Kindle and Calibre Conversions

[BookCat]

I'm new to kindle, having been a dedicated Sony 505 person till now. I just have a few basic questions.

Does Calibre convert lots of different formats: epub, txt, pdf, and many others but especially epub into a format which perfectly displays justified text on the Kindle (paperwhite 2)? The problem I have with the 505 is that it makes a poor job of displaying justified lrf which have been converted from epub. This was one of the main reasons for the Kindle purchase.

I like reading pd classics downloaded from MR, but the uploaders who format the great books on MR have stopped uploading the lrf format. The epubs just don't look right on the 505.

Please move this to the Kindle forum if necessary.
Thanks.

[JimmyR]

I usually work with EPUB and then convert to AZW3 for the Kindle. I use the Hyphenate This plugin in Calibre which greatly helps with justified text.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=208534

Exactly what justification problems are you're having with LRF files? I don't really have any experience with that format. Doesn't the Sony handle EPUB? Or does LRF just have advantages over EPUB on that reader?

Here's an example of justified text on my Paperwhite:

[Katsunami]

If you convert from EPUB to AZW3, the book will normally display perfectly on the Kindle.

However, if the EPUB is not justified, the AZW3 also won't be. You can set justification upon conversion, but I'm not a fan of that method. I normally open the book in the Calibre Viewer, and if it's not justified, I use Edit Book. Just find the the classes in the CSS that make up the body text, and add:

text-align: justify;

Or, if it's set to left, change it to justify. Save the book, and then convert it.

[BookCat]

Katsunami, please explain that more simply. I'm a not techie and find Calibre over complex at times. I certainly could handle CSS, whatever that is.

The 505 can't display epubs very well. This is discussed in the "What we're working on" thread in the Uploads department. This is the very reason I'm buying the kindle.

See the last 3 pages of this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=10203&page=58

[JimmyR]

If you view the EPUB in the Calibre viewer and the text is justified, then the resulting AZW3 will be as well—provided that the option for text justification is set to "Original" or "Justify text" in the Look & Feel conversion options. See attached image.

If the EPUB text is left aligned, then set the option to "Justify text". You can also open the EPUB in the editor (Edit Book) and manually change/add the text-align property for the appropriate classes in the CSS—as Katsunami pointed out. The former method is obviously the simpler of the two.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Katsunami, please explain that more simply. I'm a not techie and find Calibre over complex at times. I certainly could handle CSS, whatever that is.

CSS is easy; it basically states how the text has to look. To justify a book that is not justified, you do the following:

- Open the EPUB using Calibre's "Edit Book".
- Click one of the chapter files.
- Find the CSS class that represents the main body text.

(See attachment 1.)

- In this book, the class is called "calibre3", but it can have any name.
- Open the book's stylesheet (in this case, stylesheet.css).
- Find the correct class: it can be either "p.calibre3", or ".calibre3".

(See attachment 2.)

- Change "text-align: left;" to "text-align: justify;". If there is no text-align property, then add "text-align: justify;" to the class.
- Save the book.

Done.

Many books have the first paragraph non-indented, while the following paragraphs are indented. In this case, the first paragraphs will be in their own class. You will also need to find the class name that belongs to the first paragraphs, and change the justify there as well.

Master Trick:
Sometimes, books have gaps between paragraphs, or they have a weird misaligned look: this happens if the paragraphs have an extra margin that is a bit larger than the normal line height. If one of these things bother you, do the same as above, an then:

- Remove any "margin" property from the class that represents body text (and if necessary, also from the class that represents the first paragraphs.)
- Add "margin: 0;" to the class.
- Save the book.

Poof. No more margins or weird misaligned looks in the body text.

This works for most books, but sometimes it doens't; then you have a book with bad markup, and some heavy-handed editing may be needed.

=====

Alignment through conversion vs. Manual alignment by CSS
Calibre can do "Justify" and "Remove gap" while converting, as JimmyR points out, but I prefer doing this by hand. Because the re-alignment while converting is automated, the effects can not always be predicted. Sometimes, Calibre will also re-align and justify stuff that you DON'T want to change, such as poems or songs. (Think Tolkien...) Calibre may change them, but my method won't, as they will have their own class, different than the one used for the body text. (If it is a book marked up in a sane way, anyway.)

The 505 can't display epubs very well. This is discussed in the "What we're working on" thread in the Uploads department. This is the very reason I'm buying the kindle.

Funny reason to get a Kindle. It doesn't display EPUB's at all (Unless you convert them to AZW3, obviously.)

[BookCat]

Funny reason to get a Kindle. It doesn't display EPUB's at all (Unless you convert them to AZW3, obviously.)

I was informed, by many MR members, that the kindle displays converted epubs far better than the 505. Many kindle owners confirmed this.

Thanks for the conversion info.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I was informed, by many MR members, that the kindle displays converted epubs far better than the 505. Many kindle owners confirmed this.

This is certainly true: EPUB converts to AZW3 perfectly (most of the time; the Kindle has some problems with mega-huge fonts). I don't know how good the 505 was.

Thanks for the conversion info.

You're welcome

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I don't know how good the 505 was.

The 505 viewed epubs fine and integrated with calibre as well or better than any other dedicated ereader. I gave mine to my son years ago. As I recall it showed full or left justified text as presented in the CSS. My personal preference led me to format all my epubs for left justification.

I was determined to stay with my 505 later the 950 until I found a device as well integrated. Once chaley said he was developing an Android app I knew the calibre integration would be great so I bought a Nexus 7 and haven't looked back.