Book Covers - help needed... please!

Balerion · 07-20-2010, 11:56 AM

I know I might get a reprimand for adding a thread that may have content elsewhere in the forum, but if I do a search including the words "book cover" all I seem to get is stuff about Kindle Covers.... not what I'm after...

What I want to know is...

Is there any way to have an embedded book cover so that it is set as an actual location in an ebook i.e. location 1 ?

The reason I ask is because I want to be able to see the cover every time a book is opened at the beginning, without having to use the "go to" ---> "cover" menu option.

I'm using PRC formats atm and have tried a couple of others, but they all seem to have the same problem.

Is there a better format I can use to get what I want? A better way of doing coversions to get what I want? A way around this problem at all?

As an aside.... I've taken to using the screensaver hack to contain only the cover of the book I am reading at that present time :-) that way it feels more like a traditional book... the aesthetics of that always brings a smile to my face.... as much as I love ebooks... I've always had a thing for the actual book cover... the "this is the book I am reading" sense of pride :-S

One other thing... when I first got my K2i I just used Mobipocket Creator to convert all the books I have put on my Kindle. Given that I read a lot of series books, I used prefixes in the metadata to sort them out (back in the day before Collections was available lol) eg. Hope 01 The Alchemist's Secret, Hope 02 The Mozart Conspiracy etc. Now that I have metadata in PRC formats, and I deleted most of the source files, and have started using Calibre as well (which doesn't export to PRC grrrrrrrrrrrr !!!)... therein lies my problem... I want to change some of the metadata now that we have collections...

does anyone know how to easily edit PRC metadata without having to import into Calibre, change the metadata, which then results in a new export because of the fact that Calibre can't export to PRC format? Mobipocket Creator wont import PRC formats either (now that I consider dumb given that it is the primary export format !!!) and since I have deleted most of my OPF files I don't know what to do.... Calibre is soooooooooooooo slow at redoing it as well.... anyone have any ideas:-( ?

many many thanks for any help that anyone can give;

Drew

susan_cassidy · 07-20-2010, 12:05 PM

prc format is the same as mobipocket format (.mobi), as far as Kindle is concerned, so there is no reason Calibre can't change it for you.

According to the Mobipocket Dev center, you can set the start option to where you want the book to open. Have you tried that?
"start: if the "start" type of subitem is present, the action defined in the onclick is performed whenever the ebook is opened. Use this in dictionaries to make the dictionary open on the first page every time instead of the last page read. The last page read is not very useful in a dictionary.
<guide> <reference type="start" title="Start here" href="starthere.html"/> </guide> "

Have you tried mobi2mobi to change metadata? See https://dev.mobileread.com/dist/tomp...mobi2mobi.html.

I think you might be forced to create a new copy of the file, anyway, though.

bear4hunter · 07-20-2010, 12:08 PM

To change the title, you can use the mobi2mobi script found elsewhere, it's a command line tool - both .mobi and .prc file will work
Just open the command line (in the directory with the script and the books you want to change, type mobi2mobi.exe and pick the [option] of your choice.
title and updatedtitle are the once I suggest, you may also define an output file, if you don't want to overwrite the oiriginal.

As for the book opening with the cover page: if you use (or used) mobipocket creator, and did not insert a start_reading tag, from my experience the book opens with the cover page. The problem is, that once you start reading, the next time the book opens with the page last read. You could got to the cover page before closing the book, but than you have to remember the position or chapter you were reading for the next time.

Balerion · 07-20-2010, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

prc format is the same as mobipocket format (.mobi), as far as Kindle is concerned, so there is no reason Calibre can't change it for you.

According to the Mobipocket Dev center, you can set the start option to where you want the book to open. Have you tried that?
"start: if the "start" type of subitem is present, the action defined in the onclick is performed whenever the ebook is opened. Use this in dictionaries to make the dictionary open on the first page every time instead of the last page read. The last page read is not very useful in a dictionary.
<guide> <reference type="start" title="Start here" href="starthere.html"/> </guide> "

Have you tried mobi2mobi to change metadata? See https://dev.mobileread.com/dist/tomp...mobi2mobi.html.

I think you might be forced to create a new copy of the file, anyway, though.

