A few questions

Noughty · 12-09-2011, 02:06 PM

I actually bought kindle but I can still return it. I wanted to clarify about a few things which I noticed with kindle, if any other readers can do them or not.

Firstly, do any of the readers support metadata (book blurbs, tags, series info etc)?
Secondly, do they show you series information about the book? So you know if book is a part of a series and which it is. I don't see no way to check this on kindle.

I know some of the readers support pdfs. What about pictures? A comfortable way to zoom in and most importantly gradual move in the picture (not instantly moving to the next part of the picture)

Can you check a book as read? (For this you could use collection in kindle. The way dots only shows where you are as you left the book, so if you went to the beginning the book looks as you just started reading it). So this is minor.

I think that's it for now. I have other complains, but they are manageable.

I'd appreciate it, if you mentioned any readers which do the above and are available in UK. Please do not recommend a very expensive ones.

jocampo · 12-09-2011, 02:54 PM

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as the book has DRM protection (bought on Amazon or B&N) I do not think you can play with metadata. You need to break the DRM 1st and later, play with it, with Calibre, for example.

Yes, MOBI books have metadata, like ePub.

In terms of PDF, that's not an ebook format. So it will be a hit or miss, depending of the book itself, not the reader. But I do like Kindle better, at least Kindle keyboard or the new Kindle wifi; you have landscape, so it is easier to read some PDFs that way. But for a better experience, I usually recommend a 10" inch tablet. But it is doable on 6" screen.

Not sure about the "series" question, I usually do not read novels, but non fiction ;-) ...

HarryT · 12-09-2011, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jocampo

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as the book has DRM protection (bought on Amazon or B&N) I do not think you can play with metadata. You need to break the DRM 1st and later, play with it, with Calibre, for example.

No, that's not actually true. Metadata in a Mobi book is stored "outside" the DRM'd content, which means that you can edit the metadata even if the book has DRM.

Quote:

Not sure about the "series" question, I usually do not read novels, but non fiction ;-) ...

Take a look at "plugboards" in Calibre. This is a feature which lets you automatically append a series name and number to the book's title when you send it to your reader. So, for example, on my Kindle, when I look at the titles I have:

Poirot 01 - The Mysterioud Affair at Styles
Poirot 02 - The Murder on the Links

and so on.

Noughty · 12-09-2011, 03:04 PM

Mobi has metadata but kindle doesn't read it. There are no blurbs, series info.

I do not buy from big sellers so I don't think I have a single book with DRM. Small publishers give me wide range of formats without any restrictions.

I think series problem is solved in Kindle using calibre. Will have to check it out.

What about metadata includint blurbs?
With kindle it seems the only way to have blurbs is to convert all mobi books to mobi adding metadata as first page using calibre. I'd rather not. Afraid of damaging the original format in some way because of the convert settings.

jocampo · 12-09-2011, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, that's not actually true. Metadata in a Mobi book is stored "outside" the DRM'd content, which means that you can edit the metadata even if the book has DRM.

Hmmm... how ... when I tried to do that via Calibre, with an Amazon book, Calibre did not let me open it.

By the way, I'm using the Linux version of Calibre, which I have not upgraded in several months.

HarryT · 12-09-2011, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hmmm... how ... when I tried to do that via Calibre, with an Amazon book, Calibre did not let me open it.

Perhaps it's a restriction of Calibre. You can certainly edit the metadata using Tompe's "mobi2mobi" command-line tools.

Given, however, the extreme ease of removing DRM from Mobi books, it's rather a non-issue.

Noughty · 12-09-2011, 03:13 PM

Calibre is very serious about books with DRM. It doesn't let to do anything with them. I'm not sure you can even open them

HarryT · 12-09-2011, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noughty

Mobi has metadata but kindle doesn't read it. There are no blurbs, series info.

I do not buy from big sellers so I don't think I have a single book with DRM. Small publishers give me wide range of formats without any restrictions.

I think series problem is solved in Kindle using calibre. Will have to check it out.

What about metadata includint blurbs?
With kindle it seems the only way to have blurbs is to convert all mobi books to mobi adding metadata as first page using calibre. I'd rather not. Afraid of damaging the original format in some way because of the convert settings.

