Various Formats

saiyuki · 03-08-2011, 12:56 PM

Hi. I have loads of book folders, many containing multiple formats of the same title. Which would be the best single format to keep, in view of conversions to other formats, irrespective of what reader i next get.

I'm doing a spring clean of my system (already vacuumed it out)

Regards Saiyuki

user_none · 03-08-2011, 02:39 PM

The two most popular choices are EPUB and MOBI.

kiwidude · 03-08-2011, 02:48 PM

I would also add that unless you know your EPUB/MOBI formats are impeccable you may want to eyeball them before you do a mass delete of other formats for that book. There are plenty of very poor quality EPUB conversions floating around out there for instance.

If you don't have time to eyeball them all now I would recommend archiving all the other formats in case you need them someday - they don't have to be in Calibre, just accessible in case you find you need to do your own re-conversion if your EPUB you kept is irrecoverably crap.

saiyuki · 03-08-2011, 02:52 PM

Thanks for the inputs. I have around 4TB of H/drive space so backing up isn't a problem

Regards saiyuki

Manichean · 03-08-2011, 03:02 PM

Why remove them in the first place? Most ebooks don't take up very much space.

itimpi · 03-08-2011, 03:03 PM

I must admit that where I have multiple formats of a book I simply keep all of them.

Calibre does the housekeeping so it is not much effort, and if I later find I need one of the other formats for any reaon they are then available.

As has been mentioned sometimes I find my prime format (EPUB) turns out to be badly formatted, and having the others available increases the chances of having one that is well formatted which I can then put through Calibre to create other formats.

jbcohen · 03-08-2011, 03:04 PM

I vote for epub and PDF. Perhaps other forum members could tell me why mobi not PDF?

user_none · 03-08-2011, 03:07 PM

PDF is not an easy format to convert. For all but the most basic PDF files the result of a conversion wont look very good.

Many people like MOBI because of how it looks. The MOBI format is fairly basic as far as the HTML it supports so it's fairly easy to produce a decent looking book.

jbcohen · 03-08-2011, 03:08 PM

Ah, I knew there was something going on that I did not know.

dwig · 03-08-2011, 04:56 PM

I agree that MOBI and EPUB are the two best choices.

EPUB's pluses:

Its an editable format making fixes and adjustments possible without requiring conversion to another format first.
Its a very popular format making the likelihood of future support very good.
It supports a very wide range of formatting options

EPUB's minuses:

It supports a very wide range of formatting options, many of which are not supported by other formats thereby causing the occasional poor formatting when converting to other formats when some EPUB function is not supported in the target format.

MOBI's pluses:

Its a very popular format making the likelihood of future support very good.
Its has a lot of formatting options, though somewhat fewer than EPUB and thereby less likely that conversion to another format will result in issues.

MOBI's minuses:

Its not an editable format so when a conversion from MOBI results in a formatting issue you can't edit the MOBI to address the issues and reconverting. You must convert to some other editable format (e.g. EPUB) to make the fixes before converting to the desired final format.

Personally, I archive primarily MOBI format. That primarily because Mobipocket Reader has been my reading software for over a decade. I now use a Kindle, but used Mobipocket software on a Windows sub-notebook and two Sony Clies, previously, after migrating from an HP320LX (WinCE v1.0 & v2.0) and its DOC format.

Starson17 · 03-09-2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwig

EPUB's minuses:

It supports a very wide range of formatting options, many of which are not supported by other formats thereby causing the occasional poor formatting when converting to other formats when some EPUB function is not supported in the target format.

That doesn't seem like much of a "minus." If I don't want to use an option, I don't use it. The minus is in the other format that won't support something supported in EPUB.

Quote:

MOBI's pluses:

Its a very popular format making the likelihood of future support very good.

MOBI is extremely limited as a format. If you like it for that reason, perhaps you will like txt format even better.

