Adding a cover: save vs. convert

marst · 04-19-2014, 01:23 AM

I wanted to update an EPUB file by adding a cover (a file on the local machine) and by updating the EPUB's description. I made those changes in calibre's metadata editor. The book then appeared in calibre's library with the new cover. I saved the EPUB to disk.

But I found that while I now had an updated description, the newly saved file did not have a cover. Yet the was book displayed in the calibre library with the new cover.

Then I thought I should try conversion (not just 'save to disk'). That did insert the cover page -- and now I had a different book. The CSS files had been altered with many new selectors added, elements within the XHTML body text files had new styles assigned, a new style sheet had been created and attached to all files, and in some cases styles now had line-height settings that differed from what they'd been before. I estimated that it might take 2 hours to fix all of those changes, even with batch search/replace (there'd be so many changes that I would probably need to write a script for that task). For now I will have to find some other way to add this cover.

Unless: Is there a way to tell calibre, when it does a conversion: leave all CSS intact -- no changes?

itimpi · 04-19-2014, 03:05 AM

The metadata editor just changes information in the Calibre database - it does not actually modify the ePub file.

If you want to insert a cover into the ebook file without any modifications then the easiest way is to use either the Calibre "Polish Books" function or the "modify ePub" plugin.

The fact that the "Save to Disk" function did not insert the new cover means that the original epub file had no identifiable cover to be replaced. Both the Polish Books and Modify ePub methods would correct this.

Another option is to use the Calibre edit book function as that gives you complete control over the contents of the epub file.

Conversion always makes changes so do not use that if you want the original css styles and names to remain intact. This is just the way that the Calibre conversion pipeline works and is not amenable to change.

marst · 04-19-2014, 04:57 AM

Ok, then. Understood about conversion. Thanks for this information. I'll delve into "polish books." (I haven't been able to get the edit-book feature to work, but fortunately there's Sigil for that.)

And at the very least, even if the cover isn't saved without conversion, certain metadata changes are passed along following save-to-disk (without conversion): tags ("Subject" per Sigil's metadata editor), publisher, description (dc:description).

DoctorOhh · 04-19-2014, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marst

And at the very least, even if the cover isn't saved without conversion, certain metadata changes are passed along following save-to-disk (without conversion): tags ("Subject" per Sigil's metadata editor), publisher, description (dc:description).

Just to be clear if there is a clearly identified cover in you ePub the Save to disk feature will update the cover with whatever is in calibre.

theducks · 04-19-2014, 11:15 AM

Use the Quality Check Plugin to identify EPUB's with cover identity problems

Plugins ARE your friend

Take a few and review the index https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118764 for ideas

04-19-2014, 01:23 AM	#1
marst Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Left coast, USA Device: Kobo Forma; Android tablet w/Mantano Reader	Adding a cover: save vs. convert I wanted to update an EPUB file by adding a cover (a file on the local machine) and by updating the EPUB's description. I made those changes in calibre's metadata editor. The book then appeared in calibre's library with the new cover. I saved the EPUB to disk. But I found that while I now had an updated description, the newly saved file did not have a cover. Yet the was book displayed in the calibre library with the new cover. Then I thought I should try conversion (not just 'save to disk'). That did insert the cover page -- and now I had a different book. The CSS files had been altered with many new selectors added, elements within the XHTML body text files had new styles assigned, a new style sheet had been created and attached to all files, and in some cases styles now had line-height settings that differed from what they'd been before. I estimated that it might take 2 hours to fix all of those changes, even with batch search/replace (there'd be so many changes that I would probably need to write a script for that task). For now I will have to find some other way to add this cover. Unless: Is there a way to tell calibre, when it does a conversion: leave all CSS intact -- no changes?

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04-19-2014, 03:05 AM	#2
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	The metadata editor just changes information in the Calibre database - it does not actually modify the ePub file. If you want to insert a cover into the ebook file without any modifications then the easiest way is to use either the Calibre "Polish Books" function or the "modify ePub" plugin. The fact that the "Save to Disk" function did not insert the new cover means that the original epub file had no identifiable cover to be replaced. Both the Polish Books and Modify ePub methods would correct this. Another option is to use the Calibre edit book function as that gives you complete control over the contents of the epub file. Conversion always makes changes so do not use that if you want the original css styles and names to remain intact. This is just the way that the Calibre conversion pipeline works and is not amenable to change.

04-19-2014, 04:57 AM	#3
marst Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Left coast, USA Device: Kobo Forma; Android tablet w/Mantano Reader	Ok, then. Understood about conversion. Thanks for this information. I'll delve into "polish books." (I haven't been able to get the edit-book feature to work, but fortunately there's Sigil for that.) And at the very least, even if the cover isn't saved without conversion, certain metadata changes are passed along following save-to-disk (without conversion): tags ("Subject" per Sigil's metadata editor), publisher, description (dc:description).

04-19-2014, 11:15 AM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,799 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Use the Quality Check Plugin to identify EPUB's with cover identity problems Plugins ARE your friend Take a few and review the index https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118764 for ideas