The Kindle will display some metadata fields, such as title and author, but you're right - most metadata is not displayed.

You don't have to worry about damaging the original book doing Calibre conversions. Calibre will retain your original book, and you can always go back to it if anything goes wrong. It's not very likely that it will, though; Calibre is an extremely reliable program.

Noughty · 12-09-2011, 03:18 PM

Will have to go and convert them all. Some are already converted this way so I wonder if converting will add metadata page twice... Any way to see if book was already converted (if it doesn't have original_mobi in formats - it's a give away)?

This leaves only pdfs since you probably can't add metadata as first page. Haven't tried that.

HarryT · 12-09-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noughty

Will have to go and convert them all. Some are already converted this way so I wonder if converting will add metadata page twice... Any way to see if book was already converted (if it doesn't have original_mobi in formats - it's a give away)?

That's right. If you've done a "mobi to mobi" conversion, the format list for the book will include "original_mobi"; if you haven't, it won't.

jocampo · 12-09-2011, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps it's a restriction of Calibre. You can certainly edit the metadata using Tompe's "mobi2mobi" command-line tools.

Given, however, the extreme ease of removing DRM from Mobi books, it's rather a non-issue.

Well, that was my point

... I am able to, without DRM (using Calibre) ... not with it ...

Noughty · 12-11-2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's right. If you've done a "mobi to mobi" conversion, the format list for the book will include "original_mobi"; if you haven't, it won't.

Seems like something is wrong. I do have 10 books with Mobi_original, but I definitely converted more books. Also I just converted a bunch of mobi to mobi and originals weren't saved.

12-09-2011, 02:06 PM	#1
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	A few questions I actually bought kindle but I can still return it. I wanted to clarify about a few things which I noticed with kindle, if any other readers can do them or not. Firstly, do any of the readers support metadata (book blurbs, tags, series info etc)? Secondly, do they show you series information about the book? So you know if book is a part of a series and which it is. I don't see no way to check this on kindle. I know some of the readers support pdfs. What about pictures? A comfortable way to zoom in and most importantly gradual move in the picture (not instantly moving to the next part of the picture) Can you check a book as read? (For this you could use collection in kindle. The way dots only shows where you are as you left the book, so if you went to the beginning the book looks as you just started reading it). So this is minor. I think that's it for now. I have other complains, but they are manageable. I'd appreciate it, if you mentioned any readers which do the above and are available in UK. Please do not recommend a very expensive ones.

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12-09-2011, 02:54 PM	#2
jocampo Layback feline Posts: 3,034 Karma: 6980745 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: USA Device: Oasis 2nd gen, Sony DPTS1, iPad Pro 10.5"	Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as the book has DRM protection (bought on Amazon or B&N) I do not think you can play with metadata. You need to break the DRM 1st and later, play with it, with Calibre, for example. Yes, MOBI books have metadata, like ePub. In terms of PDF, that's not an ebook format. So it will be a hit or miss, depending of the book itself, not the reader. But I do like Kindle better, at least Kindle keyboard or the new Kindle wifi; you have landscape, so it is easier to read some PDFs that way. But for a better experience, I usually recommend a 10" inch tablet. But it is doable on 6" screen. Not sure about the "series" question, I usually do not read novels, but non fiction ;-) ...

12-09-2011, 03:04 PM	#4
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	Mobi has metadata but kindle doesn't read it. There are no blurbs, series info. I do not buy from big sellers so I don't think I have a single book with DRM. Small publishers give me wide range of formats without any restrictions. I think series problem is solved in Kindle using calibre. Will have to check it out. What about metadata includint blurbs? With kindle it seems the only way to have blurbs is to convert all mobi books to mobi adding metadata as first page using calibre. I'd rather not. Afraid of damaging the original format in some way because of the convert settings.

12-09-2011, 03:13 PM	#7
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	Calibre is very serious about books with DRM. It doesn't let to do anything with them. I'm not sure you can even open them

12-09-2011, 03:18 PM	#9
Noughty Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 103850 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle NT	Will have to go and convert them all. Some are already converted this way so I wonder if converting will add metadata page twice... Any way to see if book was already converted (if it doesn't have original_mobi in formats - it's a give away)? This leaves only pdfs since you probably can't add metadata as first page. Haven't tried that.

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