Sideloading ebooks and cover image quirks?

Cameronpaterson · 01-16-2012, 05:54 AM

Hello mes amis

I recently acquired a Vox and although it is a little bulkier than I was expecting, and something of a fingerprint magnet to boot, I'm pretty happy with it

However, I have run into one rather peculiar issue. When side-loading books from a memory card, I have very mixed results with cover images. Sometimes the Vox fails to see the cover image at all for no apparent reason - (and yes, I know there are cover images present because I open most of my side-loaded titles in the Calibre application to tidy up the metadata) - and just as frequently, it sees the cover image and displays it on the virtual shelf, but then fails to display it when you actually open the book, presenting a blank rectangle instead on the cover page. Anyone got any idea what's going on? Is there some size limit to cover images or other criteria I'm missing here?
A related is the Vox's handling of PDFs - some open happily, others appear to be completely invisible to the system and so cannot be imported.
Any pointers/ info gratefully received!

PeterT · 01-16-2012, 07:23 AM

Just because calibre shows a cover does not mean the ePub itself actually contains one.

Do an ePub to ePub conversion and that will ensure that the cover is present in the book.

Cameronpaterson · 01-16-2012, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Just because calibre shows a cover does not mean the ePub itself actually contains one.

Do an ePub to ePub conversion and that will ensure that the cover is present in the book.

Thanks for that but I must admit to being a little confused. Why would Calibre display a cover if it is not present in the epub?

Cdesja5 · 01-16-2012, 08:02 PM

Calibre keeps whatever was in the original metadata file to start with and although the "catalogue" is updated that metadata is still there in the file.
What I do is search for my cover / metadata if anything is missing and then reconvert the book again (epub to epub). I remove all formats after the conversion except for epub, (the original book would be in "original epub" format which I delete...)
Then when I transfer the converted epub to the reader, the cover and metadata on that ebook are correct on the reader too.

PeterT · 01-16-2012, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameronpaterson

Thanks for that but I must admit to being a little confused. Why would Calibre display a cover if it is not present in the epub?

Calibre is displaying the "cover.jpg" present in the same folder as the ePub file.

Cameronpaterson · 01-17-2012, 08:02 AM

Cdesja5 and PeterT - many thanks for the responses. I must say, this is a revelation to me - I had assumed all the necessary information would be embedded with epub files. Which metadata files should I be looking out?
Oh, and any ideas as to why the Kobo fails frequently fails to display cover images within side loaded book, even though it displays on the shelf? I can't help but suspect there is some size issue here...

Cameronpaterson · 01-18-2012, 05:03 AM

Any additional thoughts on this from anyone? I may re-sideload my books if I can work out the complexities.

paulsalter · 01-18-2012, 05:34 AM

I have had this before and it is exactly as mentioned above, unless the cover is already embedded in the ePub, Calibre is just showing you the cover from the jpeg file in the book directory (which doesn't get transferred over)

When I make any changes to a book in Calibre I always do a convert (ePub to ePub) , this embeds the cover into the ePub file so it transfers to the reader

try it on one of your problem books as a test and hopefully it should fix the issue

Cameronpaterson · 01-18-2012, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsalter

I have had this before and it is exactly as mentioned above, unless the cover is already embedded in the ePub, Calibre is just showing you the cover from the jpeg file in the book directory (which doesn't get transferred over)

When I make any changes to a book in Calibre I always do a convert (ePub to ePub) , this embeds the cover into the ePub file so it transfers to the reader

try it on one of your problem books as a test and hopefully it should fix the issue

Thanks Paul. I will try that. Do you have any idea, then, why the Vox often displays a cover image for side-loaded titles on the virtual shelves of the Kobo app, but not on the cover page of the book itself once it's opened?

paulsalter · 01-18-2012, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cameronpaterson

Thanks Paul. I will try that. Do you have any idea, then, why the Vox often displays a cover image for side-loaded titles on the virtual shelves of the Kobo app, but not on the cover page of the book itself once it's opened?

