Cover view "export" ???

rjalex · 10-22-2013, 03:56 PM

Is there any way to produce a PDF or an HTML file with the all of my book covers similar to what I see in Cover View ?

I'd like to use it to show my family and friends what books I could let them read.

Thanks a lot.

BetterRed · 10-22-2013, 04:25 PM

@rjalex You can include cover images in an EPUB/AZW catalogue - I don't know enough about its options to say whether or not you could generate something resembling the cover grid - but that's where I'd start if I needed something like that

You could then convert the EPUB/AZW3 calalogue to PDF and or HTML

BR

Sabardeyn · 10-22-2013, 06:47 PM

Hmm, it might make more sense to do a 2 cell table layout. First cell has the cover image, the second cell has the blurb/book summary in it. Only problem is it would probably entail you creating a book summary column separate from Comments and, of course, copying or writing summaries. In this way you can limit the info that goes inside, preventing huge write-ups from appearing in your catalog. (I'm assuming you're downloading metadata including comments - which can have summaries, reviews and all kinds of other stuff.)

theducks · 10-22-2013, 07:31 PM

When you generate a Catalog, the thumbnails are stored in (Windows 7)
\users\<username>\Appdata\Local\calibre-cache\catalog\thumbs.zip

They appear to be filed by UUID, they will allow themselves to be opened with
Windows Picture viewer.

You might be able to print a 'thumbnail proof sheet'

BetterRed · 10-22-2013, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

When you generate a Catalog, the thumbnails are stored in (Windows 7)
\users\<username>\Appdata\Local\calibre-cache\catalog\thumbs.zip

They appear to be filed by UUID, they will allow themselves to be opened with
Windows Picture viewer.

You might be able to print a 'thumbnail proof sheet'

Aaah, that's nice - so just mail the zip to your friends, let them unpack and browse in their favourite image viewer, deleting the covers in which they're not interested, then they zip up what's left and mail to you with a kiss, and you send the corresponding books back to them.

BR

theducks · 10-22-2013, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Aaah, that's nice - so just mail the zip to your friends, let them unpack and browse in their favourite image viewer, deleting the covers in which they're not interested, then they zip up what's left and mail to you with a kiss, and you send the corresponding books back to them.

BR

By UUID is not very user friendly

They wound need to be able to read the Titles.
The files also have no extension

MartyTX · 10-22-2013, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

When you generate a Catalog, the thumbnails are stored in (Windows 7)
\users\<username>\Appdata\Local\calibre-cache\catalog\thumbs.zip

They appear to be filed by UUID, they will allow themselves to be opened with
Windows Picture viewer.

You might be able to print a 'thumbnail proof sheet'

theducks,

Thanks for the path to thumbs.zip.

I have Vista and "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" has been replaced by "Windows Photo Gallery". It looks like "Windows Photo Gallery" needs the "jpg" extension. Double-clicking a file in thumbs.zip before unzipping didn't work. Double-clicking after extraction didn't work either.

I had to unzip the files and run them through a freeware re-namer utility to add the ".jpg" extension. After that ... smooth sailing.

Marty

theducks · 10-22-2013, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyTX

theducks,

Thanks for the path to thumbs.zip.

I have Vista and "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" has been replaced by "Windows Photo Gallery". It looks like "Windows Photo Gallery" needs the "jpg" extension. Double-clicking a file in thumbs.zip before unzipping didn't work. Double-clicking after extraction didn't work either.

I had to unzip the files and run them through a freeware re-namer utility to add the ".jpg" extension. After that ... smooth sailing.

Marty

I have vanilla W7HP
All I did was Right click Open (With) Photo Viewer (from M$)

It did not care that there was no Extension (I think that is mainly used to choose the program to use in this case)

aleyx · 10-23-2013, 04:01 AM

You could also go the Content Server route, and make an epub of it using something like the GrabMyBook extention for Firefox (I'm sure there's similar things for other browsers).

I've no idea how the ebook would look like, though...

BetterRed · 10-23-2013, 04:47 AM

Sorry, I should have looked at them. IMO they are too small to send, even with a meaningful title and author names under them. I assumed theducks was suggesting making a contact sheet to give access to the full size covers.

One could write a script that traverses the library directory tree and copies the cover.jpgs to another folder renaming them on the fly to <parent folder name>.jpg - the parent folder name is unique as it incorporates the book id.

Then do whatever takes your fancy with that folder of images - e.g. make a pdf, with hot linking from contact sheet(s) to images, check boxes to tick to request the book... etc

BR

theducks · 10-23-2013, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Sorry, I should have looked at them. IMO they are too small to send, even with a meaningful title and author names under them. I assumed theducks was suggesting making a contact sheet to give access to the full size covers.

One could write a script that traverses the library directory tree and copies the cover.jpgs to another folder renaming them on the fly to <parent folder name>.jpg - the parent folder name is unique as it incorporates the book id.

Then do whatever takes your fancy with that folder of images - e.g. make a pdf, with hot linking from contact sheet(s) to images, check boxes to tick to request the book... etc

BR

The contact sheet was so someone could just LOOK at the covers (the OP's request)

I don't quite understand the reasoning for not just:
a) delivering the Catalog (as a book)
b) setting up a content server access

Because ,; to be able to 'Read',, one would assume they had access to a compatible device

MartyTX · 10-23-2013, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

I have vanilla W7HP
All I did was Right click Open (With) Photo Viewer (from M$)

It did not care that there was no Extension (I think that is mainly used to choose the program to use in this case)

theducks,

Tried several picture viewers on my Vista PC. Apple's "Picture Viewer" that's bundled with QuickTime worked fine as an "open-with" program without having to unzip the folder.

