How come the dictionary doesn't work on .mobi files?

lori87 · 10-20-2018, 03:09 PM

I find that .mobi books are formatted more nicely compared to .epub, however the dictionary is not working with .mobi. Why?

lori87 · 10-21-2018, 02:09 PM

Any advice guys or am i kinda screwed?

Mrs_Often · 10-21-2018, 02:36 PM

I don't know about your dictionary problem. But I'm curious, what is better about .mobi formatting compared to .epub in your experience? Have you converted the nicely formatted .mobi to .epub (using Calibre)? I've never experienced formatting loss when doing so.

lori87 · 10-21-2018, 08:09 PM

Here's an image

EDIT: Sorry ,messed up the titles. The .mobi is on the right (nicely formatted side). The .epub on the left

I can't highlight or use the dictionary on .mobi's

davidfor · 10-21-2018, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lori87

Here's an image

Is that supposed to demonstrate the difference? If so, it doesn't do a good job. My first reaction was that the EPUB looked better. It shows the use of multiple font sizes and bold text for emphasis. And the list is nicely indented.

As a demonstration that MOBI formatting is better it fails. Part of the problem is that the two books are very different. Looking at it, the list in the MOBI is probably just paragraphs with a hardcoded number. The list in the EPUB might be done using OL and LI tags. Or it could be done with paragraphs inside a BLOCKQUOTE or a DIV or simply with different left margins to give the indent.

Whatever the reason for the difference, it would be easy to code the EPUB to give exactly the same layout as the MOBI. And odds are, if you use calibre to convert the MOBI to EPUB, you will get the same result. And my understanding is that the MOBI format is a lot more limited than EPUB.

Quote:

I can't highlight or use the dictionary on .mobi's

Each format supported on the Kobo devices have support different features. Some are obvious (no dictionary support in CBR/CBZ), while some, like this are not so obvious. Kobo's support for MOBIs is really only there as a checkbox on marketing material. Hence, they haven't bothered to do all the support for the format that might be possible. Overall, you are better to use an EPUB version if you have it, or convert to EPUB or KEPUB.

Ripplinger · 10-21-2018, 08:33 PM

It's still impossible to tell what formatting issue you object to in an epub vs mobi, to me the epub sample looks better formatted, but you're not comparing identical texts to know what the problem might be.

I've converted many books with Calibre as well to epub, and the formatting is always as good as or better than the mobi file.

lori87 · 10-21-2018, 08:54 PM

I made a mistake, the .mobi was on the right.

Let me try caliber to convert and ill let you guys know

lori87 · 10-21-2018, 09:04 PM

Okay I just tried caliber, I really dont know what you guys are talking about, the .epub just removes ALL formatting. THere is no bold text or large text, it's all one size.

Why is everyone saying it exists?

davidfor · 10-21-2018, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lori87

Okay I just tried caliber, I really dont know what you guys are talking about, the .epub just removes ALL formatting. THere is no bold text or large text, it's all one size.

Why is everyone saying it exists?

Because we can see this formatting in other books. I had a look through my books and have one MOBI with me. I copied it off the device and use calibre to convert it to EPUB with the default options. I then sideloaded it. Then I opened to the same page on both books, changed the font size to match and took the screenshots. The attached screenshots show the results. The formatting on the two version is very similar.

The conversion isn't perfect. But, this shows multiple font size, bold, italic, links, pictures (I think the default is to convert to grey scale) and most other common formatting. I could probably fiddle with the conversion to improve things (the line spacing is different), or fiddle with the options to make it worse.

For your case, I can only think you have changed the conversion options at some time to produce the results you are seeing. Looking at the conversion log, we might be able to work out what you changed. Or if we had access to your source book, to work out the best options for the conversion.

Note: I did do one cheat. "Robert E. Howard" and "Table of Contents" are headings. The defaults for a conversion will create new files for both of these and this will put them on new pages. So, I merged the first three files in the epub to get roughly the same text on the page as for MOBI.

lori87 · 10-21-2018, 10:59 PM

May I email or somehow send just you the book via PM? I don't think I'm allowed to share it publicly. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong.

DNSB · 10-21-2018, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lori87

Okay I just tried caliber, I really dont know what you guys are talking about, the .epub just removes ALL formatting. THere is no bold text or large text, it's all one size.

Why is everyone saying it exists?

Because it does? I have converted quite a few mobi files to epub and the formatting is not all that different between the two given the limitations of mobi. To make it easier, here is the introduction page of a book I just downloaded and converted from mobi to epub (On Basilisk Station, David Weber, Baen Free Library). The filenames give the ebook filetype.

You might to check your conversion settings and possibly ask for help in the appropriate calibre forum.