When I import a PRC into Calibre and change the metadata it actually creates a new MOBI version of the book instead of just changing the original PRC version... and it can take up to 3 or 4 minutes to do it even when its the only job that I have Calibre doing at that time, so it seems that Calibre atleast treats PRC and MOBI as different even though I know that my Kindle treats them as the same... I just wish that Mobipocket and Calibre would have a chat and sort this compatibility issue out... even if it just meant getting mobipocket creator to be able to import back the prc files it creates :-( I've got a lot of books I want to change... as for all the other info, and the others that have so promptly responded... thank you sooooooooooooo much... I now have a few things to look into :-D

bear4hunter · 07-20-2010, 09:55 PM

Mobipocket Creater can't import the created PRC file, but you can open the OPF-File (it's the file that is saved automatically when you create a book....

You than simply change the metadata and rebuild the book.

Balerion · 07-21-2010, 12:37 PM

Hey bear4hunter, that's my problem... I deleted all the folders from MyPublications including the OPF files because I spent a lot of time correcting the text formatting on a lot of books and created the PRC files as best as I could thinking that I could easily change the metadata later, so all I have now is a folder with copies of everything on my Kindle... I might have a DVD somewhere with the creator folders on it from when I up'd to windows 7 come to think of it... going to go give mobi2mobi a go now.

Balerion · 07-21-2010, 01:13 PM

Thank you to all !!!!

took me about 10 minutes to work my head around how to get mobi2mobi working, but now I've got the hang of it and my problem is solved!!! Its a lot quicker than Calibre even though I have to do extra typing...

I still think its a shame that PRC input into Calibre and then changing metadata results in Calibre having to convert the PRC back to html, change the metadata and then create a new book as a MOBI file... its silly! going to let Calibre know about this problem.... PRC export would save a lot of hassle.

Thanks again everyone !!!

Balerion · 07-21-2010, 01:18 PM

maybe I'll just let Calibre change all my books to mobi in one big batch.... just leave my laptop alone for about 3 hours lol... and then take it as a lesson learned.

Bring on ONE universal format I say ! (btw... I read something somewhere about how EPUB could take over PDF and all sorts of formats.... take over the world pretty much.... because it is so efficient in its structure and versatility and usage... atleast until someone comes up with a better publication format that is... lol)

bear4hunter · 07-21-2010, 01:32 PM

Glad to read you found your way around with mobi2mobi

I don't use Calibre that much, I only use it to convert, but I never use the output, I use the HTML created during the conversion to "cook my own soup" editing the HTML and building the book with Moibipocket Creator. This way, the output looks guaranteed the way I want it to look.

07-20-2010, 11:56 AM	#1
Balerion Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 14 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: K2i K3w	Book Covers - help needed... please! I know I might get a reprimand for adding a thread that may have content elsewhere in the forum, but if I do a search including the words "book cover" all I seem to get is stuff about Kindle Covers.... not what I'm after... What I want to know is... Is there any way to have an embedded book cover so that it is set as an actual location in an ebook i.e. location 1 ? The reason I ask is because I want to be able to see the cover every time a book is opened at the beginning, without having to use the "go to" ---> "cover" menu option. I'm using PRC formats atm and have tried a couple of others, but they all seem to have the same problem. Is there a better format I can use to get what I want? A better way of doing coversions to get what I want? A way around this problem at all? As an aside.... I've taken to using the screensaver hack to contain only the cover of the book I am reading at that present time :-) that way it feels more like a traditional book... the aesthetics of that always brings a smile to my face.... as much as I love ebooks... I've always had a thing for the actual book cover... the "this is the book I am reading" sense of pride :-S One other thing... when I first got my K2i I just used Mobipocket Creator to convert all the books I have put on my Kindle. Given that I read a lot of series books, I used prefixes in the metadata to sort them out (back in the day before Collections was available lol) eg. Hope 01 The Alchemist's Secret, Hope 02 The Mozart Conspiracy etc. Now that I have metadata in PRC formats, and I deleted most of the source files, and have started using Calibre as well (which doesn't export to PRC grrrrrrrrrrrr !!!)... therein lies my problem... I want to change some of the metadata now that we have collections... does anyone know how to easily edit PRC metadata without having to import into Calibre, change the metadata, which then results in a new export because of the fact that Calibre can't export to PRC format? Mobipocket Creator wont import PRC formats either (now that I consider dumb given that it is the primary export format !!!) and since I have deleted most of my OPF files I don't know what to do.... Calibre is soooooooooooooo slow at redoing it as well.... anyone have any ideas:-( ? many many thanks for any help that anyone can give; Drew

