Okay starting over with this question....

When I use ConvertLit GUI, I end up with a whole pile of little output files for one book. Some are oeb files in html, some are jpgs, some are css, mse, and opf.

My ultimate goal is to convert these to RTF, but dealing with all the little html files is a pain, and only results in a pile of little rtf files. I still don't know what to do with the files in the other format.

Isn't there an easier way to get a single document output from this process?

In those pile of little files is one file with all the text in it. If you're converting to RTF then that's all you need and all you can use. Everything else is just covers and formatting. Open the largest HTML file and then do your reformatting on that.

Unfortunately there's an html file for every chapter. I'm looking for some way to combine/append the little files without having to cut and paste all of them into a single document.

Michelle - I am guessing this is a random house book? There is an html program that "links" the htmls together but it's kind of a pain because because you have to order the html files and sometimes, with those random house books, it's difficult to do. The better solution may be to downconvert the lit file and then use Book Designer to go from the downconverted lit to rtf.

Book designer is confusing for me so maybe someone will do step by step instructions for us. ;)

What I'm doing - and it doesn't work for ALL secure lits - is using ConvertLit to downconvert the secure lit to an unsecure lit, and then using Book Designer to convert the unsecure lit into a libre lrf.

The results are pretty good. You'll want to play with the output format a bit since the libre fonts are a little different from the reader fronts and so you can get what the software thinks should be a single line wrapping across into a second line.

I prefer my fonts to be a bit larger so the output option I chose are:

Book style: Simple
Book Text: 22
Book Cover: 32
Paragraph Indent: 5
Margins Left: 5
Margins Top: 0
Page Width: 600
Lines per page: 20
And under the Option tab, I deselect Hyphenate.

What it produces is quite acceptable, but, of course, not 100%. It drops any accented characters, and doesn't convert open and closing quotation marks as two types but just makes them both the same - " - but it does provide a nice readable output.

I think it's time I give BookDesigner a try, even though I'm intimidated by it. Thanks for the specs!

Okay, I tried a very simple use of BookDesigner, from the unsecure LIT to the Sony Librie. This is a very big book file, containing two Robin Hobb novels, and it completed in a bit less than an hour, which is fine.

However, the links to the chapters and to the second book in the Table of Contents (functioning in MS Reader) were not preserved, and that is a problem, considering the 2800 pages viewed on the Reader file.

Also the italics within the text were not preserved. It's kind of important in understanding the meaning in this book, to identify the speaker.

I'm sure it must be something I did wrong, but the program is very complex and I'm hoping I don't need to learn the entire thing just yet.

I've tried fiddling around in various areas, but no luck. Any suggestions?

What I'm doing - and it doesn't work for ALL secure lits - is using ConvertLit to downconvert the secure lit to an unsecure lit, and then using Book Designer to convert the unsecure lit into a libre lrf.

The results are pretty good. You'll want to play with the output format a bit since the libre fonts are a little different from the reader fronts and so you can get what the software thinks should be a single line wrapping across into a second line.

I prefer my fonts to be a bit larger so the output option I chose are:

Book style: Simple
Book Text: 22
Book Cover: 32
Paragraph Indent: 5
Margins Left: 5
Margins Top: 0
Page Width: 600
Lines per page: 20
And under the Option tab, I deselect Hyphenate.

What it produces is quite acceptable, but, of course, not 100%. It drops any accented characters, and doesn't convert open and closing quotation marks as two types but just makes them both the same - " - but it does provide a nice readable output.
I've been doing the same quite happily, but found a slightly narrower page width worked for me.( 550)

What I'm doing - and it doesn't work for ALL secure lits - is using ConvertLit to downconvert the secure lit to an unsecure lit, and then using Book Designer to convert the unsecure lit into a libre lrf.

Doing what you describe is a major felony in the United States, it isn't legal to remove copy protection from eBooks even for "personal use".

Doing what you describe is a major felony in the United States, it isn't legal to remove copy protection from eBooks even for "personal use".
And still everyone does it. I wouldn't fret too much about it.

While technically using ConvertLit may be illegal in some countries, personally I don't see a moral issue with this as you (should) already own a copy of the book in question.

Just make sure you don't use this program to distribute illegal copies of e-books. ;)

Okay starting over with this question....

When I use ConvertLit GUI, I end up with a whole pile of little output files for one book. Some are oeb files in html, some are jpgs, some are css, mse, and opf.

