Why I advise students NOT to use Calibre E-Book Viewer

[Furphy McMurphy]

I advise my students (and any serious scholar) not to use the Calibre E-Book Viewer--it is because one cannot easily underline (or mark-up) the text. When I read something I want to mark, I need to go to the editor (yuck).
But in an email, I simply select the text and hit underline.
I can do the same with a right-click in any word processing program, and I can easily underline in Adobe Acrobat.
When Calibre adds an easy right-click function to underline, I'll start telling my students to use it.

[BetterRed]

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Should I pity your students - it seems you can't read?

BR

[theducks]

For a first post, you sure start out rude.

If you don't like a free tool: Just don't use it.
The tool never claimed annotation capability.

This is not to say that a timely warning IS warranted for things that are Malicious (which Calibre is not).

[Capricorn]

A number of years ago I read that highlighting is better than underlining because usability studies had shown that the eye is drawn more to the "underline" than to the word above it. This does not happen with highlighting.
I then observed for some time what my eyes did, whenever I saw underlined text, and indeed the first thing my eyes were drawn to, was the underline but not the word above. Hence, as far as I am concerned, teaching underlining is doing your students AND any serious scholar a disservice.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by Capricorn

A number of years ago I read that highlighting is better than underlining

Here's a study, reported by Time, that says both are a waste of time.

Highlighting Is a Waste of Time: The Best and Worst Learning Techniques

The Worst
Highlighting and underlining led the authors’ list of ineffective learning strategies. Although they are common practices, studies show they offer no benefit beyond simply reading the text.

[fidvo]

I'm curious as to what format you're trying to underline. Calibre is very good at reading epub, azw3, etc. These are ebook formats. I repeat, ebook formats. They're meant to be read-only. The ability to make changes to such books, including underlining, is not a basic feature.

Word processors are based on read-write formats, designed specifically to be changed. Big difference.

If you're complaining that Calibre doesn't allow underlining in epub, azw3, etc. then I would argue that you've just gotten spoiled by a program that includes non-standard features.

If you're complaining that Calibre doesn't handle word processor or other formats well, your argument is equivalent to complaining that it's too hard to read text files in a hex editor. Wrong tool for the job. If you want to make changes to word processor files, use a word processor.

Of course, you can have the best of both worlds. If you want to use Calibre's library management features but prefer to edit in a separate program, simply uncheck the format from the list of file types Calibre reads natively. I do that with PDF, cbz, and txt files, for instance, because there are much better viewers/editors out there for these file types. If your operating system is set up to load those files in your favorite editing app, you can do all the editing you want.

[PeterT]

The OP has not been back since making his post....

[eschwartz]

Sigh... yet another crank, here one minute and gone the next...

Although I must say, I too am eager to hear more about this oh-so-vastly-superior app that does it so much better...

But it seems clear to me what formats the ephemeral OP uses: DOCX and PDF. Neither of which should by default open in the calibre ebook-viewer, so all is right with the world.

[BetterRed]

My question to the OP would be - how would he suggest an underline created by the author/publisher be differentiated from an underline created by the reader?

The PDF XChange (Free) reader has an underlining tool, in green. Which is cute, but surely, by the time a MSS gets to be a PDF its a bit late for green ink editing

BR

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by Furphy McMurphy

not to use the Calibre E-Book Viewer--it is because one cannot easily underline (or mark-up) the text.

The Calibre e-Book Viewer is not a markup tool. Not designed for that task. Not an appropriate tool for that task.

The primary virtue of the Calibre e-Book Viewer, is looking at that bizarre format that the book you were sent uses, to decide if it is worth converting, and then reading on your reader.