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07-20-2010, 12:05 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	prc format is the same as mobipocket format (.mobi), as far as Kindle is concerned, so there is no reason Calibre can't change it for you. According to the Mobipocket Dev center, you can set the start option to where you want the book to open. Have you tried that? "start: if the "start" type of subitem is present, the action defined in the onclick is performed whenever the ebook is opened. Use this in dictionaries to make the dictionary open on the first page every time instead of the last page read. The last page read is not very useful in a dictionary. <guide> <reference type="start" title="Start here" href="starthere.html"/> </guide> " Have you tried mobi2mobi to change metadata? See https://dev.mobileread.com/dist/tomp...mobi2mobi.html. I think you might be forced to create a new copy of the file, anyway, though.

07-20-2010, 12:08 PM	#3
bear4hunter Addict Posts: 248 Karma: 100148 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Germany, Munich Device: Kindle 3 & DX Graphite, PocketBook 302 & Pro 603	To change the title, you can use the mobi2mobi script found elsewhere, it's a command line tool - both .mobi and .prc file will work Just open the command line (in the directory with the script and the books you want to change, type mobi2mobi.exe and pick the [option] of your choice. title and updatedtitle are the once I suggest, you may also define an output file, if you don't want to overwrite the oiriginal. As for the book opening with the cover page: if you use (or used) mobipocket creator, and did not insert a start_reading tag, from my experience the book opens with the cover page. The problem is, that once you start reading, the next time the book opens with the page last read. You could got to the cover page before closing the book, but than you have to remember the position or chapter you were reading for the next time.

07-20-2010, 09:55 PM	#5
bear4hunter Addict Posts: 248 Karma: 100148 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Germany, Munich Device: Kindle 3 & DX Graphite, PocketBook 302 & Pro 603	Mobipocket Creater can't import the created PRC file, but you can open the OPF-File (it's the file that is saved automatically when you create a book.... You than simply change the metadata and rebuild the book.

07-21-2010, 12:37 PM	#6
Balerion Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 14 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: K2i K3w	Hey bear4hunter, that's my problem... I deleted all the folders from MyPublications including the OPF files because I spent a lot of time correcting the text formatting on a lot of books and created the PRC files as best as I could thinking that I could easily change the metadata later, so all I have now is a folder with copies of everything on my Kindle... I might have a DVD somewhere with the creator folders on it from when I up'd to windows 7 come to think of it... going to go give mobi2mobi a go now.

07-21-2010, 01:13 PM	#7
Balerion Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 14 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: K2i K3w	Thank you to all !!!! took me about 10 minutes to work my head around how to get mobi2mobi working, but now I've got the hang of it and my problem is solved!!! Its a lot quicker than Calibre even though I have to do extra typing... I still think its a shame that PRC input into Calibre and then changing metadata results in Calibre having to convert the PRC back to html, change the metadata and then create a new book as a MOBI file... its silly! going to let Calibre know about this problem.... PRC export would save a lot of hassle. Thanks again everyone !!!

07-21-2010, 01:18 PM	#8
Balerion Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 14 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: K2i K3w	maybe I'll just let Calibre change all my books to mobi in one big batch.... just leave my laptop alone for about 3 hours lol... and then take it as a lesson learned. Bring on ONE universal format I say ! (btw... I read something somewhere about how EPUB could take over PDF and all sorts of formats.... take over the world pretty much.... because it is so efficient in its structure and versatility and usage... atleast until someone comes up with a better publication format that is... lol)

07-21-2010, 01:32 PM	#9
bear4hunter Addict Posts: 248 Karma: 100148 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Germany, Munich Device: Kindle 3 & DX Graphite, PocketBook 302 & Pro 603	Glad to read you found your way around with mobi2mobi I don't use Calibre that much, I only use it to convert, but I never use the output, I use the HTML created during the conversion to "cook my own soup" editing the HTML and building the book with Moibipocket Creator. This way, the output looks guaranteed the way I want it to look.

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