Correcting mobi book for personal use?

krazy4katz · 12-29-2009, 01:18 PM

Hi,

Not sure where to post this question -- sorry if this is the wrong place.

I downloaded the ePub version of Doris Stevens' "Jailed for Freedom" from GoogleBooks and converted it to Mobi to read on my Kindle. Great book by the way! About the fight by suffragettes for the right of women to vote and their struggles with Woodrow Wilson. Amazon sells this book in kindle format, but it does not have the photographs that were in the original book. None of the other versions (Gutenberg etc.) has the photos either.

Because the Googlebook version was scanned in, there are mistakes due to the OCR. Is there software I can use to correct the text just for my own use? I own a Mac.

Thank you!

k4k

osnova · 12-29-2009, 01:35 PM

The best OCR software that I know and use myself is Fine Reader. I have FR v. 8, they are now up to v. 9 or 10. Remember though that the quality of the input scan determines the quality of the OCR results. Sometimes I have found it useful to manipulate the scans (clean them up, increase the resolution, delete garbage like the scanning person's fingers and the shadows on the sides) before feeding them to Fine Reader. One of the best clean-up programs is Scan Kromsator and it's free (http://www.bolega.hotmail.ru/). However, it is impossibly hard to learn how to use.

Once you've done the best OCR job you can, then the hard part of manual proofreading begins. The OCR program will take you only so far.

HarryT · 12-29-2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazy4katz

Hi,

Not sure where to post this question -- sorry if this is the wrong place.

I downloaded the ePub version of Doris Stevens' "Jailed for Freedom" from GoogleBooks and converted it to Mobi to read on my Kindle. Great book by the way! About the fight by suffragettes for the right of women to vote and their struggles with Woodrow Wilson. Amazon sells this book in kindle format, but it does not have the photographs that were in the original book. None of the other versions (Gutenberg etc.) has the photos either.

Because the Googlebook version was scanned in, there are mistakes due to the OCR. Is there software I can use to correct the text just for my own use? I own a Mac.

Thank you!

k4k

Expand the Mobi book to its HTML source (using tompe's free tools); you can then edit the HTML (with any text editor), then rebuild the Mobi file (again with tompe's tools).

krazy4katz · 12-30-2009, 12:15 AM

Thank everyone. Harry, maybe some day when you finish Dickens, you can do the perfect edition of this book.

pdurrant · 01-08-2010, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazy4katz

I downloaded the ePub version of Doris Stevens' "Jailed for Freedom" from GoogleBooks and converted it to Mobi to read on my Kindle.
[...]
Because the Googlebook version was scanned in, there are mistakes due to the OCR. Is there software I can use to correct the text just for my own use? I own a Mac.

ePubs are a zipped set of files, including HTML text. Change the extension on your .ePub to .zip, and expand the folder by double-clicking it. You can now edit the HTML, perhaps comparing with the Gutenberg version. Once you're happy with the text, re-zip using my Applescript, https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55681 and then re-convert to Mobipocket.

krazy4katz · 01-08-2010, 07:28 PM

Thanks, pdurrant! I'll try that! k4k

ETA: Another question! What program do I use to edit the xml files? If I open them in Word, I lose the formatting. If I open in a browser program, I can't seem to edit.

Thanks again, k4k

JSWolf · 01-08-2010, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Expand the Mobi book to its HTML source (using tompe's free tools); you can then edit the HTML (with any text editor), then rebuild the Mobi file (again with tompe's tools).

It would be a lot easier to correct the ePub and convert again back to Mobipocket.

BeccaAnn · 01-08-2010, 10:03 PM

Would tompe's tools work for the books from Amazon that I have stripped using skindle's program? I noticed after converting them to lrf in Calibre that some of the words are misspelled or even just the wrong word. Or is this problem with the conversion and not the original mobi file? BTW, I haven't checked the original mobi file to see if the problems are there, I keep forgetting when I'm near my laptop, as I read the books on my Sony 505.

pdurrant · 01-09-2010, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazy4katz

Another question! What program do I use to edit the xml files? If I open them in Word, I lose the formatting. If I open in a browser program, I can't seem to edit.

You need a text editor, rather than a word processor. I recommend the free TextWrangler from Bare Bones software.

http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

pdurrant · 01-09-2010, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaAnn

Would tompe's tools work for the books from Amazon that I have stripped using skindle's program?

Yes. But editing ePubs is a lot easier, and since you're intending to read them on your PRS-505, I'd suggest:

Strip the DRM
Convert to ePub
Edit the ePub
Read on your PRS-505

12-29-2009, 01:18 PM	#1
krazy4katz Addict Posts: 367 Karma: 1552656 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: [Kindle 1, Kindle 3 (KK)], Kindle Voyage, iPad Pro	Correcting mobi book for personal use? Hi, Not sure where to post this question -- sorry if this is the wrong place. I downloaded the ePub version of Doris Stevens' "Jailed for Freedom" from GoogleBooks and converted it to Mobi to read on my Kindle. Great book by the way! About the fight by suffragettes for the right of women to vote and their struggles with Woodrow Wilson. Amazon sells this book in kindle format, but it does not have the photographs that were in the original book. None of the other versions (Gutenberg etc.) has the photos either. Because the Googlebook version was scanned in, there are mistakes due to the OCR. Is there software I can use to correct the text just for my own use? I own a Mac. Thank you! k4k

01-08-2010, 07:28 PM	#6
krazy4katz Addict Posts: 367 Karma: 1552656 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: [Kindle 1, Kindle 3 (KK)], Kindle Voyage, iPad Pro	Thanks, pdurrant! I'll try that! k4k ETA: Another question! What program do I use to edit the xml files? If I open them in Word, I lose the formatting. If I open in a browser program, I can't seem to edit. Thanks again, k4k Last edited by krazy4katz; 01-08-2010 at 07:49 PM.

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12-29-2009, 01:35 PM	#2
osnova Kindler of the Flame Posts: 582 Karma: 646016 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: US of A Device: K DX,3,KT,KP,KF, KFHD; Nook C, PRS600, iPad, Xoom, N900, N810, Zaurus	The best OCR software that I know and use myself is Fine Reader. I have FR v. 8, they are now up to v. 9 or 10. Remember though that the quality of the input scan determines the quality of the OCR results. Sometimes I have found it useful to manipulate the scans (clean them up, increase the resolution, delete garbage like the scanning person's fingers and the shadows on the sides) before feeding them to Fine Reader. One of the best clean-up programs is Scan Kromsator and it's free (http://www.bolega.hotmail.ru/). However, it is impossibly hard to learn how to use. Once you've done the best OCR job you can, then the hard part of manual proofreading begins. The OCR program will take you only so far.

12-30-2009, 12:15 AM	#4
krazy4katz Addict Posts: 367 Karma: 1552656 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: [Kindle 1, Kindle 3 (KK)], Kindle Voyage, iPad Pro	Thank everyone. Harry, maybe some day when you finish Dickens, you can do the perfect edition of this book.

01-08-2010, 10:03 PM	#8
BeccaAnn Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 660 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Spearfish, SD, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	Would tompe's tools work for the books from Amazon that I have stripped using skindle's program? I noticed after converting them to lrf in Calibre that some of the words are misspelled or even just the wrong word. Or is this problem with the conversion and not the original mobi file? BTW, I haven't checked the original mobi file to see if the problems are there, I keep forgetting when I'm near my laptop, as I read the books on my Sony 505.

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