ePub to ePub - just replace CSS?

[ChristopherTD]

I am experimenting with how to get ePub books to render nicely on my Sony PRS-600. This isn't a problem with format shifted titles as the Calibre conversion with some Custom CSS works nicely.

However, books purchased natively in ePub format are very variable and don't yield nicely to a simple fix. Looking further at a particularly obstinate title (Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson) I turned on the debug option and looked at the various stages. It occurred to me that the simplest way to influence the appearance was simply hand editting the CSS in the "input" folder and then rebundling up the book from there. This works nicely and has the advantage that it hasn't been "translated" (just in case that subtly alters something).

So...

Is it feasible to have 2 extra options in Calibre?

Extract CSS - to extract the CSS from an ePub book and pop it into the directory where Calibre stores the book

Replace CSS - to reinsert the CSS from that (following edit) into the book?

Is there even a standard name/location for CSS? If there was and these two options were available it would dramatically simplify messing with the appearance of an ePub book, without altering the actual book content?

Vaguely possible or wildly improbable?

[kovidgoyal]

Why not just convert from epub to epub. Disable the font size rescaling, and use extra css.

[ChristopherTD]

Converting from ePub to ePub doesn't always work for books with oddly named styles - or else I am not able to specify a wide enough scope in my extra CSS snippet.

For instance the book I was fiddling with had about 20 styles named p.* and they didn't get amended?
i.e.
p.para
{
font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;
font-size:medium;
margin-top:0em;
margin-bottom:0em;
text-align:justify;
text-indent:0em;
}

Could I influence them all with a statement like:

p {
line-height: 130%
font-family:"DroidSerif", serif;
}

[kovidgoyal]

You have to use a selector of at least as high a specificity. So p.para will do the trick.

[ChristopherTD]

OK thanks - I will continue to experiment.

[jackie_w]

The biggest problem I have found with EPUB to EPUB in Calibre is that I invariably don't get the conversion parameters quite right the first time and have to keep refining them.

With any other source input format this is trivial but with EPUB/EPUB the source is overwritten by the converted output and I therefore have to reimport the original before having another go.

None of this is difficult but it is certainly not as convenient as keeping the input source separate from the converted output.

Would it be possible for Calibre to retain the original when the input and output formats are the same? Is it worth me raising an "enhancement ticket".

[kovidgoyal]

The way the database is setup, preserving the original would be rather difficult to implement. I suppose the GUI could just make a copy of the file before handing of the original to be converted, but that wouldn't really be much more convenient.

[jackie_w]

OK, thank you. I just thought I'd ask.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

With any other source input format this is trivial but with EPUB/EPUB the source is overwritten by the converted output and I therefore have to reimport the original before having another go.

I'm not sure what you mean by reimport. What I do if my epub -> epub conversion goes wrong is

1. select book
2. select edit metadata
3. under available formats I delete the malformed epub.
4. under available formats I add the original epup.

This is quicker (and maintains metadata) than removing the book and adding it again via the main menu.

Still not the most convenient it could be.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I'm not sure what you mean by reimport.

Yes, Walt, that is exactly what I meant by "reimport".

My only complaint (probably nit-picky) is that it is an extra step not necessary with any other input format.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Yes, Walt, that is exactly what I meant by "reimport".

My only complaint (probably nit-picky) is that it is an extra step not necessary with any other input format.

Not nit-picky at all.

In the words of a past president, "I feel your pain."

[ChristopherTD]

The additional painful bit for me is that I have to transfer the book to the Sony to see if it worked! I may have to bite the bullet and jailbreak the device so that I can edit the location of the default stylesheet. Or maybe Sony will release firmware that allows basic appearance tweaks - change font, change font size, change margins.

[see flying pig]

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by ChristopherTD

The additional painful bit for me is that I have to transfer the book to the Sony to see if it worked! I may have to bite the bullet and jailbreak the device so that I can edit the location of the default stylesheet. Or maybe Sony will release firmware that allows basic appearance tweaks - change font, change font size, change margins.

[see flying pig]

Why do you have to send it to the reader to see if it worked?

[ChristopherTD]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Why do you have to send it to the reader to see if it worked?

Just because I am not yet familiar enough with the Sony to know how my changes will appear on the PRS-600. The Calibre/ADE/Sony Reader viewers all behave slightly differently in how they render an ePub. As I am trying to tailor the CSS so that it looks great on the Sony, I really need to look at it on that device...

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by ChristopherTD

Just because I am not yet familiar enough with the Sony to know how my changes will appear on the PRS-600. The Calibre/ADE/Sony Reader viewers all behave slightly differently in how they render an ePub. As I am trying to tailor the CSS so that it looks great on the Sony, I really need to look at it on that device...

Thanks for the answer.

Most of the time I can tell if it got screwed up using Calibre's viewer. Noticing the difference once on the device has a level of attention to detail that is beyond me. If you get a standard set of css settings that work best for you on the 600 past them along.