Merging Into a New Book?

mike.propp · 09-24-2015, 04:35 AM

Hello!

It's my third day using Calibre. I love it, but have hit a few "I wonder if I can do that?" situations.

A first problem; I have some "eBook" (in quotes because they're not really ebooks) from instructors that are really a file folder with 150 .jpg files called page1.jpg, page2.jpg, etc. I'd love to merge them into one file.

Similarly, I have an "ebook" (again, not a real ebook) 101 Simple Home Owner Tips that is a folder of 101 .pdf files that are all 1-4 pages. I'd love to merge them all into one file. It'd be a bonus if there could be some sort of table of contents.

I've probably 25 or so such folders pretending to be ebooks. So, automation would be king.

I bet I'm not the only one whose ran into this. Is there a Calibre solution that anyone knows about? Thank you so much!

kovidgoyal · 09-24-2015, 04:38 AM

For a folder of images, just zip them up into a zip file and add it to calibre, calibre will automatically import it a a cbz (comic book file). You can use the command line zip tool and the calibredb tool to automate this process.

There are many freely available tools that can merge pdf files, but calibre itself does not have that capability (at least not in easily accessible form). Once merged, you can again use calibredb to add the resulting file to calibre from a script.

phossler · 09-24-2015, 09:56 AM

A 'not-Calibre' solution that I like is to use the freeware

http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages...ve-creator.php

Quote:

Title: Comic Book Archive Creator
Description: An application for quickly creating Comic Book Archive files for use in such readers as Comic Rack or CDisplay.
Features:
- Input formats: pdf, jpg, png, gif, tif, & bmp
- Output formats: cbz, cb7, cbt, & cbr
Comic Book Archive Creator includes everything you need to create .cbz, .cb7, and .cbt files. However, due to the WinRAR license, I am not allowed to distribute the Rar.exe necessary for .cbr support. Therefore, if you want .cbr support, you must provide your own Rar.exe file.
Version: 1.0.5 (2012-07-23)

It has some basic options, but it will take JPG and PDF files, and allow you to arrange them, and generate a CBZ file that can be added to Calibre.

Once there, you can add cover, metadata, etc. and make an epub, etc.

mike.propp · 09-24-2015, 11:02 PM

Might be because I'm using Calibre 2.38 on Mac OSX...

Calibre added the .zip file to the library, but when I tried to open it in Calibre it launched the system archive utility. After reading http://techie-buzz.com/helpdesk/how-...-archives.html I tried changing the file extension to .cbz and adding that the the library; opening that in Calibre launched Stuffit... I'll keep searching.

Comic Book Archive Creator is Windows only, unfortunately, but thanks for the idea.

I'll keep looking for a free creator. Thanks!

kovidgoyal · 09-24-2015, 11:10 PM

If you want to open cbz files in the calibre viewer, go to preferences->Behavior and tick cbz in the list of format to use the builting viewer for. The reason it is off by default is that the calibre viewer is not a dedicated comic viewer, so it has no special comic related features.

mike.propp · 09-25-2015, 04:18 AM

Thanks, Kovidgoyal! That worked perfectly. You sure seem to know your way around this Calibre thing...

BetterRed · 09-25-2015, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike.propp

Thanks, Kovidgoyal! That worked perfectly. You sure seem to know your way around this Calibre thing...

So he ought - he wrote most of it

09-24-2015, 04:35 AM	#1
mike.propp Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2015 Device: nook	Merging Into a New Book? Hello! It's my third day using Calibre. I love it, but have hit a few "I wonder if I can do that?" situations. A first problem; I have some "eBook" (in quotes because they're not really ebooks) from instructors that are really a file folder with 150 .jpg files called page1.jpg, page2.jpg, etc. I'd love to merge them into one file. Similarly, I have an "ebook" (again, not a real ebook) 101 Simple Home Owner Tips that is a folder of 101 .pdf files that are all 1-4 pages. I'd love to merge them all into one file. It'd be a bonus if there could be some sort of table of contents. I've probably 25 or so such folders pretending to be ebooks. So, automation would be king. I bet I'm not the only one whose ran into this. Is there a Calibre solution that anyone knows about? Thank you so much!

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09-24-2015, 04:38 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,219 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	For a folder of images, just zip them up into a zip file and add it to calibre, calibre will automatically import it a a cbz (comic book file). You can use the command line zip tool and the calibredb tool to automate this process. There are many freely available tools that can merge pdf files, but calibre itself does not have that capability (at least not in easily accessible form). Once merged, you can again use calibredb to add the resulting file to calibre from a script.

09-24-2015, 11:02 PM	#4
mike.propp Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2015 Device: nook	Might be because I'm using Calibre 2.38 on Mac OSX... Calibre added the .zip file to the library, but when I tried to open it in Calibre it launched the system archive utility. After reading http://techie-buzz.com/helpdesk/how-...-archives.html I tried changing the file extension to .cbz and adding that the the library; opening that in Calibre launched Stuffit... I'll keep searching. Comic Book Archive Creator is Windows only, unfortunately, but thanks for the idea. I'll keep looking for a free creator. Thanks!

09-24-2015, 11:10 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,219 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	If you want to open cbz files in the calibre viewer, go to preferences->Behavior and tick cbz in the list of format to use the builting viewer for. The reason it is off by default is that the calibre viewer is not a dedicated comic viewer, so it has no special comic related features.

09-25-2015, 04:18 AM	#6
mike.propp Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2015 Device: nook	Thanks, Kovidgoyal! That worked perfectly. You sure seem to know your way around this Calibre thing...

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