[GUI Plugin] Generate Cover

[GeckoFriend]

I installed the Generate Cover plugin today and did not get any choice or option to "install to context menu or toolbar". I restarted calibre and tried to generate a cover and didn't have any options than the original generate cover.

Never mind - I found the preference to add the plugin to the toolbar; sorry.

[SuzanneTF]

I have this add-on set to display on both the main tool bar and the menu bar. While the program is open and I go to use it I find sometimes that it has disappeared off of the toolbar. Usually if I close the program and reopen it reappears (and will disappear later). It's the last icon on my off-the-screen toolbar so I thought maybe it just "fell off." But it's the only option I've added to the menu bar and that disappears as well.

Also, another random question. Is there a way to set certain custom covers to automatically generate when certain news sources auto-download?

[kiwidude]

@SuzanneTF - It sounds to me like you have fallen into the trap that many calibre users face of not realising there are different toolbars of when a device is connected versus when it is not. Go back to Preferences -> Toolbars and look a little more closely at the dropdown of available toolbars, and make sure you add it to both while a device is connected and while it is not.

@Kovid - you know I think of you every time I answer that one

For your second question - no that is not possible. I think to support that it would require changes to calibre to the news feature to extend it to add such functionality (which in turn would require the Generate Cover plugin to be bundled with calibre, which it isn't).

[SuzanneTF]

Dang it! I just figured that out right after I posted this and had just come back to own up to my failure! :-P

[kiwidude]

@SuzanneTF - no probs, glad you got it sorted.

[SuzanneTF]

Regarding my second question.

When "Science Daily" downloads, there is simply an image (their rectangular banner, I suppose) as the cover image, so calibre doesn't generate the default cover with the book image. However, downloads of Snopes, The Onion, etc. do.

I imagine that this is done somehow withing the generate custom news source feature?

[kiwidude]

I have no idea about news I'm afraid, it is not a feature I use in calibre (I have enough books to read, don't need more material!). You could try asking in the Recipes subforum as to whether there is some setting or recipe change capability for this.

[iatheia]

I have a question. When I put books onto Kindle with the cover generated using this program, the option of "go to the cover" just opens the first page, it isn't really accessible...

Also, would it be possible to apply a profile by default based on a value from a column?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by iatheia

I have a question. When I put books onto Kindle with the cover generated using this program, the option of "go to the cover" just opens the first page, it isn't really accessible...

This plugin is for generating a cover for viewing in calibre. It doesn't have anything to do with where the cover is placed in the mobi file or how the cover is pointed to by the creators of the book.

[iatheia]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

This plugin is for generating a cover for viewing in calibre. It doesn't have anything to do with where the cover is placed in the mobi file or how the cover is pointed to by the creators of the book.

Does it really make much of a difference, though? All my files, at least the one requiring a cover, originally come off as epub, and only later they are converted into mobi. And these covers are part of the file, they are visible, just not accessible... And Calibre obviously has the ability to send proper covers to the ereader, too...

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by iatheia

Does it really make much of a difference, though? All my files, at least the one requiring a cover, originally come off as epub, and only later they are converted into mobi.

So the cover is inserted in the Mobi during the ePub to Mobi conversion.

Originally Posted by iatheia

And these covers are part of the file, they are visible, just not accessible...

If they are part of the file then I believe they will be accessible by going back a page from the first page, doing this usually will show you the cover. I believe this is a feature of Mobi that usually the books open to the first page. For specifics on this wonderful feature you might want to ask in the Kindle or Mobi forums.

Originally Posted by iatheia

And Calibre obviously has the ability to send proper covers to the ereader, too...

I don't believe, that for the Kindles, the covers are sent to the device separately. I believe the Kindle uses the cover that is embedded in the book.

Good Reading.

[iatheia]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

If they are part of the file then I believe they will be accessible by going back a page from the first page, doing this usually will show you the cover. I believe this is a feature of Mobi that usually the books open to the first page. For specifics on this wonderful feature you might want to ask in the Kindle or Mobi forums.

I don't believe, that for the Kindles, the covers are sent to the device separately. I believe the Kindle uses the cover that is embedded in the book.

Not quite, I believe they are embedded into the metadata file.

But that's exactly what I'm talking about, though. If you try to go back from the first page, yes, the cover if exists is supposed to be seen. This is true of both purchased books, and the covers created by the Calibre by default - whether it is just a screenshot of the first page or if it was generated in the "edit metadata" menu.

Covers generated by this plugin are not accessible this way, though. They are in there somewhere, as when you go to preform any actions on the book you can see a miniature version of the cover, and they are visible there.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by iatheia

Not quite, I believe they are embedded into the metadata file.

I don't understand the distinction you are trying to state in the above sentence. I am also unfamiliar with the mobi structure but the covers for both ePub and Mobi books that have been converted by calibre will be embedded as part of the book. Not a separate entity/file.

Originally Posted by iatheia

Covers generated by this plugin are not accessible this way, though. They are in there somewhere, as when you go to preform any actions on the book you can see a miniature version of the cover, and they are visible there.

Any cover, whether generated by this plugin or grabbed off the internet act the same once the book is converted to Mobi. I believe to see the cover of a Mobi book on the Kindle you have to use the menu and select Go To cover? Again, the Kindle or Mobi forums might help you understand this better.

Good Reading.

[kiwidude]

@iatheia - dwanthny has been spot on with all his comments. There is absolutely no difference between using this plugin to generate a cover versus downloading a cover via metadata or from other sources. It is manipulating a cover.jpg file that you can view in calibre, nothing more, nothing less. It has nothing to do with what you do or do not see on your Kindle when you open the book.

Just like any other cover you associate with your calibre library, the jpg image will not get inserted into your mobi file until you do a conversion. Or in very special circumstances during send to device/save to disk (where recognises how to automatically update the cover, such as a calibre conversion being done on that format in the past).

[hfpop]

Hello,

Can I do something to pretty print the generated cover? For instance, the title may have more strings separated with a dot. I would like each fragment to be on a separate line, and the dots skipped. Can I alter this by playing with the source code?

This is similar to a previous question on embedding more items in the title. There is a reason to do this: the mobi files metadata does not hold series and volumes. On the other side, the series and volumes cannot be displayed on kindle. So I am forced to include more information in the title, and I would like it to be formatted nicely on the cover.

Thank you.