Touch Changing book cover via Calibre?

kobokobe · 09-09-2011, 06:11 PM

Hey folks,

I've been using the Kobo Touch since it first came out, but can't figure out how to change the book cover for sideloaded epub books. Calibre lets me download book covers from google, amazon, etc. and when I do, the book cover is changed in Calibre, but not in KT when I load it. No matter which cover I use on which epub, KT still shows the original cover that came with the epub when I downloaded it.

Does anyone know how to fix this, or know of a way to change the cover without using Calibre?

Thanks in advance!

Canorka · 09-09-2011, 06:35 PM

Do you covert the epub after adding the cover?

It's counterintuitive, but a simple epub to epub conversion will actually perform the cover integration.

rjcroy · 09-09-2011, 06:44 PM

Can Calibre do this for ADE DRM epubs? I am having this problem with book covers of purchased books sideloaded with Adobe Digital Editions.

For example, I have an ebook I purchased for my original Kobo 1 from Whitcoulls. Back then it had a nice cover picture. When I got my Kobo Touch I downloaded the book again from the Whitcoulls site and sideloaded it with ADE, and now the nice cover is gone, replaced with just the text of title and author. How can I put a good cover back onto the book?

Canorka · 09-09-2011, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcroy

Can Calibre do this for ADE DRM epubs? I am having this problem with book covers of purchased books sideloaded with Adobe Digital Editions.

For example, I have an ebook I purchased for my original Kobo 1 from Whitcoulls. Back then it had a nice cover picture. When I got my Kobo Touch I downloaded the book again from the Whitcoulls site and sideloaded it with ADE, and now the nice cover is gone, replaced with just the text of title and author. How can I put a good cover back onto the book?

To be succinct, DRM=SOL.

siraks · 09-09-2011, 07:22 PM

you're not SOL because of DRM, it is possible to strip DRM through calibre but you must search on ways to do it.

what you would need to do to change your covers though is to load the book into calibre, then change the cover, then convert the book to epub again so the cover and meta data will stick then load that onto the kobo.

The Terminator · 09-09-2011, 08:46 PM

Same thing Canorka said. With some books you have to convert them into E-pub (Even if they already are in E-pub format) after changing the cover.

rjcroy · 09-10-2011, 03:23 AM

@siraks, @Terminator: Thank you. Yes, this worked for me.

I do wish that it could be done without these kinds of tools though. Would be better if you could do it in ADE, etc.

kiwipippa · 09-10-2011, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjcroy

@siraks, @Terminator: Thank you. Yes, this worked for me.

I do wish that it could be done without these kinds of tools though. Would be better if you could do it in ADE, etc.

I have an even better idea. How about the publishers including the cover?

HarleyB · 09-10-2011, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

I have an even better idea. How about the publishers including the cover?

Oh WOW!! What an incredible idea!! I can't believe the publishers haven't thought of that!

Oh that's right - they don't care - they have our money and that's all that matters.

HarleyB · 09-10-2011, 05:28 AM

Actually this really bugs me now with the Touch. I have 2 books on my home screen without covers and I simply can't tell them apart as they both have the same generic grey book as the cover.
I suppose I should start playing in Calibre again but I much prefer to read. They used to have covers but somehow with all my resets and reloads over the past month the books on the Kobo right now have their covers missing.

rjcroy · 09-10-2011, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

I have an even better idea. How about the publishers including the cover?

Yeah, exactly!

Nigol · 09-11-2011, 04:46 PM

But be careful when doing a epub to epub conversion because calibre can alter the book and style quite a lot. That is why I have updated my tool (ePubFixer) to have an option to modify the cover only (and making it fit nicely without border on the KT).

It is only available from source right now.

rjcroy · 09-12-2011, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigol

But be careful when doing a epub to epub conversion because calibre can alter the book and style quite a lot. ....

This is true. But I did manage to tweak the settings on the converter to get it to format the text just as a like it. So in the end I had a better format than the original. And, in addition, the locked margins gets around the cut-off-lines bug to boot!

Still, that tool very useful. Cheers.

thp1017 · 09-12-2011, 12:01 PM

With the newer versions of calibre, for sure, you can do this easily via command-line, if you're comfortable with it - all you need to do is:

ebook-meta.exe book.ePub --cover coverImage.jpg

As far as I know this doesn't muck around with any internal formatting. You can use ebook-meta to update any metadata - title, author, series, cover image, etc.