I think Kovid's comments on why the Calibre User Manual is in EPUB, not MOBI sort of sums it up:

Quote:

I don't provide [the Calibre User Manual] as MOBI because MOBI is such a limited format that trying to write a sophisticated document like a User Manual in MOBI is pointless.
In other words, a conversion of the User Manual to MOBI would look like crap. And I do not want to provide official crap.

If you have a decent EPUB format, save that. It's far more likely that format will survive long-term than MOBI, and it will preserve more of the formatting.

03-08-2011, 12:56 PM	#1
saiyuki Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 1068314 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: binatone ReadMe, Kobo Touch, Scroll Extreme 2	Various Formats Hi. I have loads of book folders, many containing multiple formats of the same title. Which would be the best single format to keep, in view of conversions to other formats, irrespective of what reader i next get. I'm doing a spring clean of my system (already vacuumed it out) Regards Saiyuki

03-08-2011, 04:56 PM	#10
dwig Wizard Posts: 1,613 Karma: 6718479 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paradise (Key West, FL) Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...	I agree that MOBI and EPUB are the two best choices. EPUB's pluses: Its an editable format making fixes and adjustments possible without requiring conversion to another format first. Its a very popular format making the likelihood of future support very good. It supports a very wide range of formatting options EPUB's minuses: It supports a very wide range of formatting options, many of which are not supported by other formats thereby causing the occasional poor formatting when converting to other formats when some EPUB function is not supported in the target format. MOBI's pluses: Its a very popular format making the likelihood of future support very good. Its has a lot of formatting options, though somewhat fewer than EPUB and thereby less likely that conversion to another format will result in issues. MOBI's minuses: Its not an editable format so when a conversion from MOBI results in a formatting issue you can't edit the MOBI to address the issues and reconverting. You must convert to some other editable format (e.g. EPUB) to make the fixes before converting to the desired final format. Personally, I archive primarily MOBI format. That primarily because Mobipocket Reader has been my reading software for over a decade. I now use a Kindle, but used Mobipocket software on a Windows sub-notebook and two Sony Clies, previously, after migrating from an HP320LX (WinCE v1.0 & v2.0) and its DOC format. Last edited by dwig; 03-08-2011 at 05:05 PM.

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03-08-2011, 02:39 PM	#2
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	The two most popular choices are EPUB and MOBI.

03-08-2011, 02:48 PM	#3
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,637 Karma: 2162064 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	I would also add that unless you know your EPUB/MOBI formats are impeccable you may want to eyeball them before you do a mass delete of other formats for that book. There are plenty of very poor quality EPUB conversions floating around out there for instance. If you don't have time to eyeball them all now I would recommend archiving all the other formats in case you need them someday - they don't have to be in Calibre, just accessible in case you find you need to do your own re-conversion if your EPUB you kept is irrecoverably crap.

03-08-2011, 02:52 PM	#4
saiyuki Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 1068314 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: binatone ReadMe, Kobo Touch, Scroll Extreme 2	Thanks for the inputs. I have around 4TB of H/drive space so backing up isn't a problem Regards saiyuki

03-08-2011, 03:02 PM	#5
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	Why remove them in the first place? Most ebooks don't take up very much space.

03-08-2011, 03:03 PM	#6
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	I must admit that where I have multiple formats of a book I simply keep all of them. Calibre does the housekeeping so it is not much effort, and if I later find I need one of the other formats for any reaon they are then available. As has been mentioned sometimes I find my prime format (EPUB) turns out to be badly formatted, and having the others available increases the chances of having one that is well formatted which I can then put through Calibre to create other formats.

03-08-2011, 03:04 PM	#7
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	I vote for epub and PDF. Perhaps other forum members could tell me why mobi not PDF?

03-08-2011, 03:07 PM	#8
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	PDF is not an easy format to convert. For all but the most basic PDF files the result of a conversion wont look very good. Many people like MOBI because of how it looks. The MOBI format is fairly basic as far as the HTML it supports so it's fairly easy to produce a decent looking book.

03-08-2011, 03:08 PM	#9
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	Ah, I knew there was something going on that I did not know.

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