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> It just renders the epub to pdf and then throw the pdf into the note-taking app. I found it weird at first... But then you realise you're supposed to be able

> It just renders the epub to pdf and then throw the pdf into the note-taking app. I found it weird at first... But then you realise you're supposed to be able to write on the pages any time. The moment you support general epub rendering your pages are no longer fixed and your notes should move around as well. The moment you change your font size, all your notes, drawings and highlights no longer match the underlying text. I actually think "render to pdf", or more specifically to some fixed page format, is the ideal experience on this device. Realigning your notes is an impossible problem to solve and if I were a dev I would also discourage any features that reflow text on demand. Missing features (search in document, bookmarks, whatever) should be implemented for both pdfs and epubs.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
> Realigning your notes is an impossible problem to solve Kindles have solved this problem, but instead, notes are not visible on the page but must be specially consulted.
- aeturnum 5y ago
  It seems like a different problem if they are not rendering handwriting on the 'page' of the epub.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    OK, but both problems are "realigning your notes". It is possible to render an element to the side of the main text in a flowing epub; I did this when I wanted to include line numbers in a text. You could use that idea to keep visible notes near their original location while reflowing the epub. But it wouldn't work at all with notes that appear over the main text. It's also possible to just print the notes within the text; this is the approach taken by this recent edition of a selection of the 太平广记 ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/7540351934/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/7540351934/ ). Rather than being reproduced images of older printings that include notes, it's all flowing text and marginalia is reproduced inline, within brackets and in a smaller font. (This goes so far as to indicate which part of the page the marginalia originally appeared in, though I think this is more a matter of there being different words for marginalia from different locations.) That approach, of course, will not handle non-textual notes well.
    - aeturnum 5y ago
      I think OP could have used a more specific description for the sake of clarity. The idea is that using a reMarkable is just like using a pad of paper, so you can make arbitrary handwritten notes on the text. It's hard to imagine how arbitrary notes like that would be displayed on different epub renderings, so I think it's understandable why they use their approach. I also think it's a different problem than kindles have solved.
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        Marginalia does not generally appear over the text on which it comments, because that would make both the text and the marginalia difficult to read. (Just look at the word - it's text that appears in the margins.) So for practically all purposes, treating each note as an image which should be rendered to the side of a particular part of the dynamically-flowed text will solve the problem. This isn't that hard to do. If someone is underlining parts of the text itself, that isn't independent of the flow of the text, and so it's harder to reflow. But I'm taking "notes" to mean commentary.
        aeturnum 5y ago
        > So for practically all purposes, treating each note as an image which should be rendered to the side of a particular part of the dynamically-flowed text will solve the problem. I don't think this is true. Even without underlines, which are common in notes, people place their notes based on a combination of the layout of the page and their personal preferences. I don't think it's possible to know, given one layout and note placement, how to place the note in a new layout. It is also worth saying that many historic uses of marginalia (for example, commentary on the Tanakh) are also associated with particular parts of the text and could not be laid out as you are describing without losing intended meaning.
        thaumasiotes 5y ago
        > It is also worth saying that many historic uses of marginalia (for example, commentary on the Tanakh) are also associated with particular parts of the text and could not be laid out as you are describing without losing intended meaning. I don't understand this. What part of the intended meaning would be lost? I have a printing plate of part of a Chinese Buddhist text with traditional commentary attached, and it works almost identically to this modern HTML from Harvard Law Review ( https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/06/commonwealth-v-mccarthy/ https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/06/commonwealth-v-mccarthy... ) - there's an area on the page for the text, another area for the commentary, and symbols identify which comments apply to which parts of the text. But the Harvard Law Review piece is exactly what I just described, except that the notes do not appear near the text to which they apply.
zahllos 5y ago
The remarkable 2 still doesn't support pdf bookmarks? Seriously? I use a Fujitsu Quaderno (was from Sony). Similar idea, no epub support but pdf links and bookmarks, on device search? These all work.
- laserbeam 5y ago
  Not yet. But honestly, the latest few updates have been great! Navigation between docs is much much better, pinch to zoom was a great addition, and screenshare is now better than on any eink tablet. In general, I haven't felt like I'd reaaaaally need bookmarks since software version 2.8 (but that's a matter of taste).
- laserbeam 5y ago
  Pdf links and pdf table of contents work. User generated bookmarks in PDFs are not supported yet. Search is rudimentary/useless and only goes through document titles.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> Realigning your notes is an impossible problem to solve Kindles have solved this problem, but instead, notes are not visible on the page but must be specially consulted.

