Converting epub to mobi

Grahamk · 02-01-2011, 12:40 PM

I'm thinking of getting the Kindle 3 but, my concern is with the conversion of Epub to Mobi using Calibre. Does it convert properly? Has anyone had any conversion problems I should be aware of? If so then I would go probably go with the Kobo wifi as there seems to be more epub books avaialble.

ldolse · 02-01-2011, 12:47 PM

Generally speaking conversion works pretty well. The issue is that epub uses current html standards, while mobi is using a bastardized version of html 3.2. This means that there could be things in the epub that don't convert well to mobi.

The most common issue is margins - Mobi doesn't really support them except through nesting blockquotes, and the Kindle handles this more poorly than pre-Kindle generation mobi renderers. What that means is for a lot of epubs you need to disable margins completely (a Calibre option on mobi output), and indented blocks of text will probably become un-indented if they just used margins/padding. I've generally switched to using blockquotes in my epubs in case someone converts it to mobi down the road, but not all epub creators do this.

Grahamk · 02-01-2011, 12:51 PM

Thanks for your reply, but I'm still confused. Are you saying that it will look weird when converted. Do you have any pics.

user_none · 02-01-2011, 01:04 PM

It will look fine but not 100% the same. If it's using advned formatting it will not come over into the MOBI file.

02-01-2011, 12:40 PM	#1
Grahamk Member Posts: 22 Karma: 186 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kobo One	Converting epub to mobi I'm thinking of getting the Kindle 3 but, my concern is with the conversion of Epub to Mobi using Calibre. Does it convert properly? Has anyone had any conversion problems I should be aware of? If so then I would go probably go with the Kobo wifi as there seems to be more epub books avaialble.

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02-01-2011, 12:47 PM	#2
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123457 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	Generally speaking conversion works pretty well. The issue is that epub uses current html standards, while mobi is using a bastardized version of html 3.2. This means that there could be things in the epub that don't convert well to mobi. The most common issue is margins - Mobi doesn't really support them except through nesting blockquotes, and the Kindle handles this more poorly than pre-Kindle generation mobi renderers. What that means is for a lot of epubs you need to disable margins completely (a Calibre option on mobi output), and indented blocks of text will probably become un-indented if they just used margins/padding. I've generally switched to using blockquotes in my epubs in case someone converts it to mobi down the road, but not all epub creators do this.

02-01-2011, 12:51 PM	#3
Grahamk Member Posts: 22 Karma: 186 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kobo One	Thanks for your reply, but I'm still confused. Are you saying that it will look weird when converted. Do you have any pics.

02-01-2011, 01:04 PM	#4
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	It will look fine but not 100% the same. If it's using advned formatting it will not come over into the MOBI file.

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