Software to convert CHM files to EPUB/Kindle

I'm trying to decide whether to buy a Kindle 2, now that it's available in Europe. One thing I would like to do with it is to put several Windows help files on it (for example, the Python documentation). Is there a good way to convert a CHM file to a Kindle-readable format?

Or is this something that other e-readers like Sony's do better since EPUB and CHM are both based on HTML?

Solution 1:

If you're using Windows (you can skip directly to step 3 if using a recent versions of Calibre; it now supports importing .chm files directly):

1. Extract the HTML files from the CHM container from the command prompt with HH.EXE

   Example:

   HH.EXE -decompile C:\Temp\decompile-folder C:\Temp\yourCHM.chm
   

   (Mac users can use Tubby to convert CHM to HTML)

2. Merge the HTML files into a single file (e.g. with SoftSnow Merger)

3. Use Calibre to convert it to EPUB.

All programs mentioned above are freeware, and hh.exe is a Microsoft Windows Help utility.

There are commercial programs like ABC Amber CHM Converter that will perform steps 1 & 2 automatically. However, I don't know any software that will convert CHM directly to EPUB. Other commercial applications (for example, Universal Document Converter) can be used to convert CHM to PDF which the Kindle may or may not handle all that well.

Solution 2:

In order to read your .chm file on the Kindle, you will need to convert it to .mobi format. That can be done by merely using Calibre which allows you to import a .chm file and convert it to .mobi. Then you can send the file to your device when it is connect

Solution 3:

It is a cool workaround by Molly, but you can also use eCub to create ePUB from HTML pages. This way you don't have a one page book, but books with chapters and various pages.

Solution 4:

I have found Sigil to be an excellent tool for creating and editing ePub format e-Books. I use it on Linux, but as far as I know it works equally well on Windows or Mac, so it should not matter at all what operating system you are trying to accomplish this task on. As long as you have the HTML and image files you need (and know enough about HTML to possibly edit the image links or clean up the content if necessary) you should be fine. It requires a bit more work than eCub, but it gives you total control over the end result and with a little practice you can create some quite nice ePub e-Books.