Newbie: Intro and my impressions of Calibre

[VulcanRidr]

Hello,

I just found Calibre a few weeks ago, since Plucker is long in the tooth, doesn't handle tables and images correctly, and doesn't do epub format.

My reader is a Nokia N810 running FBreader, which is a fairly good reader, but the N810's screen is 800x480, and I have it rotated to portrait, which means that means that images don't necessarily render properly.

I have a couple of concerns/issues with Calibre, but this is a great application, and i have been busily converting many books, including my entire Baen Books library to Calibre/epub. So I figured I would filter my concerns here to make sure I am not missing something, then I will open bug reports on the truly bug worthy items.

Here is my list thus far:

1. Links in pdf files to text elsewhere in the same pdf are not active. They
appear as links (blue) but cannot be clicked on.

2. I would like the ability to download via ssh/rsync, e.g. to N810. The user would define the ssh parameters and/or sync directory wihtin a dialog and be able to Send to Device to something via wireless or network.

3. The ability to save thumbnails of embedded images (e.g. for small
devices, like the N810's 800x480 screen) within the document. There
is also no way to scroll to see the entire image. On some reader apps (I used to use OpieReader on my Zaurus), images would be a clickable thumbnail within the text, and clicking would give you a full-size scrollable image.

So which are bug-report items and which have I missed in perusing the docs?

Thanks,
--vr

[user_none]

Originally Posted by VulcanRidr

1. Links in pdf files to text elsewhere in the same pdf are not active. They
appear as links (blue) but cannot be clicked on.

This is a known issue. The PDF rendering library calibre uses does not support clickable links.

Originally Posted by VulcanRidr

3. The ability to save thumbnails of embedded images (e.g. for small
devices, like the N810's 800x480 screen) within the document. There
is also no way to scroll to see the entire image. On some reader apps (I used to use OpieReader on my Zaurus), images would be a clickable thumbnail within the text, and clicking would give you a full-size scrollable image.

What format(s) are you using? EPUB viewers for instance should resize the image to fit the screen.

You can open tickets for features and bugs at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/.

[VulcanRidr]

Originally Posted by user_none

This is a known issue. The PDF rendering library calibre uses does not support clickable links.

Aha. Thank you for that. Are there plans in the future to use a different rendering library? And at present, would it be a better idea to use an html converter, possibly even running it through google's "View as html" option?

What format(s) are you using? EPUB viewers for instance should resize the image to fit the screen.

epub, converted from pdf. I will attach both to this message for your review. I tried it on my desktop FBReader (Debian/sid) as well as on the Nokia tablet, and the effect was more pronounced on the narrower screen.

You can open tickets for features and bugs at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/.

I know, I just didn't want to open tickets on things that are a) known issues or b) things that I just hadn't figured out yet.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by user_none

What format(s) are you using? EPUB viewers for instance should resize the image to fit the screen.

Really? I've seen images in ADE too large for the screen/page, and no way to scroll or resize them. The Mobipocket reader seems to resize large images, though.

[user_none]

Originally Posted by VulcanRidr

Aha. Thank you for that. Are there plans in the future to use a different rendering library? And at present, would it be a better idea to use an html converter, possibly even running it through google's "View as html" option?

It is being run through an HTML renderer. It is rendered in a QWebView then the print as PDF support is used. Qt's PDF output does not support links at this time. There are no plans to move to a different library because this produces the most accurate results out of the renderers I evaluated while implementing PDF output. Google would not be an option because that would require an active internet connection.

Originally Posted by VulcanRidr

epub, converted from pdf. I will attach both to this message for your review. I tried it on my desktop FBReader (Debian/sid) as well as on the Nokia tablet, and the effect was more pronounced on the narrower screen.

FBReader doesn't have very good EPUB support. Open a ticket for an option to use thumbnails instead full size images.

Originally Posted by Jellby

Really? I've seen images in ADE too large for the screen/page, and no way to scroll or resize them. The Mobipocket reader seems to resize large images, though.

That's why I said should, but not all viewers are as good as calibre's