Which Kindle Unpack program that meets my needs?

Julius Caesar · 08-28-2013, 12:29 PM

1. Works with AZW format, not just the newer KF8 format.
2. A standalone program that doesn't require Calibre to run.
3. Doesn't make any change to the original files inside the pack or stay as close as possible to the original files before being packed to the Kindle format.
4. Can be repacked with Kindlegen program from Amazon.

My book is NOT DRMed.

KevinH · 08-28-2013, 12:58 PM

Hi,

I think you may be a bit confused about the Kindle file formats. They are not simply "packed" and unpacked" like a "zip" archive might be. They are "compiled" by kindlegen.

That means:

- text is split into records and stored in a mobi database file

- all links to text are translated to file positions in the text, if multiple text files are input, the text file names are now gone after this process

- all links to images, movies, etc are translated to specific records and the original file names are gone

- all tocs and spine info is translated to indexes into the records

- all opf information is modified to be stored in the mobi header as appropriate

- etc.

So there is no such thing as not making changes, the entire compilation (whether mobi or kf8) makes lots of changes.

That said, KindleUnpack is the only standalone program (it is a python program) that can actually "unpack" both older mobi and newer "kf8" style files into their component parts and will attempt to recreate as much of the original structure as possible but this must entail creating file names for graphic files and adding anchors for link destinations, rebuilding the toc, and etc since all of this is lost in the "compile" process.

If you enable the "raw" switch with KindleUnpack it will dump the actual raw file that is stored in the records of the mobi/kf8 file. You can see all of the changes made to them.

The goal of KindleUnpack is to reverse the compilation process as best we can, allow you to make whatever changes you want, and then pass that modified file back into Kindlegen to be re-compiled.

For older mobi files this means generating an html 3 based html file, some opf, and images files

For KF8, this means unpacking and recreating the full opf, image files, inlining svg, rebuilding css, toc, etc into something that looks like an epub.

Your best bet, might be to stick to an epub input file, compile with Kindlegen, try it with various viewers, then fix or modify your input epub as needed. If you don't have the input epub, then unpacking it using KindleUnpack is the only way forward.

Hope this helps,

KevinH

Julius Caesar · 08-28-2013, 03:13 PM

Thanks Kevin for the clarification. Very helpful. Thanks again.

08-28-2013, 12:29 PM	#1
Julius Caesar Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 1244808 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Which Kindle Unpack program that meets my needs? 1. Works with AZW format, not just the newer KF8 format. 2. A standalone program that doesn't require Calibre to run. 3. Doesn't make any change to the original files inside the pack or stay as close as possible to the original files before being packed to the Kindle format. 4. Can be repacked with Kindlegen program from Amazon. My book is NOT DRMed.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
KindleTool: Create/Unpack Kindle update files	NiLuJe	Kindle Developer's Corner	189	12-21-2021 09:41 PM
Is there any way to "unpack" a pdb file?	bfollowell	Other formats	7	05-21-2011 04:26 PM
unpack requires a string argument of length 2	Sannepan	Calibre	2	02-23-2010 02:05 PM
By-the-Book Reader Meets the Kindle	GJN	News	1	05-29-2009 07:28 PM

08-28-2013, 12:58 PM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,630 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Hi, I think you may be a bit confused about the Kindle file formats. They are not simply "packed" and unpacked" like a "zip" archive might be. They are "compiled" by kindlegen. That means: - text is split into records and stored in a mobi database file - all links to text are translated to file positions in the text, if multiple text files are input, the text file names are now gone after this process - all links to images, movies, etc are translated to specific records and the original file names are gone - all tocs and spine info is translated to indexes into the records - all opf information is modified to be stored in the mobi header as appropriate - etc. So there is no such thing as not making changes, the entire compilation (whether mobi or kf8) makes lots of changes. That said, KindleUnpack is the only standalone program (it is a python program) that can actually "unpack" both older mobi and newer "kf8" style files into their component parts and will attempt to recreate as much of the original structure as possible but this must entail creating file names for graphic files and adding anchors for link destinations, rebuilding the toc, and etc since all of this is lost in the "compile" process. If you enable the "raw" switch with KindleUnpack it will dump the actual raw file that is stored in the records of the mobi/kf8 file. You can see all of the changes made to them. The goal of KindleUnpack is to reverse the compilation process as best we can, allow you to make whatever changes you want, and then pass that modified file back into Kindlegen to be re-compiled. For older mobi files this means generating an html 3 based html file, some opf, and images files For KF8, this means unpacking and recreating the full opf, image files, inlining svg, rebuilding css, toc, etc into something that looks like an epub. Your best bet, might be to stick to an epub input file, compile with Kindlegen, try it with various viewers, then fix or modify your input epub as needed. If you don't have the input epub, then unpacking it using KindleUnpack is the only way forward. Hope this helps, KevinH

08-28-2013, 03:13 PM	#3
Julius Caesar Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 1244808 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks Kevin for the clarification. Very helpful. Thanks again.

Advert