Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
I buy all my books on Amazon, strip the DRM, Calibre convert them to ePub and then Calibre convert them yet again to kepub on my Kobo. So strictly speaking, all I read is "Calibre-converted and/or low-quality junk."
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I meant conversions where:
- Calibre settings were botched (Output Profiles, Page Margins, Look & Feel, [...])
- So you may get lower-resolution/lower-quality JPGs
- Completely different Metadata.
- Sometimes people Calibre Edit Metadata > Download Metadata, then convert and Calibre bakes that into the new file.
- Different cover.
- Code which otherwise isn't representative of the original source.
- Missing fonts/bold/italics.
- Split chapter files
- Extra page breaks.
- [...]
Or where someone just slapped a PDF into Calibre, PDF->EPUB, and call that an "EPUB" version of the book.
You also have others who have gone EPUB->MOBI->(You acquire a backup copy)->EPUB, compounding the conversion issues.
If YOU are the one working from the originals, YOU are the one who can control the entire workflow, and you KNOW that your originals weren't botched.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
Not everything is available everywhere. If you lose access to a book you purchased you may well not be able to find a 'back-up' elsewhere.
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This is important to note as well. I've come across plenty of obscure Non-Fiction texts that aren't available elsewhere.
And like a few others have mentioned, stores have disappeared in the past, along with ebooks that never make it to the new location.
By the time they announce the store closure, it may be too late. (They may have taken down key servers, etc. etc.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
The difference, in many cases, is that you started with a good source, whereas the webz versions are sourced from OCRs or PDFs.
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The worst are these so-called "EPUBs" or "MOBIs" in the ether, which are just auto-generated garbage... similar to Archive.org's non-PDF conversions.
It's the difference between these two images:
Archive.org "EPUB":
Attachment 119234
Proper EPUB:
Attachment 119235
"EPUB" = EPUB-in-name-only.
