Remove embedded covers

[Angelo Mascaro]

Is there any way to remove the cover(s) embedded in all the e-books file (azw3, mobi, epub) without removing the covers in the book directory?
I just want to get rid of the useless images on the reading devices, but I want to have them in Calibre.

Thanks, Angelo

[BetterRed]

You can use the optional Modify ePub to remove them from EPUB files

Maybe you can use the calibre editor to remove them from AZW3 formats. Not sure about MOBI - maybe unpack with optional Kindle Unpack plugin, remove the cover, then recreate the MOBI with Kindlegen.

Probably best to wait to for further advice on on AZW3 and MOBI

BR

[eschwartz]

Open the AZW3 with the calibre editor, unmark the cover image, and delete the file, then save.
Rinse. Repeat.

MOBI files cannot be edited, nohow noway. You will need to convert it to a more modern format, or use KindleUnpack (which is more work than converting to EPUB/AZW3).

I know of no way to apply that in bulk as you can for EPUB.

[Angelo Mascaro]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Open the AZW3 with the calibre editor, unmark the cover image, and delete the file, then save.
Rinse. Repeat.

MOBI files cannot be edited, nohow noway. You will need to convert it to a more modern format, or use KindleUnpack (which is more work than converting to EPUB/AZW3).

I know of no way to apply that in bulk as you can for EPUB.

Thank you eschwartz and thank you BetterRed.

So if I want to do it, the only way is one by one. I'm pretty sure I'm going to wait for a bulk solution. Maybe in future I have more time and I can learn how to write a plug in

I have only EPUB and AZW3 (I convert to them every other format) so from now and then I can keep doing as I was already doing.

Cheers, Angelo

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Angelo Mascaro

So if I want to do it, the only way is one by one. I'm pretty sure I'm going to wait for a bulk solution. Maybe in future I have more time and I can learn how to write a plug in

@Angelo Mascaro - the Modify EPUB PI can be used 'in bulk' - select many books from book list in the usual way, and then run Modify - of course the same options will be run against all books.

Many of calibres built in features - Conversion, Remove, Polish Books, Copy to Library etc - and optional plugins - Modify, Resize Cover, Count Pages etc - can be used this way.

BR

[enuddleyarbl]

Have you tried Convert | Structure Detection | Remove First Image? I'm not sure if that will do what you want, but it can be run on multiple items.

[eschwartz]

Convert also embeds cover images...

It isn't usually expected that people would want to remove cover images.

[Angelo Mascaro]

Hi
Thanks everybody for the contribution.

I know that it sounds weird wanting to remove the embedded cover. While it's very useful to have the cover in Calibre, I find the cover on my ebook readers a useless waste of space and of battery. Anyway, this is just a matter of opinion.

Since I have more than 3000 books in Calibre (awz3 + epub, that makes 6000+ files), I'd like to process them automatically. There are so many wonderful options in "Edit book" (as Smart punctuation or Remove unused CCS)... I'd like also to perform these actions on all the books in my library.

Some of these options are checked in the convert dialogs and that's good, but of course they are not executed on the original file.

Furthermore, converting books to AZW3 with the option "remove the first image" generates an ebook that does not show the first image, but the image is still in the file. Moreover, the option "remove the first image" seems to be ignored while converting AZW3 books (without any embedded image) to EPUB format: the cover in metadata is forced in the ebook.

Can anybody help me? Am I doing something wrong?

[BetterRed]

@Angelo Mascaro - I'm the same way, I regard covers as a waste of space and bandwidth outside calibre.

For EPUBS you can use the Modify PI (you can select many books and run the PI) to remove the covers, if you then Save to Disk with following settings you'll get a coverless EPUB.



But Send to Device to and Send by Mail may put the cover back - I don't use them so I'm not a 100% sure - maybe that's part of the reason I don't use them.

BR

[eschwartz]

Send, and Save to disk, do not put the covers back -- they only update an existing cover image, if one is marked.

An EPUB that does not have a valid cover page will not be modified to generate a cover page and embed it into the ebook flow -- that requires significantly more than a metadata update.

You need the Editor, or Modify EPUB/Polish book feature for that.

[Angelo Mascaro]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Angelo Mascaro - I'm the same way, I regard covers as a waste of space and bandwidth outside calibre.

For EPUBS you can use the Modify PI (you can select many books and run the PI) to remove the covers, if you then Save to Disk with following settings you'll get a coverless EPUB.

Attachment 142119

But Send to Device to and Send by Mail may put the cover back - I don't use them so I'm not a 100% sure - maybe that's part of the reason I don't use them.

BR

Hi BetterRed
Thank you very much for your contribution.
I used ModifyEpub in order to batch remove the covers and it worked fine (not for every book..., so I did it manually). Anyway, when I convert the ePub to azw3 for my kindle, the cover appears again!

I cannot find any option regarding the cover among the conversion to AZW3 options but one. The only one is "change cover image"/"use cover from source file". No matter what I set here, the conversion process use the cover.jpg in the book folder.

I managed to convert to AZW3 without cover only by renaming all the cover.jpg files in order to hide them.

How come that there is no option to convert without cover? Or am I unable to find it?

Thanks again to everybody for the contributions and the patience

[Angelo Mascaro]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Send, and Save to disk, do not put the covers back -- they only update an existing cover image, if one is marked.

An EPUB that does not have a valid cover page will not be modified to generate a cover page and embed it into the ebook flow -- that requires significantly more than a metadata update.

You need the Editor, or Modify EPUB/Polish book feature for that.

Thanks!
I installed Modify EPUB and used polish book feature. It works well, even though a small percentage of books retain the cover. Many other options are outstanding: punctuation and character management in Italian works perfectly!

I'm still looking for the solution for the kindle.

[eschwartz]

Well, I was wrong -- Polish book doesn't offer the option to remove the cover, only to update/add it.


There is no way in calibre itself to remove a cover, except with the Editor.
Fortunately for those who want it, there is a plugin that does that for EPUB but sadly, no plugin for AZW3.

[cybmole]

The Modify e pub plugin has add/remove cover option. That is not the polish book feature, which is part of core calibre, it is an older, separately installed plugin.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by cybmole

The Modify e pub plugin has add/remove cover option. That is not the polish book feature, which is part of core calibre, it is an older, separately installed plugin.

Thank you.
I just said that.
But thanks anyway for the moral support.