Every now and then, students and researchers purchase textbooks from Vitalsource Bookshelf. Most of the books downloaded from VitalSource Bookshelf are in VBK format and protected by DRM. People only can open these books with VitalSource Bookshelf APP which is really annoying. Recently I have received many readers emails which inquiry if there is any way to convert VBK to PDF. I've tested some methods posted on these famous ebook related forums and find the easiest way to convert VBK to PDF. This method will cost you no penny!
Update: Since there are many readers want to convert the VBK to pdf in whole, we launch a new software--Epubor VitalSource Downloader to download the VitalSource eTextbooks to PDF/EPUB.
General method :
Easiest method:
Convert VBK to PDF with Epubor Vitalsource Downloader
Convert VBK to PDF on Mac
If you are Mac user, converting VBK to PDF is a piece of cake for you. Most of you may do not know that Mac comes pre-installed with a PDF printer. With this built-in printer, it is easy for us convert VitalSource book to PDF.
Step 1: Install VitalSource Bookshelf APP on your Mac
To Print the book, first of all, we have to open this book on your Mac. Please go to the official site of VitalSource Bookshelf to download the desktop app and install it. Then download the books you want to print via VitalSource Bookshelf app.
Step 2: Print VitalSource VBK file to PDF
Open the book you want to print, then choose "Print" at the dropdown list of "File“ option at the top toolbar.
It will pop up a new window asking you to fill in the range of the pages you want to print. In this window, you will see that if there is print limitations. If yes, we can not bypass the limitations for now. Ignore this restriction and just click on "continue" to go to the next step.
The print window will pop up. Now you can fill in the copies, pages you want to print. At the buttom, you will see PDF options, click on "PDF" and select ”Save as PDF" at the dropdown list.
Fill in the "Title", "Author", and choose the storages place for the converted PDF file. Then click on " Save" to generate the PDF file.
Now you get your VBK file converted to PDF. Since there may be print limitations, you may have to follow the above guide to print the rest pages. When all pages has been printed to PDF, you can merge them to one PDF file with Epubor PDF & Merger & Splitter. Now you can get a full book.
Convert VBK to PDF on Windows
Unlike Mac, if you are using Windows system, there will not be a built-in printer preinstalled on your computer. As there are so many free PDF creation appliation on the market, why not install one on your Windows? I have used both doPDF and CutePDF. Both of them work well as a Virtual PDF printer on my own Windows.
Step 1: Install VitalSource Bookshelf app on your Windows
Go to VitalSource Bookshelf to download the desktop app and then install it on your Windows.
Step 2: Install doPDF on your computer
Download the FREE virtual printer driver doPDF here. This virtual printer will allow you print files as regular printer, but the result will be a PDF, not a real paper.
Step 3: Print the VitalSource Books as PDF
Open the VitalSource Bookshelf and download the book you want to convert. Open the book and then click on "File"-->”“Print".
The print preview window will pop up. You just have to click on "print" to go to the next step.
Now you will see the print settings window. Choose "doPDF 9" as the virtual printer and select all pages. Then click on "Print".
After you have clicked on "Print", the doPDF will save this file as PDF. You can change the file name and storage at your computer by clicking on "Browse". Then click on "OK". The printer will begin to print this file and give you a PDF file.
As there may be print limitation, you have to print the pages one by one. After all pages have been printed, you can use Epubor PDF & Merger & Splitter to merge all pdf files to one book.
Convert VBK to PDF with Epubor VitalSource Downloader
The above mentioned methods are very complex and time-consuming, and you need to install so many software to achieve your goal. It will take about your whole days to download a book with one thousand pages. That's why I want to introduce Epubor new software --Epubor VitalSource Downloader to you. With this software, you can download the VitalSource books to pdf with one click.
Step 1: Install the Epubor VitalSource Downloader
Download the Epubor VitalSource Downloader and install it on your computer. It supports both Windows and Mac system.
Step 2: Log in your VitalSource Bookshelf
Then run VitalSource Downloader and you will see a window as below.
You just need to fill in your VitalSource account information to sign in your VitalSource Bookshelf. See? Very clean interface, right?
Tips:
1. It won't remember your account info unless you allow to do that. And the account logging in settings is set to be used for the library accessing so that all your vitalsource eTextbooks can be downloaded well.
2, It may take a little while to successfully log in your account if your network is not so fluent, please be patient.
3, Updated 12/19/2018: It now supports batch downloading. Right right click the mouse to select "Download all books" or "Download selected books".
When you log in, you will see all books you purchased from VitalSource website. If you found that not all purchased books are displayed in this library, close the software and restart it again please.
Step 3: Download VitalSource Bookself to PDF
To get the PDF file, you just need to DOUBLE-CLICK on the book cover to download your books. You can also click on the "cloud" like icon, it will allow you to download the book too.
When the downloading is started, the processing bar will show you the process. Please wait patiently until the downloading completed. Keep in mind that, to ensure the downloading speed, you are allowed to download one book only at a time!
When the downloading is finished, it will pop up the output location which stores the downloaded PDF or EPUB books. You can also click on the blue folder icon, it will show you the output path.
Instead of vbk file, you will get the PDF or EPUB file downloaded to your computer according to the book original formats. If the book you purchased is Page-Fidelity Textbook (PDF), the book you downloaded will be in PDF. If the book you purchased is Reflowable Textbook (EPUB), the book you downloaded will be in epub. In this situation, you need to convert the epub to PDF with Epubor eBook converter.
You can watch the video tutorial to know how to convert the VitalSource vbk to PDF.
Now you can try to convert your VitalSource ebooks to PDF with Epubor VitalSource Downloader. If you think this article is useful, please spread it to more places or give us a thumb up. If you had any better suggestions, you are welcome to share these methods in the comments.
Iris Yan has been a passionate member of Epubor since 2017. Her mission is to enhance your ebook reading experience by sharing insightful tips and tricks. Join her on a journey towards reading excellence today!
Help?
Cheers
stefano
No answer??
We too followed ALL your proposed steps but we got only one or two pages.
If tehre is not answer you should remove your advise
For print the rest pages, please click on the page you want to print at first, then click on print.
Good luck epubor. Can’t wait for you to resolve this. I have the book, why don’t they just listen their proprietary software sucks for simple reading and that’s why people don’t want to use it, not because we haven’t already day got the books!
I want to run a pdf speed reader over it for a quick overview for the first read before a proper study... sigh.
I'm afraid of getting banned or something.