Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSmitty
...if I wanted to read the converted book on a different non-kindle device would I need to copy all those files? Still much to learn.
|
No, you only need the ePub, mobi, or whatever file. They are self-contained files.
When calibre Adds a book to the library, it makes a copy of the book's cover, saving it as its own JPEG, and makes a copy of that book's metadata, which is saved in the .opf file. These two files are for calibre's use, though calibre's "export" function (aka Save to Disk) defaults to exporting the cover.jpg and the .opf file in addition to the selected ebook file(s). Personally, I've opted, in Preferences, to disable calibre's exporting the "extra" files.
By having an external cover.jpg, calibre saves a
massive amount of time that would otherwise be necessary re-extracting the cover each and every time it displays a cover for each and every book. The .opf files serve as backups for calibre to use should library database repair or recovery be needed.