Most ebooks today come in one of three formats. You’re no doubt familiar with PDF, the most common book format available for quite a while now. The PDF format maintains the look of the book on different devices, which is fine, as long as all the devices have similar sized screens. Now that ebooks are being read on everything from 24″ monster screens to tiny 4″ phones, more flexible formats which will adjust the look of the page to suit the device, are gaining acceptance. The two most popular such formats are ePub and MOBI. There a few variations of MOBI, but most devices that can read MOBI will read all of its flavors and vice versa.Now, PDF, ePub, and MOBI are the file formats that ebooks come in. Any given device, such as a phone, tablet, or ereader, may be able to read one or all of these formats, depending on the ebook reading software you have on the device. For example, Adobe’s PDF Reader software will display PDF files properly on your device and allow you to move through the book, search it, jump around to chapters, etc. Likewise, Adobe Digital Editions will do the same for ePub files, but so will Barnes and Noble’s Nook software and several others. Most devices will allow you to install multiple types of reader software, so that you can read any type of ebook file on the device. If that’s not the case, there are programs that can convert the file format of an ebook from one type to another so you can read it. The exception to this is any file that is protected with DRM—digital rights management, a.k.a. copy protection. If a file has DRM, you may not be able to read it with any device or software other than the original one for which it was purchased.
Here is a list of free ebook reader software programs that will let you read ebooks in all of the above formats or convert between them:
| eBook Format | Source |
|---|---|
| All eBook Formats | Calibre eBook Reader/Manager/Conversion Tool |
| MOBI, PRC | Mobipocket Reader |
| MOBI, PRC | Amazon Kindle Reading Apps |
| ePub | Adobe Digital Editions |
| ePub | Barnes and Noble Nook Reading Apps |
| ePub | KoboBooks eReader Apps |
| ePub | Aldiko Android Reader App |
| ePub | Firefox in-browser add-on |
| Adobe Reader | |
| Foxit Reader |
