now you no longer have an excuse for not reading PDFs properly on your mobile, right?