Problems with Cover Images after converting

NASCARaddicted · 05-01-2009, 03:43 PM

Hello

Maybe I missed something, but I looked in the faq and it didn't help me.

I am getting a BeBook e-reader soon and so I already started to collect e-books. Most of them (but not all) are in pdf format, but as far as I know, pdf is not the best when it comes to e-readers. So I wanted to convert them to Mobipocket with Calibre 0.5.9. By the way, I am using Windows XP.

There are several strange things with the outcoming Mobi files.

At first I converted a pdf file that includes like 4 images. The first one is the cover, then an image from page 3. The 3rd image is very small, it's just one single word. Then, there comes the ebook itself and in the end, there is another image of the backcover. The strange thing is: after I converted it to mobi, all the 4 images are mirrored upside down.

However, this is not my biggest problem. An even stranger problem (or maybe I missed something simple here) is this: I converted another pdf to mobi. Now, the characters on the first page look strange and hard to read. It is scalable - when I resize the window, the font also changes. It seems as if Calibre thought this page was the front image and converted it to an image. On the next page, it's the same page like before, but this time it is clear in normal characters. I attached an image to show you what I mean. And just to add: I know, pdf is not the best file format when it comes to converting, but in this case, the source file was an rtf file. But I also had the exact same thing with pdf files.

In another case (also pdf) there is a cover image included). In this case, the first page shows the image and a few lines of the following text. And on the next page, the image comes again - but this time it is not scalable.

So, how can I tell Calibre, that I don't want it to convert the first page to the cover ? If there is no image cover included, I don't need one.

kovidgoyal · 05-01-2009, 04:00 PM

You can't tell calibre to not use the first page as a cover as for the rotated images, that's a known bug in pdftohtml

NASCARaddicted · 05-01-2009, 04:03 PM

o.k. thanks for the fast reply (and I forgot to say thanks for Calibre itself)

maybe you can add an option in a future update, where the user can select if he wants a cover or not. Of course, it is not that important, since I don't look that much at the cover. The text is much more imprtant. And that one works fine.

pixnaps · 05-06-2009, 01:24 AM

I'd like to "second" this feature request. Having a shrunken image of the first page of text as a cover is kind of annoying. (For one thing, it makes the converted file load more slowly in my Kindle!) I would much prefer to enable text-only conversion, no cover page.

kovidgoyal · 05-06-2009, 02:18 AM

there isn't any good way to do this since the EPUB spec doesn't specify how to know if the first page of an EPUB is a cover or not. So when converting EPUB documents, calibre assumes it is.

pixnaps · 05-06-2009, 02:24 AM

Couldn't you just let users set calibre to instead assume that it isn't?

NASCARaddicted · 05-06-2009, 02:55 AM

I found a small workaround with the cover problem. I still need to do some more testing, but at least it helped me on some books. It may be tedious, but it also helped me with 3 other problems: mirrored images, spelling errors and bad formatting

At first I convert the pdf file to a html file (I use a programm called Mobipocket Creator - don't worry about advertising, Calibre is still better - feel free to edit the name out if you want). So after the conversion I have a html file and the cover (if there is one) in png format (and several other files). Well, I had a pdf ebook, with a big spelling error that was very obvious right in the Index. Also it was formatted wrong. Right in the middle of the sentence, there was a paragraph. (and that was still before the convertion). And after converting it to mobi, the front image was mirrored. So I edited the html file - I removed the spelling and the wrong paragraph. Also I removed the html command where it wants to show the image (something like <imgsrc="coverimage.png"/> - if you don't do that, you will have the symbol of a missing image in the final ebook)

So now I import the book in html format into Calibre. When I convert it, I tell Calibre to remove the first image and then I used the png image that I got by converting from pdf to html. After the convertion, it looks really fine.

And I just found out: if you don't have or don't want a cover image, it may be even easier, without the html stuff. I created myself a small image, just 10x10 pixels, completely in white. So during the convertion I tell Calibre to use this small image. After the convertion, the first page is all white, and the 2nd page looks fine. Of course, you can also use the matching cover image if you can find it on the internet, or if you scan it on your own. (but personally, I think editing the html file is worth the work - some pdf files are really badly formatted)

kovidgoyal · 05-06-2009, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixnaps

Couldn't you just let users set calibre to instead assume that it isn't?

I could, but I want to avoid option creep.