That one I am not sure on, I have seen that a few times but not looked into trying to fix this to much.

It might be (as you said earlier) to do with image size, if its too big it doesn't show

These are the steps I take

1.) Import book into Calibre
2.) Use the option to get Metadata and Covers
3.) ePub to ePub conversion

With this the covers on the shelf are always correct, but when I open the book sometimes the cover is not there

Cameronpaterson · 01-19-2012, 08:38 AM

Paul - we meet again! Slightly belatedly, many thanks for the information. I was unaware of the need for stage 3 when using Calibre and that must have a lot to do with the cover image issues I've encountered. I will investigate!

01-16-2012, 05:54 AM	#1
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Sideloading ebooks and cover image quirks? Hello mes amis I recently acquired a Vox and although it is a little bulkier than I was expecting, and something of a fingerprint magnet to boot, I'm pretty happy with it However, I have run into one rather peculiar issue. When side-loading books from a memory card, I have very mixed results with cover images. Sometimes the Vox fails to see the cover image at all for no apparent reason - (and yes, I know there are cover images present because I open most of my side-loaded titles in the Calibre application to tidy up the metadata) - and just as frequently, it sees the cover image and displays it on the virtual shelf, but then fails to display it when you actually open the book, presenting a blank rectangle instead on the cover page. Anyone got any idea what's going on? Is there some size limit to cover images or other criteria I'm missing here? A related is the Vox's handling of PDFs - some open happily, others appear to be completely invisible to the system and so cannot be imported. Any pointers/ info gratefully received!

01-16-2012, 08:02 PM	#4
Cdesja5 Wizard Posts: 1,117 Karma: 2094306 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Montreal, Canada Device: Lots and lots of electronic gadgets...	Calibre keeps whatever was in the original metadata file to start with and although the "catalogue" is updated that metadata is still there in the file. What I do is search for my cover / metadata if anything is missing and then reconvert the book again (epub to epub). I remove all formats after the conversion except for epub, (the original book would be in "original epub" format which I delete...) Then when I transfer the converted epub to the reader, the cover and metadata on that ebook are correct on the reader too. Last edited by Cdesja5; 01-16-2012 at 08:05 PM.

01-17-2012, 08:02 AM	#6
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Cdesja5 and PeterT - many thanks for the responses. I must say, this is a revelation to me - I had assumed all the necessary information would be embedded with epub files. Which metadata files should I be looking out? Oh, and any ideas as to why the Kobo fails frequently fails to display cover images within side loaded book, even though it displays on the shelf? I can't help but suspect there is some size issue here... Last edited by Cameronpaterson; 01-17-2012 at 09:02 AM.

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01-16-2012, 07:23 AM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,167 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Just because calibre shows a cover does not mean the ePub itself actually contains one. Do an ePub to ePub conversion and that will ensure that the cover is present in the book.

01-18-2012, 05:03 AM	#7
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Any additional thoughts on this from anyone? I may re-sideload my books if I can work out the complexities.

01-18-2012, 05:34 AM	#8
paulsalter Fanatic Posts: 579 Karma: 3243761 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Fire HD8	I have had this before and it is exactly as mentioned above, unless the cover is already embedded in the ePub, Calibre is just showing you the cover from the jpeg file in the book directory (which doesn't get transferred over) When I make any changes to a book in Calibre I always do a convert (ePub to ePub) , this embeds the cover into the ePub file so it transfers to the reader try it on one of your problem books as a test and hopefully it should fix the issue

01-19-2012, 08:38 AM	#11
Cameronpaterson Addict Posts: 207 Karma: 4264 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Glo, iPad, iPhone	Paul - we meet again! Slightly belatedly, many thanks for the information. I was unaware of the need for stage 3 when using Calibre and that must have a lot to do with the cover image issues I've encountered. I will investigate!

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