Smart Quotes

crutledge · 12-23-2012, 09:10 AM

A Calibre tool to convert common quotes to smart quotes has been mentioned in another forum,

Will someone please point mr to it?
Thanks!

Gunnerp245 · 12-23-2012, 09:23 AM

Two methods; select the function when converting, e.g. Look & Feel or for epubs use the Modify epub plugin.

Edit:
From the User Manual;
http://daringfireball.net/projects/smartypants

DoctorOhh · 12-24-2012, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunnerp245

Quote:

Originally Posted by crutledge

A Calibre tool to convert common quotes to smart quotes has been mentioned in another forum,

Will someone please point mr to it?

Two methods; select the function when converting, e.g. Look & Feel or for epubs use the Modify epub plugin.

In case you missed it the option in calibre (Preferences - Common options - Look & Feel) and the Modify ePub plugin is called Smarten punctuation.

HarryT · 12-24-2012, 03:30 PM

Be warned, though, it's far from perfect, especially when you have nested quotation marks. If you do use it, make sure that you go through your book afterwards and check carefully to see what it's done.

Ripplinger · 12-24-2012, 05:29 PM

I've used the option before, and where it definitely messed up is the single quote in front of words like 'Twas. It put the wrong direction smart quote there as if it was starting a new quote. So definitely check the entire book after converting to smart quotes.

DiapDealer · 12-27-2012, 02:01 PM

Quote:

I've used the option before, and where it definitely messed up is the single quote in front of words like 'Twas. It put the wrong direction smart quote there as if it was starting a new quote.

That's a known issue with the Smarty Pants code that calibre uses. It makes no bones about not being able to deal with that particular situation.

Quote:

Algorithmic Shortcomings
------------------------

One situation in which quotes will get curled the wrong way is when
apostrophes are used at the start of leading contractions. For example:

"'Twas the night before Christmas."

In the case above, SmartyPants will turn the apostrophe into an opening
single-quote, when in fact it should be a closing one. I don't think
this problem can be solved in the general case -- every word processor
I've tried gets this wrong as well. In such cases, it's best to use the
proper HTML entity for closing single-quotes by hand.

Kirtai · 12-27-2012, 05:10 PM

I don't believe they handle correctly mismatched quotes properly either, though I've never heard of anything that does. (The ones used in multi-paragraph quotes)

DiapDealer · 12-27-2012, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirtai

I don't believe they handle correctly mismatched quotes properly either, though I've never heard of anything that does. (The ones used in multi-paragraph quotes)

Exactly. That's another one of the instances that are more algorithm-resistant.

Ripplinger · 12-27-2012, 07:35 PM

I also found 2 instances where at the end of a normal spoken text the wrong direction double quote was used. It was also preceded by a space in both instances for some reason, it's possible a space was erroneously there to begin with and that threw off the conversion.

This isn't meant to be a criticism of the process, using the conversion is still so much quicker than trying to replace them yourself and I'd say it turns out 99.9% correct (at least that's been my experience so far). Just be aware you should still check it over afterwards, it's not 100% perfect.

12-23-2012, 09:10 AM	#1
crutledge eBook FANatic Posts: 18,301 Karma: 16071131 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Alabama, USA Device: HP ipac RX5915 Wife's Kindle	Smart Quotes A Calibre tool to convert common quotes to smart quotes has been mentioned in another forum, Will someone please point mr to it? Thanks!

12-23-2012, 09:23 AM	#2
Gunnerp245 Gadget Freak Posts: 1,169 Karma: 1043832 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: US Device: EE, Note 8	Two methods; select the function when converting, e.g. Look & Feel or for epubs use the Modify epub plugin. Edit: From the User Manual; http://daringfireball.net/projects/smartypants Last edited by Gunnerp245; 12-23-2012 at 09:34 AM. Reason: Added information

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Smart Quotes	Paxman53	Sigil	15	02-15-2012 08:31 PM
Smart Quotes	Toxaris	ePub	2	05-31-2010 10:32 AM
Smart quotes in XHTML?	MaggieScratch	ePub	12	03-28-2009 05:53 PM
Removing smart quotes	horseyride	Workshop	8	03-06-2008 12:08 PM
Smart quotes in RTF?	ogghead	Sony Reader	8	01-23-2007 06:38 PM

12-24-2012, 03:30 PM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Be warned, though, it's far from perfect, especially when you have nested quotation marks. If you do use it, make sure that you go through your book afterwards and check carefully to see what it's done.

12-24-2012, 05:29 PM	#5
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I've used the option before, and where it definitely messed up is the single quote in front of words like 'Twas. It put the wrong direction smart quote there as if it was starting a new quote. So definitely check the entire book after converting to smart quotes.

12-27-2012, 05:10 PM	#7
Kirtai Addict Posts: 304 Karma: 2454436 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: PRS-505, PRS-650, iPad, Samsung Galaxy SII (JB), Google Nexus 7 (2013)	I don't believe they handle correctly mismatched quotes properly either, though I've never heard of anything that does. (The ones used in multi-paragraph quotes)

12-27-2012, 07:35 PM	#9
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I also found 2 instances where at the end of a normal spoken text the wrong direction double quote was used. It was also preceded by a space in both instances for some reason, it's possible a space was erroneously there to begin with and that threw off the conversion. This isn't meant to be a criticism of the process, using the conversion is still so much quicker than trying to replace them yourself and I'd say it turns out 99.9% correct (at least that's been my experience so far). Just be aware you should still check it over afterwards, it's not 100% perfect.

Advert

Advert