05-01-2009, 03:43 PM	#1
NASCARaddicted Addict Posts: 340 Karma: 43106 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Germany Device: BeBook One, Pocketbook Touch, Pocketbook Touch HD	Problems with Cover Images after converting Hello Maybe I missed something, but I looked in the faq and it didn't help me. I am getting a BeBook e-reader soon and so I already started to collect e-books. Most of them (but not all) are in pdf format, but as far as I know, pdf is not the best when it comes to e-readers. So I wanted to convert them to Mobipocket with Calibre 0.5.9. By the way, I am using Windows XP. There are several strange things with the outcoming Mobi files. At first I converted a pdf file that includes like 4 images. The first one is the cover, then an image from page 3. The 3rd image is very small, it's just one single word. Then, there comes the ebook itself and in the end, there is another image of the backcover. The strange thing is: after I converted it to mobi, all the 4 images are mirrored upside down. However, this is not my biggest problem. An even stranger problem (or maybe I missed something simple here) is this: I converted another pdf to mobi. Now, the characters on the first page look strange and hard to read. It is scalable - when I resize the window, the font also changes. It seems as if Calibre thought this page was the front image and converted it to an image. On the next page, it's the same page like before, but this time it is clear in normal characters. I attached an image to show you what I mean. And just to add: I know, pdf is not the best file format when it comes to converting, but in this case, the source file was an rtf file. But I also had the exact same thing with pdf files. In another case (also pdf) there is a cover image included). In this case, the first page shows the image and a few lines of the following text. And on the next page, the image comes again - but this time it is not scalable. So, how can I tell Calibre, that I don't want it to convert the first page to the cover ? If there is no image cover included, I don't need one. Attached Thumbnails

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05-01-2009, 04:00 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,853 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can't tell calibre to not use the first page as a cover as for the rotated images, that's a known bug in pdftohtml

05-01-2009, 04:03 PM	#3
NASCARaddicted Addict Posts: 340 Karma: 43106 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Germany Device: BeBook One, Pocketbook Touch, Pocketbook Touch HD	o.k. thanks for the fast reply (and I forgot to say thanks for Calibre itself) maybe you can add an option in a future update, where the user can select if he wants a cover or not. Of course, it is not that important, since I don't look that much at the cover. The text is much more imprtant. And that one works fine.

05-06-2009, 01:24 AM	#4
pixnaps Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle	I'd like to "second" this feature request. Having a shrunken image of the first page of text as a cover is kind of annoying. (For one thing, it makes the converted file load more slowly in my Kindle!) I would much prefer to enable text-only conversion, no cover page.

05-06-2009, 02:18 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,853 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	there isn't any good way to do this since the EPUB spec doesn't specify how to know if the first page of an EPUB is a cover or not. So when converting EPUB documents, calibre assumes it is.

05-06-2009, 02:24 AM	#6
pixnaps Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle	Couldn't you just let users set calibre to instead assume that it isn't?

05-06-2009, 02:55 AM	#7
NASCARaddicted Addict Posts: 340 Karma: 43106 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Germany Device: BeBook One, Pocketbook Touch, Pocketbook Touch HD	I found a small workaround with the cover problem. I still need to do some more testing, but at least it helped me on some books. It may be tedious, but it also helped me with 3 other problems: mirrored images, spelling errors and bad formatting At first I convert the pdf file to a html file (I use a programm called Mobipocket Creator - don't worry about advertising, Calibre is still better - feel free to edit the name out if you want). So after the conversion I have a html file and the cover (if there is one) in png format (and several other files). Well, I had a pdf ebook, with a big spelling error that was very obvious right in the Index. Also it was formatted wrong. Right in the middle of the sentence, there was a paragraph. (and that was still before the convertion). And after converting it to mobi, the front image was mirrored. So I edited the html file - I removed the spelling and the wrong paragraph. Also I removed the html command where it wants to show the image (something like <imgsrc="coverimage.png"/> - if you don't do that, you will have the symbol of a missing image in the final ebook) So now I import the book in html format into Calibre. When I convert it, I tell Calibre to remove the first image and then I used the png image that I got by converting from pdf to html. After the convertion, it looks really fine. And I just found out: if you don't have or don't want a cover image, it may be even easier, without the html stuff. I created myself a small image, just 10x10 pixels, completely in white. So during the convertion I tell Calibre to use this small image. After the convertion, the first page is all white, and the 2nd page looks fine. Of course, you can also use the matching cover image if you can find it on the internet, or if you scan it on your own. (but personally, I think editing the html file is worth the work - some pdf files are really badly formatted)

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