I have a simple question and have looked for the answer everywhere.

rpierson · 11-23-2013, 03:53 PM

When I download an ebook and save it to my computer and add it to Calibre, does Calibre make a copy of the book and if so can I delete the original file?

Adoby · 11-23-2013, 03:57 PM

Yes. Calibre makes a copy of the book.

But it can still be a good idea to keep a copy of the original book as a backup. But otherwise you can delete it.

rpierson · 11-23-2013, 04:16 PM

That helps a great deal because the books were taking up a bunch of room on my external and laptop.

Adoby · 11-23-2013, 04:52 PM

Make sure you have a backup copy of the calibre library folder. It might be a good idea to get another externa hard drive only for that purpose. If you have many books and has made an effort to ensure that the metadata and covers are perfect, then your calibre library represents a lot of work and it would be a big loss to loose it all.

All harddrives fail if you use them long enough. And sometimes user errors can also be the cause of data loss...

I have had use of my backups more than once...

eschwartz · 11-23-2013, 09:37 PM

You will want to have backups, of course. But the copy in calibre doesn't get edited -- any changes you make in calibre are written to the database, not the ebook, and only applied to the ebook's COPY when you send it to a new device. Even Polish ebook, or an epub-to-epub convert, creates a .original_epub to save the old version.

Unless you use Tweak ebook, in which case you've opened up calibre's copy for editing.

If you, for example, use Dropbox to back up your calibre library, that might be enough right there. Any changes you make to the calibre library will be synced, so all your books get added to Dropbox, and if you don't edit them, they will remain the same book you first added. Even if you do edit them, you might not care about the old version.

11-23-2013, 03:53 PM	#1
rpierson Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: nook tablet	I have a simple question and have looked for the answer everywhere. When I download an ebook and save it to my computer and add it to Calibre, does Calibre make a copy of the book and if so can I delete the original file?

11-23-2013, 04:16 PM	#3
rpierson Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: nook tablet	Thanks! That helps a great deal because the books were taking up a bunch of room on my external and laptop.

11-23-2013, 09:37 PM	#5
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	You will want to have backups, of course. But the copy in calibre doesn't get edited -- any changes you make in calibre are written to the database, not the ebook, and only applied to the ebook's COPY when you send it to a new device. Even Polish ebook, or an epub-to-epub convert, creates a .original_epub to save the old version. Unless you use Tweak ebook, in which case you've opened up calibre's copy for editing. If you, for example, use Dropbox to back up your calibre library, that might be enough right there. Any changes you make to the calibre library will be synced, so all your books get added to Dropbox, and if you don't edit them, they will remain the same book you first added. Even if you do edit them, you might not care about the old version. Last edited by eschwartz; 11-23-2013 at 09:39 PM.

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11-23-2013, 03:57 PM	#2
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,737 Karma: 26785684 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra	Yes. Calibre makes a copy of the book. But it can still be a good idea to keep a copy of the original book as a backup. But otherwise you can delete it.

11-23-2013, 04:52 PM	#4
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,737 Karma: 26785684 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra	Make sure you have a backup copy of the calibre library folder. It might be a good idea to get another externa hard drive only for that purpose. If you have many books and has made an effort to ensure that the metadata and covers are perfect, then your calibre library represents a lot of work and it would be a big loss to loose it all. All harddrives fail if you use them long enough. And sometimes user errors can also be the cause of data loss... I have had use of my backups more than once...

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