MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - How do I prevent Sigil from removing iTunes Artwork?

robwired · 03-27-2021, 11:12 PM

Thanks for explaining why Sigil is removing the Apple artwork. After reading your research and other posts I've found I did some more testing. This is what I found:

Apple's Books app uses the iTunesArtwork cover. If I import an epub that has it then the Books app will display that cover.

If I replace the cover but do not remove the iTunesArtwork the Books app will prioritize the Apple artwork and the cover that I added manually will show up as the first page of the book.

If I replace the cover AND remove the iTunesArtwork then the Books app will correctly show the new cover.

However, Books is not the only place where a cover appears. iCloud Files will not show covers from ePubs, it ONLY uses the iTunesArtwork as the preview cover.

I found this post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=13

which explains how Calibre (and Sigil?) were updated with a workaround but I don't think this will help with the preview cover in the Files App as I think the Files App is simply looking for the AppleMetadata.

If you are wondering why the Files app preview is important, it's because that's where I download all my ePubs to. Then I look at them in Files to decide which ones to import to Books. This works well because I have lots of iCloud storage but not as much on my device.

I know I could use OPDS or other solutions to view my library, but all I really need is to view the book cover to decide which ones to import.

Would it be possible to add a setting to Sigil that would write the cover as iTunesArtwork?

Then the ePub files would be viewable in the Files app.

I do understand that I'm asking to have Sigil to be compliant with Apple's extended ePub standard and that it's an extra step above the open ePub standard, but the reality is that a lot of users have iPads and use iCloud storage.

If it helps at all, I'd be open to contributing financially to the project to have this.

03-27-2021, 11:12 PM	#5
robwired Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2021 Device: iPad Pro	Thanks for explaining why Sigil is removing the Apple artwork. After reading your research and other posts I've found I did some more testing. This is what I found: Apple's Books app uses the iTunesArtwork cover. If I import an epub that has it then the Books app will display that cover. If I replace the cover but do not remove the iTunesArtwork the Books app will prioritize the Apple artwork and the cover that I added manually will show up as the first page of the book. If I replace the cover AND remove the iTunesArtwork then the Books app will correctly show the new cover. However, Books is not the only place where a cover appears. iCloud Files will not show covers from ePubs, it ONLY uses the iTunesArtwork as the preview cover. I found this post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=13 which explains how Calibre (and Sigil?) were updated with a workaround but I don't think this will help with the preview cover in the Files App as I think the Files App is simply looking for the AppleMetadata. If you are wondering why the Files app preview is important, it's because that's where I download all my ePubs to. Then I look at them in Files to decide which ones to import to Books. This works well because I have lots of iCloud storage but not as much on my device. I know I could use OPDS or other solutions to view my library, but all I really need is to view the book cover to decide which ones to import. Would it be possible to add a setting to Sigil that would write the cover as iTunesArtwork? Then the ePub files would be viewable in the Files app. I do understand that I'm asking to have Sigil to be compliant with Apple's extended ePub standard and that it's an extra step above the open ePub standard, but the reality is that a lot of users have iPads and use iCloud storage. If it helps at all, I'd be open to contributing financially to the project to have this.