My ultimate goal is to convert these to RTF, but dealing with all the little html files is a pain, and only results in a pile of little rtf files. I still don't know what to do with the files in the other format.

Isn't there an easier way to get a single document output from this process?
I'm using ABC Amberlit conversion from Process Text Group. It's free and it's great! Only drawback is that it posts an ad for itself in the header and footing. Everybody knows how easy it is to change in Word!

Doing what you describe is a major felony in the United States, it isn't legal to remove copy protection from eBooks even for "personal use".A major felony? My god, what law school did YOU go to?! :D

I'm using ABC Amberlit conversion from Process Text Group. It's free and it's great! Only drawback is that it posts an ad for itself in the header and footing. Everybody knows how easy it is to change in Word!

There's also an option in the settings to turn that off :-)

Is Convert LIT legal?

This depends a great deal on which country you, the user, are living in. If your country has a law which restricts the circumvention of copy control measures, even for fair use, then chances are it's not legal (with a few exceptions listed below). Examples of such laws are the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the UK's implementation of the European Union Copyright Directive.

Recently, some exceptions to the DMCA have been published, one of which in particular may mean that usages of Convert LIT is legal under certain circumstances in the United States. Exception #4 states:

(4) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling of the ebook's read-aloud function and that prevent the enabling of screen readers to render the text into a specialized format. BTW, most microsoft secure lit files disallow read aloud.

There's also an option in the settings to turn that off :-)
Had'nt noticed that! Thanks bingle!

And still everyone does it. I wouldn't fret too much about it.


Yep, when they pass enough silly laws that everyone feels the need to be a "criminal", that's when it all comes apart like a cheap sack.

Just keep in mind this isn't some back alley, its all recorded away and the punishment for circumvention is 10 years per circumvention not 30 days.

BTW, most microsoft secure lit files disallow read aloud.

I hope they bring some sanity to the whole DMCA but those "loopholes" are still only proposals by NIST and even when enacted they will only cover ADA folks with "medical neccessity" e.g. legally blind.

Circumventing to convert the format to a device that doesn't have read aloud is highly unlikely to keep one out of Club Fed.

BTW, most microsoft secure lit files disallow read aloud.

I hate when "read aloud" is disallowed, since I'm just a southern country boy. Is "moving lips" also disallowed? :joker:

Yep, when they pass enough silly laws that everyone feels the need to be a "criminal", that's when it all comes apart like a cheap sack.

Just keep in mind this isn't some back alley, its all recorded away and the punishment for circumvention is 10 years per circumvention not 30 days.Personally, I doubt if you'll see any individual users being charged for the attempt to cicumvent copies of works to which they have purchased a licence, for their own personal use. The people more likely to be charged are those that distribute said books to others.

In the meantime, I guess it's lucky I live in a country which still respects individual rights and legitimate fair use, and whose courts have made it clear that they aren't beholden to big business. :D

Personally, I doubt if you'll see any individual users being charged for the attempt to cicumvent copies of works to which they have purchased a licence, for their own personal use. The people more likely to be charged are those that distribute said books to others.


The more people who speak out about these things, the less likely it is that individuals will be charged. Fair Use should be "fair", I will NOT buy a book twice or be forced to read it in a way that inconveniences me for the sake of staying on the right side of a law that makes no sense.

The more people who speak out about these things, the less likely it is that individuals will be charged. Fair Use should be "fair", I will NOT buy a book twice or be forced to read it in a way that inconveniences me for the sake of staying on the right side of a law that makes no sense.I agree Chris. I do buy every book that I convert and sometime I buy a book more than once - I'll have it in a paper format and I'll buy it again some years later in an electronic format and ditch the paper version mainly to recover available bookshelf space. :) Without ebooks, I would have no room to turn around, let alone add more books.

I don't think a publisher would be able to prove any damages from copying your own books so that you can read them on another platform. Yes, the actus reus vis-a-vis the DMCA is there, but there is no mens rea of harm. As far as I can see, the only loser in all this is Sony, by not being able to sell me a native BBeB format. To tell the truth, if they offer it in the connect store and for a true market price, I'll buy directly from them anyway to save myself the effort of converting and reformatting.

Use the newer graphical interface ConvertLIT
This should ensure that all relevent information is contained in one file