[GUI Plugin] KindleUnpack - The Plugin

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by m_pluto

Feature request: With the new kepub support in calibre 8.0 release, would it be possible to add an option to add a kf8/azw3 unpack to kepubs in addition to the kf8/azw3 to epub?

That is well beyond what this plugin is designed to do. Asides, the difference between a kepub and epub is only noticeable when using a Kobo ereader. Since calibre now has a built-in conversion to kepub when sending to a Kobo ereader that takes care of that possibility.

[m_pluto]

I love this Plugin because of how it completely preserves how the HTML & CSS is within the file, particularly if you have multiiple selectors for a tag, rather than what Calibre does which is truncate them into one single selector. (It's not my preference to have multiple sectors for how I buld my books, but rather that most of the ebooks I read are formated this way.)

Having said that, if it is out of the scope/abilities of the Plugin, that is fair and I understand! Thanks for the quick reply!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by m_pluto

I live this Plugin because of how it completely preserves how the HTML & CSS is within the file, particularly if you have multiiple selectors for a tag, rather than what Calibre does which is truncate them into one single selector.

That is one of my favourite items about this plugin. If the Amazon azw3/KF8 format ebook was generated from an ePub, the ePub it generates comes very close to the original. In many ways, I prefer this to the calibre conversion approach which often bears little resemblance to the CSS of the original ePub or even the CSS you see when opening the azw3/KF8 with calibre's ebook-editor.

Admittedly, I have a set of saved searches in Sigil that remove much of the complexity from Vellum generated ePubs but does require something very close to the original ePub to be useful.

[DiapDealer]

I know absolutely nothing about Kobo's keypub format. Nor do I care to learn at this point. I don't mean that rudely. I simply don't have the time nor the interest.

[m_pluto]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I know absolutely nothing about Kobo's keypub format. Nor do I care to learn at this point. I don't mean that rudely. I simply don't have the time nor the interest.

Which is a fair and valid response! Thanks for the response!

[mallomar]

I've been using the Kindle Unpack plugin to convert some fixed-layout children's books from AZW3 to EPUB, and I'm running into some formatting issues.

When I convert the AZW3 files of "The Berenstain Bears Go to Camp" and "Noah's Ark" by Peter Spier using the KF8 to EPUB option, the resulting EPUB has formatting problems when viewed in Apple Books, Readest, and BookFusion. The issues are consistent across all non-Kindle reading apps.

The AZW3 files display perfectly on a Kindle device (I sideloaded the files I bought on my account, with DRM stripped, to my daughter's Colorsoft). When I open the DRM-stripped AZW3s directly in an app that supports it (like Readest), the same formatting issues appear as in the converted EPUB.

This suggests there's some Kindle-specific formatting in the AZW3s that isn't being correctly interpreted or converted to a standard EPUB format that other readers can understand.

I have the DRM-stripped AZW3 files for both books that I am providing scrambled for your analysis. This might help in debugging the conversion process for these types of fixed-layout books.

Thank you for your time and for this very useful plugin.

[DiapDealer]

It could also mean that the Kindlebooks weren't created from epubs. Kindleunpack does the best it can in such situations, but somethings could easily get shoehorned into the resulting epub. I'm not entirely certain KindleUnpack fully supports unpacking fixed layout Kindlebooks to begin with.

Thank you for the scrambled samples. They should prove useful. Also keep in mind that the inability to properly render the drm-free azw3 could simply be the fault of non-Kindle apps/renderers such as Readest

[mallomar]

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response. That all makes sense, and I appreciate you clarifying the complexities. Fortunately Kindle Unpack has worked without issue for all other fixed layout azw3 I’ve used it with, which is why I thought something strange is going on with these two books.

I'm glad the samples might be useful. Please let me know if you end up needing the original, non-scrambled files to fully replicate the issue. I'd be happy to provide them privately

[DiapDealer]

Any particular rendering issues you can help target for us? I have Kindle devices I can view the originals (scrambled drm-free azw3s) on, but knowing exactly where to look will help a lot.

This is probably an issue for the original KindleUnpack (this plugin is primarily a wrapper around that), by the way.

https://github.com/kevinhendricks/KindleUnpack