As for PMing the ebook, given that it is likely under copyright. (I came up with Don't be Sad by Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, available at IIPH), that's pretty much the sole choice.

lori87 · 10-22-2018, 12:48 AM

Do you think maybe it's my kobo auro h20 edition 2 reader causing an issue with formatting? I need to narrow this down, maybe it's my ereader but i doubt it

davidfor · 10-22-2018, 02:15 AM

It isn't the device. The renderer is the same on all Kobo devices.

As to the file, yes, a PM is the way to go. Put the file somewhere and PM the link. Alternatively, choose a MOBI file that is freely available. The example I used above comes from the MobileRead library. There are plenty of MOBIs in the library. You can use one as a test case to see if they convert better than the book you are looking at.

lori87 · 10-22-2018, 02:23 AM

Just sent you a PM, thank you so much it's driving me so crazy and i've been at it for hours.

I'm just trying to get a "formatted" nicely version of the book and the ability to highlight/use dictionary on the device.

I sent you the epub and mobi. I originally had the epub, I converted it to mobi. The mobi looks perfect, the epub does not. On my kobo, the formatting does not exist on the epub it's all same size/same text/not nicely looking.

lori87 · 10-22-2018, 02:38 AM

I've uploaded a 1 page sample for everyone. This epub on my kobo is all the same seize, no large text, no bold, just the same all round. The .mobi is fine. If you open the files in sumatra on Windows, you'll get an idea of how it works.

Links here
https://www.sendspace.com/file/6bda3j

10-20-2018, 03:09 PM	#1
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	How come the dictionary doesn't work on .mobi files? I find that .mobi books are formatted more nicely compared to .epub, however the dictionary is not working with .mobi. Why?

10-21-2018, 08:09 PM	#4
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	Here's an image EDIT: Sorry ,messed up the titles. The .mobi is on the right (nicely formatted side). The .epub on the left I can't highlight or use the dictionary on .mobi's Last edited by lori87; 10-21-2018 at 08:53 PM.

10-21-2018, 10:59 PM	#10
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	May I email or somehow send just you the book via PM? I don't think I'm allowed to share it publicly. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong. Last edited by lori87; 10-21-2018 at 11:03 PM.

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10-21-2018, 02:09 PM	#2
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	Any advice guys or am i kinda screwed?

10-21-2018, 02:36 PM	#3
Mrs_Often Wizard Posts: 1,775 Karma: 2694823 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: The Netherlands Device: Kobo Touch, Glo, Clara HD	I don't know about your dictionary problem. But I'm curious, what is better about .mobi formatting compared to .epub in your experience? Have you converted the nicely formatted .mobi to .epub (using Calibre)? I've never experienced formatting loss when doing so.

10-21-2018, 08:33 PM	#6
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	It's still impossible to tell what formatting issue you object to in an epub vs mobi, to me the epub sample looks better formatted, but you're not comparing identical texts to know what the problem might be. I've converted many books with Calibre as well to epub, and the formatting is always as good as or better than the mobi file.

10-21-2018, 08:54 PM	#7
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	I made a mistake, the .mobi was on the right. Let me try caliber to convert and ill let you guys know

10-21-2018, 09:04 PM	#8
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	Okay I just tried caliber, I really dont know what you guys are talking about, the .epub just removes ALL formatting. THere is no bold text or large text, it's all one size. Why is everyone saying it exists?

10-22-2018, 12:48 AM	#12
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	Do you think maybe it's my kobo auro h20 edition 2 reader causing an issue with formatting? I need to narrow this down, maybe it's my ereader but i doubt it

10-22-2018, 02:15 AM	#13
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	It isn't the device. The renderer is the same on all Kobo devices. As to the file, yes, a PM is the way to go. Put the file somewhere and PM the link. Alternatively, choose a MOBI file that is freely available. The example I used above comes from the MobileRead library. There are plenty of MOBIs in the library. You can use one as a test case to see if they convert better than the book you are looking at.

10-22-2018, 02:23 AM	#14
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	Just sent you a PM, thank you so much it's driving me so crazy and i've been at it for hours. I'm just trying to get a "formatted" nicely version of the book and the ability to highlight/use dictionary on the device. I sent you the epub and mobi. I originally had the epub, I converted it to mobi. The mobi looks perfect, the epub does not. On my kobo, the formatting does not exist on the epub it's all same size/same text/not nicely looking.

10-22-2018, 02:38 AM	#15
lori87 Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 126 Join Date: Oct 2018 Device: kobo	I've uploaded a 1 page sample for everyone. This epub on my kobo is all the same seize, no large text, no bold, just the same all round. The .mobi is fine. If you open the files in sumatra on Windows, you'll get an idea of how it works. Links here https://www.sendspace.com/file/6bda3j

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