PDFs, metadata and conversion on a Mac

iain_benson · 01-19-2009, 03:25 AM

I'm currently using Calibre on my Mac to manage my book library and transfer it to my PRS-505.

I've just recently got a selection of PDF files which I want to use on it, but they have pretty screwy metadata ... if I just import them directly into calibre some end up with author and title swapped and some have complete garbage in them.

The files are all named as "<author> - <title>.pdf", so I am thinking the best solution would be to find a CLI PDF metadata editor so I can do do a batch re-tag on them, assuming there is any such thing on the Mac ... or can I force calibre to set metadata based on filename rather than content?

Once I've got this sorted, is it best to leave them all as PDFs, or should I convert them all to LRF?

Ta
Iain

pdurrant · 01-19-2009, 03:43 AM

Just change the setting in the Advanced Configuration dialog*. By default it expects Title - Author, not Author - Title, which explains why they're getting swapped.

(?P<author>.+) - (?P<title>[^_]+)

should do the trick.

*the Configuration dialog is accessed through the small hammer icon to the right of the search field

Quote:

Originally Posted by iain_benson

I'm currently using Calibre on my Mac to manage my book library and transfer it to my PRS-505.

I've just recently got a selection of PDF files which I want to use on it, but they have pretty screwy metadata ... if I just import them directly into calibre some end up with author and title swapped and some have complete garbage in them.

The files are all named as "<author> - <title>.pdf", so I am thinking the best solution would be to find a CLI PDF metadata editor so I can do do a batch re-tag on them, assuming there is any such thing on the Mac ... or can I force calibre to set metadata based on filename rather than content?

Once I've got this sorted, is it best to leave them all as PDFs, or should I convert them all to LRF?

Ta
Iain

iain_benson · 01-19-2009, 03:51 AM

Oops, I usually go through all the settings on any software I use, just to see if there is anything useful. I didn't do that with calibre!

01-19-2009, 03:25 AM	#1
iain_benson Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 37 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: PRS-600	PDFs, metadata and conversion on a Mac I'm currently using Calibre on my Mac to manage my book library and transfer it to my PRS-505. I've just recently got a selection of PDF files which I want to use on it, but they have pretty screwy metadata ... if I just import them directly into calibre some end up with author and title swapped and some have complete garbage in them. The files are all named as "<author> - <title>.pdf", so I am thinking the best solution would be to find a CLI PDF metadata editor so I can do do a batch re-tag on them, assuming there is any such thing on the Mac ... or can I force calibre to set metadata based on filename rather than content? Once I've got this sorted, is it best to leave them all as PDFs, or should I convert them all to LRF? Ta Iain

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01-19-2009, 03:51 AM	#3
iain_benson Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 37 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: PRS-600	Oops, I usually go through all the settings on any software I use, just to see if there is anything useful. I didn't do that with calibre!

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