I export the covers from my NOOK to my PC. They are already named with the title and author and are in JPG format. However, the calibre-cache will be handy for the books I keep in a separate library that are not yet loaded onto the NOOK.

Thanks again,
Marty

rjalex · 10-24-2013, 02:12 AM

Thanks so much to all of you.
In my specific case I am not able to follow the "Catalog as an ebook"/"content server access" path since most of my friends / relatives do not have ANY ebook reader (yes I live in a primitive herd :-)).
So my need is just to show them the covers of the books I have in my collection on my Mac (more than I have on the Kindle of course), discuss about them, and then if they like them their call of buying them in any form I like.
Wonder if anyone knows where the thumbnails are on a Mac (ML).
Ciao !

theducks · 10-24-2013, 09:27 AM

The thumbnails will only exist IF you have created a Catalog that has needed them beforehand.

These are NOT maintained automatically. If you change a cover, you need to create another catalog to update the thumbnail

Preferences: Miscellaneous:open the Calibre Configuration folder
should get you close

No Reader. Do they have a Windows PC/MAC/Linux PC or smart phone with a WEB browser?

The content server (covers) can be used with almost any Internet Browser capable of showing pictures

aleyx · 10-24-2013, 09:42 AM

And if you can't (or don't want to) open your content server to the 'net, there's browser addons who can display epubs, with no additional software package (epubreader for Firefox, and probably more for other browsers).

And if they don't want to install anything at all, there's sites that can display epubs (magicscroll.net, etc).

Or you can just use Calibre to convert the ePub to .html and send them that ^_^

10-22-2013, 03:56 PM	#1
rjalex Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: kindle 3	Cover view "export" ??? Is there any way to produce a PDF or an HTML file with the all of my book covers similar to what I see in Cover View ? I'd like to use it to show my family and friends what books I could let them read. Thanks a lot.

10-22-2013, 04:25 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,550 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@rjalex You can include cover images in an EPUB/AZW catalogue - I don't know enough about its options to say whether or not you could generate something resembling the cover grid - but that's where I'd start if I needed something like that You could then convert the EPUB/AZW3 calalogue to PDF and or HTML BR Last edited by BetterRed; 10-22-2013 at 04:28 PM.

10-23-2013, 04:47 AM	#10
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,550 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Sorry, I should have looked at them. IMO they are too small to send, even with a meaningful title and author names under them. I assumed theducks was suggesting making a contact sheet to give access to the full size covers. One could write a script that traverses the library directory tree and copies the cover.jpgs to another folder renaming them on the fly to <parent folder name>.jpg - the parent folder name is unique as it incorporates the book id. Then do whatever takes your fancy with that folder of images - e.g. make a pdf, with hot linking from contact sheet(s) to images, check boxes to tick to request the book... etc BR Last edited by BetterRed; 10-23-2013 at 05:43 AM.

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10-22-2013, 06:47 PM	#3
Sabardeyn Guru Posts: 644 Karma: 1242364 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Right Coast Device: PC (Calibre), Nexus 7 2013 (Moon+ Pro), HTC HD2/Leo (Freda)	Hmm, it might make more sense to do a 2 cell table layout. First cell has the cover image, the second cell has the blurb/book summary in it. Only problem is it would probably entail you creating a book summary column separate from Comments and, of course, copying or writing summaries. In this way you can limit the info that goes inside, preventing huge write-ups from appearing in your catalog. (I'm assuming you're downloading metadata including comments - which can have summaries, reviews and all kinds of other stuff.)

10-22-2013, 07:31 PM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,778 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	When you generate a Catalog, the thumbnails are stored in (Windows 7) \users\<username>\Appdata\Local\calibre-cache\catalog\thumbs.zip They appear to be filed by UUID, they will allow themselves to be opened with Windows Picture viewer. You might be able to print a 'thumbnail proof sheet'

10-23-2013, 04:01 AM	#9
aleyx Addict Posts: 245 Karma: 20386 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: France Device: Cybook Diva	You could also go the Content Server route, and make an epub of it using something like the GrabMyBook extention for Firefox (I'm sure there's similar things for other browsers). I've no idea how the ebook would look like, though...

10-24-2013, 02:12 AM	#13
rjalex Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: kindle 3	Thanks so much to all of you. In my specific case I am not able to follow the "Catalog as an ebook"/"content server access" path since most of my friends / relatives do not have ANY ebook reader (yes I live in a primitive herd :-)). So my need is just to show them the covers of the books I have in my collection on my Mac (more than I have on the Kindle of course), discuss about them, and then if they like them their call of buying them in any form I like. Wonder if anyone knows where the thumbnails are on a Mac (ML). Ciao !

10-24-2013, 09:27 AM	#14
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,778 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	The thumbnails will only exist IF you have created a Catalog that has needed them beforehand. These are NOT maintained automatically. If you change a cover, you need to create another catalog to update the thumbnail Preferences: Miscellaneous:open the Calibre Configuration folder should get you close No Reader. Do they have a Windows PC/MAC/Linux PC or smart phone with a WEB browser? The content server (covers) can be used with almost any Internet Browser capable of showing pictures

10-24-2013, 09:42 AM	#15
aleyx Addict Posts: 245 Karma: 20386 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: France Device: Cybook Diva	And if you can't (or don't want to) open your content server to the 'net, there's browser addons who can display epubs, with no additional software package (epubreader for Firefox, and probably more for other browsers). And if they don't want to install anything at all, there's sites that can display epubs (magicscroll.net, etc). Or you can just use Calibre to convert the ePub to .html and send them that ^_^