As a child, my parents used to present me with an encyclopedia every year on my birthday. It started around the time I was in the second grade or so and continued till I was around 14. I still remember the joy I used to get reading up those thick books crammed with information about this wonderful world of ours (Yes, I was and still am a geek).
As I grew up and the Internet came into my life, all my reading has more or less shifted online. I still like reading encyclopedias and learning about new stuff but instead of reading real books, I now go to Wikipedia for that same pleasure that Encyclopedias used to give me till a couple of years back.
The only problem with wikipedia is that, I can’t really read it on the go. Sure, I they do have a mobile optimized interface and GPRS/Edge/3G is almost everywhere but it still isn’t as convenient as having a real book at your bedside all the time … Unless, there is a way to print a collection of articles from Wikipedia and read those … Just like a real book.
Well, it turns out there is. Wikipedia has developed a Custom Book Creator tool that you can use for this very purpose.
Making a PDF book out of Wikipedia Articles
Start the Book Creator tool using the link given above. You will now see a rectangular box on the top of all Wikipedia pages that you surf to.
Now, you can just browse through wikipedia as you normally would. When you come across an article that you’d want to have a copy of in your PDF book, Add the page to your book, using the link in the Book Creator box on the top of the page.
Repeat the same process to add any number of pages that you want in your book. When you’re done, click the Show Book link.
You can now give your book a title and also drag and drop the pages to change their ordering. When you’re done with that, just hit the Download button to download a PDF copy of your book. You also have the option of downloading the book in the Opendocument text format.
If you’re feeling generous, though, I’d suggest that you buy the printed book and support the wikipedia foundation.
If you’re logged in to Wikipedia (I didn’t try this), Wikipedia will store your books in your user directory and the advanced users can even edit the template and change the layout of the PDF file that is created.
Programmer, blogger and a geek making a living shifting bits around the Internet. Sharninder is the owner of Geeky Ninja
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