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pckopp · 12-17-2010, 06:47 PM

I am converting a related series of PDF files to MOBI format for my Kindle. Slowly I am getting the process refined. Here is what I am doing and why. Feel free to suggest a better way.

First is PDF to EPUB. I do this because I need to edit the files and to remove a bunch of added pages, pictures and text that was not part of the original book. So I convert to EPUB and use Sigil to edit. This has recently gotten much easier since Calibre now breaks up the PDF files into chapters quite nicely. Also, I have figured out how to get the headers removed reliably. Since the input is PDF, there are some word breaks and line breaks to fix. No problem.

The only unusual thing I noticed in this step was that the first paragraph of each chapter was tagged with a simple '<p>' paragraph tag. Nearly all the rest were '<p class="calibre1">'.

Almost all the extra stuff I want to remove is in separate chapters, so I just delete them. Easy.

Then I looked at the stylesheet in Sigil and added a new class. Most books do not indent the first paragraph of a chapter, so I just copied the calibre1 class and made a new one called calibre7 (next unused number in all the files) and changed the indent to 0. Saved that and in Sigil, it looks exactly as I want.

When I convert that EPUB to MOBI, I lose that style on the first paragraphs. The first paragraph looks like all the rest with indentation.

Are any edits I make to the stylesheet in Sigil ignored in Calibre?
How do I fix this?

One other note. The resultant MOBI file shows a 'new page' for the start of each chapter if I look at in in my PC Kindle reader. It does not show that in the Calibre ereader app. Odd.

12-17-2010, 06:47 PM	#1
pckopp Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 44 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Seneca, SC Device: Kindle, eReader	conversion and stylesheet question I am converting a related series of PDF files to MOBI format for my Kindle. Slowly I am getting the process refined. Here is what I am doing and why. Feel free to suggest a better way. First is PDF to EPUB. I do this because I need to edit the files and to remove a bunch of added pages, pictures and text that was not part of the original book. So I convert to EPUB and use Sigil to edit. This has recently gotten much easier since Calibre now breaks up the PDF files into chapters quite nicely. Also, I have figured out how to get the headers removed reliably. Since the input is PDF, there are some word breaks and line breaks to fix. No problem. The only unusual thing I noticed in this step was that the first paragraph of each chapter was tagged with a simple '<p>' paragraph tag. Nearly all the rest were '<p class="calibre1">'. Almost all the extra stuff I want to remove is in separate chapters, so I just delete them. Easy. Then I looked at the stylesheet in Sigil and added a new class. Most books do not indent the first paragraph of a chapter, so I just copied the calibre1 class and made a new one called calibre7 (next unused number in all the files) and changed the indent to 0. Saved that and in Sigil, it looks exactly as I want. When I convert that EPUB to MOBI, I lose that style on the first paragraphs. The first paragraph looks like all the rest with indentation. Are any edits I make to the stylesheet in Sigil ignored in Calibre? How do I fix this? One other note. The resultant MOBI file shows a 'new page' for the start of each chapter if I look at in in my PC Kindle reader. It does not show that in the Calibre ereader app. Odd.