aeturnum 5y ago
It seems like a different problem if they are not rendering handwriting on the 'page' of the epub.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  OK, but both problems are "realigning your notes". It is possible to render an element to the side of the main text in a flowing epub; I did this when I wanted to include line numbers in a text. You could use that idea to keep visible notes near their original location while reflowing the epub. But it wouldn't work at all with notes that appear over the main text. It's also possible to just print the notes within the text; this is the approach taken by this recent edition of a selection of the 太平广记 ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/7540351934/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/7540351934/ ). Rather than being reproduced images of older printings that include notes, it's all flowing text and marginalia is reproduced inline, within brackets and in a smaller font. (This goes so far as to indicate which part of the page the marginalia originally appeared in, though I think this is more a matter of there being different words for marginalia from different locations.) That approach, of course, will not handle non-textual notes well.
  - aeturnum 5y ago
    I think OP could have used a more specific description for the sake of clarity. The idea is that using a reMarkable is just like using a pad of paper, so you can make arbitrary handwritten notes on the text. It's hard to imagine how arbitrary notes like that would be displayed on different epub renderings, so I think it's understandable why they use their approach. I also think it's a different problem than kindles have solved.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      Marginalia does not generally appear over the text on which it comments, because that would make both the text and the marginalia difficult to read. (Just look at the word - it's text that appears in the margins.) So for practically all purposes, treating each note as an image which should be rendered to the side of a particular part of the dynamically-flowed text will solve the problem. This isn't that hard to do. If someone is underlining parts of the text itself, that isn't independent of the flow of the text, and so it's harder to reflow. But I'm taking "notes" to mean commentary.
      - aeturnum 5y ago
        > So for practically all purposes, treating each note as an image which should be rendered to the side of a particular part of the dynamically-flowed text will solve the problem. I don't think this is true. Even without underlines, which are common in notes, people place their notes based on a combination of the layout of the page and their personal preferences. I don't think it's possible to know, given one layout and note placement, how to place the note in a new layout. It is also worth saying that many historic uses of marginalia (for example, commentary on the Tanakh) are also associated with particular parts of the text and could not be laid out as you are describing without losing intended meaning.
        thaumasiotes 5y ago
        > It is also worth saying that many historic uses of marginalia (for example, commentary on the Tanakh) are also associated with particular parts of the text and could not be laid out as you are describing without losing intended meaning. I don't understand this. What part of the intended meaning would be lost? I have a printing plate of part of a Chinese Buddhist text with traditional commentary attached, and it works almost identically to this modern HTML from Harvard Law Review ( https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/06/commonwealth-v-mccarthy/ https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/06/commonwealth-v-mccarthy... ) - there's an area on the page for the text, another area for the commentary, and symbols identify which comments apply to which parts of the text. But the Harvard Law Review piece is exactly what I just described, except that the notes do not appear near the text to which they apply.

zahllos 5y ago

The remarkable 2 still doesn't support pdf bookmarks? Seriously? I use a Fujitsu Quaderno (was from Sony). Similar idea, no epub support but pdf links and bookmarks, on device search? These all work.

laserbeam 5y ago
Not yet. But honestly, the latest few updates have been great! Navigation between docs is much much better, pinch to zoom was a great addition, and screenshare is now better than on any eink tablet. In general, I haven't felt like I'd reaaaaally need bookmarks since software version 2.8 (but that's a matter of taste).
laserbeam 5y ago
Pdf links and pdf table of contents work. User generated bookmarks in PDFs are not supported yet. Search is rudimentary/useless and only goes through document titles.