Personally, I love the calibre command line tools, and hate the GUI

It is so much easier to type: "ebook-convert mybook.lit .ePub" to convert form a lit to ePub, or between any two formats. Any of the options you see in the GUI are available via command-line, and I actually ended up creating a small script that calls ebook-convert with my favorite options.

fps · 09-12-2011, 02:49 PM

I can't get this to work. With the command line way it seems to change the metadata, but the filesize of the epub stays the same and even in Calibre it doesn't show the new cover.
What would I have to do to disable the calibre format changes but still apply the new cover?

09-09-2011, 06:11 PM	#1
kobokobe I am what I am Posts: 179 Karma: 52789 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: An enormous, polar bear infested igloo that we call north of the 49. Device: Kobo Glo, Kobo Touch	Changing book cover via Calibre? Hey folks, I've been using the Kobo Touch since it first came out, but can't figure out how to change the book cover for sideloaded epub books. Calibre lets me download book covers from google, amazon, etc. and when I do, the book cover is changed in Calibre, but not in KT when I load it. No matter which cover I use on which epub, KT still shows the original cover that came with the epub when I downloaded it. Does anyone know how to fix this, or know of a way to change the cover without using Calibre? Thanks in advance!

09-12-2011, 12:01 PM	#14
thp1017 Connoisseur Posts: 82 Karma: 13557 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Device: Kobo, KT, KGlo, H2O, Libra	command line options With the newer versions of calibre, for sure, you can do this easily via command-line, if you're comfortable with it - all you need to do is: ebook-meta.exe book.ePub --cover coverImage.jpg As far as I know this doesn't muck around with any internal formatting. You can use ebook-meta to update any metadata - title, author, series, cover image, etc. Personally, I love the calibre command line tools, and hate the GUI It is so much easier to type: "ebook-convert mybook.lit .ePub" to convert form a lit to ePub, or between any two formats. Any of the options you see in the GUI are available via command-line, and I actually ended up creating a small script that calls ebook-convert with my favorite options.

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09-09-2011, 06:35 PM	#2
Canorka Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 4254 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Norway Device: Kobo Touch	Do you covert the epub after adding the cover? It's counterintuitive, but a simple epub to epub conversion will actually perform the cover integration.

09-09-2011, 06:44 PM	#3
rjcroy Bibliophile Posts: 167 Karma: 1147338 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kobo Touch	Can Calibre do this for ADE DRM epubs? I am having this problem with book covers of purchased books sideloaded with Adobe Digital Editions. For example, I have an ebook I purchased for my original Kobo 1 from Whitcoulls. Back then it had a nice cover picture. When I got my Kobo Touch I downloaded the book again from the Whitcoulls site and sideloaded it with ADE, and now the nice cover is gone, replaced with just the text of title and author. How can I put a good cover back onto the book?

09-09-2011, 07:22 PM	#5
siraks use the force Posts: 575 Karma: 564666 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ontario Device: Kobo Touch, Lenovo K1	you're not SOL because of DRM, it is possible to strip DRM through calibre but you must search on ways to do it. what you would need to do to change your covers though is to load the book into calibre, then change the cover, then convert the book to epub again so the cover and meta data will stick then load that onto the kobo.

09-09-2011, 08:46 PM	#6
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	Same thing Canorka said. With some books you have to convert them into E-pub (Even if they already are in E-pub format) after changing the cover.

09-10-2011, 03:23 AM	#7
rjcroy Bibliophile Posts: 167 Karma: 1147338 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kobo Touch	@siraks, @Terminator: Thank you. Yes, this worked for me. I do wish that it could be done without these kinds of tools though. Would be better if you could do it in ADE, etc.

09-10-2011, 05:28 AM	#10
HarleyB Fanatic Posts: 565 Karma: 1113286 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast Australia Device: Kobo (RIP), iPad, iPhone 4, Kobo Touch x2, Kobo Glo	Actually this really bugs me now with the Touch. I have 2 books on my home screen without covers and I simply can't tell them apart as they both have the same generic grey book as the cover. I suppose I should start playing in Calibre again but I much prefer to read. They used to have covers but somehow with all my resets and reloads over the past month the books on the Kobo right now have their covers missing.

09-11-2011, 04:46 PM	#12
Nigol Groupie Posts: 184 Karma: 363616 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Montreal, Canada Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Touch	But be careful when doing a epub to epub conversion because calibre can alter the book and style quite a lot. That is why I have updated my tool (ePubFixer) to have an option to modify the cover only (and making it fit nicely without border on the KT). It is only available from source right now.

09-12-2011, 02:49 PM	#15
fps Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 70 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kobo Touch	I can't get this to work. With the command line way it seems to change the metadata, but the filesize of the epub stays the same and even in Calibre it doesn't show the new cover. What would I have to do to disable the calibre format changes but still apply the new cover?

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