Convert Kindle Topaz to EPUB?

[epstewart]

Is there any way to convert a Kindle e-book in the Topaz format to an EPUB?

I tried using skindle and skindle apparently unlocked the e-book just fine. It let me create either a compressed or a decompressed .tpz output file. Both output files were redable by Amazon Kindle for PC. But calibre would not read them, so I couldn't convert either one to an EPUB.

Does anyone know how to do it? Thanks in advance ...

[abookreader]

I don't know if my way is the best way to do it but there's a couple of other scripts floating around out there ... TPZ to SVG and then TPZ to HTML. Use those to get the book into an HTML file, load that into Calibre and then convert the HTML to ePub.

There's probably an easier way. I really try to just avoid tpz files.

[catsittingstill]

So it's now possible to convert tpz? Cool! I obviously haven't been paying proper attention. :-)

[epstewart]

Originally Posted by abookreader

I don't know if my way is the best way to do it but there's a couple of other scripts floating around out there ... TPZ to SVG and then TPZ to HTML. Use those to get the book into an HTML file, load that into Calibre and then convert the HTML to ePub.

Thanks ... could you be a little more specific as to what the names of those other scripts are and what I would need to Google to find them?

[Valhalla]

look for darkreverser

[HansTWN]

I have converted 4 Topaz books. Works pretty well, just one of the books has a lot of OCR errors (mostly numbers). Though conversion is a lot more trouble than with a regular Kindle Mobi book. However, I consider it worth it if the book is available nowhere else, or substantially cheaper at Amazon.

[AnemicOak]

I've only messed with one Topaz book, but there were lots of OCR errors that needed correcting and formatting (like italics) that had to be fixed/added back in. Thankfully Sigil works well for editing ePubs once you've got the Topaz file into that format.

[epstewart]

Originally Posted by abookreader

I don't know if my way is the best way to do it but there's a couple of other scripts floating around out there ... TPZ to SVG and then TPZ to HTML. Use those to get the book into an HTML file, load that into Calibre and then convert the HTML to ePub.

[Detailed instructions edited out - Moderator]


Sorry to say, TopazExtract_Kindle4PC.pyw is not working for me. When I point it at my Topaz file, all I get is:

Command = "python cmbtc_dump.py"
Topaz Path Path = "C:\skindle\B0036FUDE4_EBOK.azw"
Output Directory = "C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\Decoding Reality"
First 8 chars of PID = ""

Please Wait ...

Usage:

cmbtc_dump.py [options] bookFileName

-p Adds a PID to the list of PIDs that are tried to decrypt the book key (can be used several times)

-d Dumps the unencrypted book as files to outdir

-o Output directory to save book files to

-v Verbose (can be used several times)

-i Prints kindle.info database

Error: File Extraction Failed

I know the input file is Topaz because I have used skindle to unlock it to a separate file which, when added to the calibre library, shows up as having format TPZ. calibre cannot convert it to a different format.

TopazExtract_Kindle4PC.pyw seems to want a PID as a second input item, the first being the Topaz e-book, though it says the PID is optional. I don't have a PID AFAIK, since I don't have an actual Kindle.

You said in your PM, "I think you have to be using an early version of Kindle for PC for this to work." Well, tools_v1.8.zip was posted on July 24, which is pretty recent. TopazExtract_Kindle4PC.pyw in it is dated June 11, also recent. My Kindle for PC app is v.1.2.0 (30413) and is yet more recent. The e-book was downloaded on Aug. 15, using that version of K4PC.

Any more thoughts, anybody? Thanks in advance...

[loveangel]

glad to know it is possible

[abookreader]

I'm very far from being an expert in this but aren't Topaz files supposed to have an extension of .prc or .azw1? Yours appears to be .azw which is confusing for me.

Are you trying to run the first script on a book that you've already run through skindle? Don't do that. run the TPZ Extract for PC on the file that you download into your Kindle for PC. Mine are in a directory named "My Kindle Content."

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by abookreader

I'm very far from being an expert in this but aren't Topaz files supposed to have an extension of .prc or .azw1? Yours appears to be .azw which is confusing for me.

Topaz can be .tpz, .azw1 or .azw2. When downloaded to K4PC and other apps all books seem to get the .prc extension (including Topaz books).

Yeah, .azw isn't Topaz, at least not that I've ever encountered.

[epstewart]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Topaz can be .tpz, .azw1 or .azw2. When downloaded to K4PC and other apps all books seem to get the .prc extension (including Topaz books).

Yeah, .azw isn't Topaz, at least not that I've ever encountered.

I am baffled, because the "Decoding Reality" e-book I downloaded to my Kindle for PC has a file name with .azw as its extension, and when I examine the contents of that file, using Notepad, the first 4 characters are 'TPZ0'. I assume that means it's a Topaz e-book.

Originally Posted by abookreader

Are you trying to run the first script on a book that you've already run through skindle? Don't do that. run the TPZ Extract for PC on the file that you download into your Kindle for PC. Mine are in a directory named "My Kindle Content."

I am not in fact trying to run the first script on a book that I've already run through skindle.

I (as Eric Stewart) have been getting help from some_updates in the comments section at [Direct link edited out - Moderator] . (I'll call that person S for short.)

So far, it looks as if I have some mysterious problem with my Python setup, both under Windows and under Mac OS X. I am communicating with S via PM's in this forum to try to work out what the solution is. When we come up with something useful, I'll post it to this thread.

Meanwhile, the following may be useful to anyone looking in this thread for help:

[Edited - Moderator]



But how would I actually get access to the e-book as downloaded to my iPhone?

The free [edited - Moderator]iPhone Backup Extractor app on my Mac whose iTunes is the one I sync my iPhone to is the secret here. I launch it and click on the "Read Backups" button to see "Eric's iPhone" in a drop-down list. Selecting it and clicking on the "Choose" button, I am presented with a list of the apps on my iPhone. I locate "Kindle" in the list of apps and click on the "Extract" button. A navigation dialog appears, allowing me to navigate to (say) my Desktop and to click on the "Extract Here" button. A folder called com.amazon.Lassen (the 'Lassen' means what?) appears on my Desktop, and its window opens in Finder. In that window I see a Library folder and a Documents folder. Within the latter are three folders: cache, eBooks, and LibraryCovers. in the eBooks folder are, for every e-book I have in the Kindle for iPhone app, three files.

[Detailed instructions edited out - MODERATOR]


[Edited out - Moderator]

So far, though, I can't get these scripts to work. More later ...

[bjones6416]

I have the attention span of a gnat, so I didn't really read through all of the stuff above. I've converted a couple of Topaz books, though, and I'll only do it again as a last resort. The scripts I used ended up generating a lot of extraneous data, and I'm never sure what to do with it after. (It turns out you can just delete it, but it's messy, not elegant at all.)

[Dr. Drib]

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