How To Convert Vitalsource Ebooks To PDF?

Question

Managed to buy some textbooks on the Vitalsource Bookshelf app, but the DRM restrictions have me stuck. Are there any workarounds that actually function these days?

cumbee.debbie · Answer

Typically you would use the Vitalsource app to convert ebooks to read offline, and although they do have very strong DRM, it is rarely possible to export a clean PDF of an ebook. You would usually check within the reader for the ebook whether it is possible to ‘print to PDF’ (and this may be turned off for individual titles), and then hopefully it will work (badly formatted though). For me it’s usually easier to just read the book online when I hit this sort of DRM wall. For example, their erotica collection ‘Naked Desires’ was available as a browser-based subscription, so no problem downloading and reading that wherever I am.

Ella · Answer

Vitalsource e-books are e-books with DRM, and converting them to PDF is not straightforward. However, if a Vitalsource e-book allows printing, then it can be printed and “Print to PDF” created in Windows or Mac to make a PDF copy. However, there are many Vitalsource e-books that do not allow printing, and therefore must be screenshot page by page and then combined into a single PDF using software such as Adobe Acrobat or PDFsam, a free piece of software. Be aware that some of these methods of converting Vitalsource e-books to PDFs may be against the Vitalsource terms and conditions.

Check with your library to see if they have a PDF version of your textbook available. Many professors will even share excerpts legally with their students. Steer clear of the many ‘convert VitalSource to PDF instantly’ tools that promise the earth but deliver little and pose the risk of malware too.

Katie · Answer

I wanted to figure out the best way to export your Vitalsource ebooks as PDFs. A lot of Vitalsource ebooks are protected by DRM so direct export is not possible. You could use a screen capture tool such as Snagit or Adobe Acrobat to manually capture pages and save them as a PDF, but that would be very time-consuming. Another option would be to print the ebook to a virtual PDF printer, but Vitalsource would need to allow printing for this to work.

Sometimes technical folks are able to remove DRM from ebooks using software like Calibre that has been patched with DeDRM code. However, these ‘workarounds’ are often against the terms of service of the retailer and need to be set up carefully. Most online retailers, such as Vitalsource, detail what users can do with ebooks they’ve purchased on their websites. Then there are always legal alternatives – some publishers actually sell PDF versions of their printed books. By purchasing these we are able to support the original author while still using the ebook format.

Vanessa · Answer

I’ve been trying to make Vitalsource books into PDFs. This is a difficult task due to the DRM that Vitalsource puts on their ebooks. The best way that I’ve found is to take screenshots and then use a program like CutePDF to virtually print the screenshots to a PDF. But the only way that this will work is if the book that you are trying to convert is set up by the author to allow printing. Then there are programs like OCR software that can be used to “scan” the pages of the ebook in order to make a PDF. The quality of the PDF that is created depends on the quality of the original ebook.

Be sure to look for legal ways to get a PDF copy of a book. Authors will sometimes sell e-book copies as PDFs on their own websites or through platforms such as Gumroad. As a student, you should also ask yourself whether or not you really need a PDF version of a book or if Vitalsource’s e-book app and the features it provides for notes and highlighting would not suffice. It’s a delicate balance between making things easy for students and protecting copyright.

Tessa · Answer

For now I can use Vitalsource’s built-in features to export my notes and highlights as PDFs, but for full pages when printing is restricted I have to take screenshots. Not very fast, but there are tools like Lightshot or Snip & Sketch to help. Always check the copyright policy of the respective publisher first, because some of them allow personal backups of e-books. If all else fails, renting or buying the PDF elsewhere might be the easiest solution.

luan205 · Answer

While there is some legal precedent that allows for format-shifting of personal content (e.g. ripping a CD to MP3s for personal use), using DRM circumvention to achieve that end is generally illegal under laws such as the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This means that even if you have a fair use right to create a PDF of a book for accessibility reasons, breaking the lock to create that PDF is in and of itself illegal. This creates a legal Catch-22 that strongly favors distributors.

Tara Cline · Answer

My answer is: no. You want to know how to circumvent the DRM protection of your VitalSource e-books in order to comply with your needs, whereas by doing so you would be violating the terms of service for VitalSource. What I’d like to do is highlight a major problem for students and academics with locked-down e-book platforms like VitalSource, which sell you access to e-books you paid for in return for DRM-locked files that you cannot easily archive or use with other tools. In particular, such locked-down e-books are a huge barrier to students who use assistive technology and need to read e-books as plain PDFs. My advice to students and academics would always be to first check the publisher’s own web site and other online stores where books are sold, since often enough the very same book is available there in PDF format (e.g. from the author himself, or from stores like Gumroad) – all DRM-free to read as you need.

Christie P · Answer

If a book is critical for your future research then buy it as a physical copy even if you use the VitalSource rental for the class as it will probably be cheaper. Then you can always have a copy for your permanent library to lend, sell etc. as you see fit. Digital is very convenient, but physical books have immense value in an age of ephemera. They sit on your shelves indefinitely.

Ronan · Answer

Good luck. The process that I went through last semester to download our e-books was a long and arduous one. After a lot of research, I found a somewhat convoluted process that involved an old version of the VitalSource Bookshelf desktop app, a Python script from GitHub, and a somewhat outdated DRM removal tool. Despite following the instructions to the letter, it never worked for me. I think the reason that people post up these workarounds is because they are extremely clever and manage to find a solution to the problem at hand, but for the average person, it’s a huge time waster with little chance of success. It’s frustrating that the platform hasn’t been designed to be used as intended, but that’s the way it is.

Sue Hayes · Answer

If I bought a music CD, I would expect to be able to play it on any CD player in my home on whatever brand of equipment I chose. The current model for e-textbooks, provided by companies such as VitalSource, does not allow this. The model is dated and has been rejected by consumers in many other media, such as music, where they despise the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) to restrict use of digital products. But for some reason the model is persisted in within academia because of the ‘guaranteed sales’. The reason for this must be that textbooks are a different animal from other digital media. Until students organize to demand change or until legislation requires more flexibility in the provision of e-textbooks, we are stuck with this.

Fechi Rynn · Answer

Accept the platform for what it is. Their apps are reasonable for reading and highlighting. Syncing to other devices works fine. Even the rental prices can be less than buying physical copies. With some re-definition of what one expects from books (i.e., swapping “owning a book” for “renting access to study material”), a lot of the frustration one feels about their eBooks can be subtracted from one’s mental study-time. It’s not optimal, but so far in the market that’s how eBooks are. Fighting the system, rather than studying the material within the system, is a terrible way to spend one’s time and mental energy.

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