Loss of metadata after import

cjb0723 · 05-20-2020, 04:05 PM

Hello,

I have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to perusing the threads. So I have long been committed to solid, tangible paper books but I am now traveling a lot for work and have decided to invest in an e-reader. At the same time I am trying to shift to a lifestyle that does not support Amazon (for obvious reasons). Therefore I ultimately opted to get a Kobo. That being said, I do have a fair number of Kindle ebooks already that I read on the app via my phone. I would like to have these transferred to my Kobo when I get it. From my websearches it seems that the best way to do this is via Calibre (with the de-dRM plugin) and converting to epub.

I have not yet received my Kobo device but I have been trying to prep my library in advance. I have successfully downloaded the books I want to transfer via the Kindle for PC program (I am running Windows 10) and then imported them into Calibre. However, on import all of the metadata is lost. I am left with a list of books with jibberish titles and no author info or covers.

Some of the solutions I found online: check the Calibre settings to make sure that the metadata is taken from the file contents and to make sure the plugins were enabled and everything checked out there. I also tried to download the ebooks directly from amazon with the "Download to USB for transfer" option but it told me I did not have any valid devices to do this.

Is my only option to manually go through and change the metadata myself? (There are quite a few books and this will take an age).

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it.

Chris

DNSB · 05-20-2020, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb0723

Hello,

I have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to perusing the threads. So I have long been committed to solid, tangible paper books but I am now traveling a lot for work and have decided to invest in an e-reader. At the same time I am trying to shift to a lifestyle that does not support Amazon (for obvious reasons). Therefore I ultimately opted to get a Kobo. That being said, I do have a fair number of Kindle ebooks already that I read on the app via my phone. I would like to have these transferred to my Kobo when I get it. From my websearches it seems that the best way to do this is via Calibre (with the de-dRM plugin) and converting to epub.

I have not yet received my Kobo device but I have been trying to prep my library in advance. I have successfully downloaded the books I want to transfer via the Kindle for PC program (I am running Windows 10) and then imported them into Calibre. However, on import all of the metadata is lost. I am left with a list of books with jibberish titles and no author info or covers.

Some of the solutions I found online: check the Calibre settings to make sure that the metadata is taken from the file contents and to make sure the plugins were enabled and everything checked out there. I also tried to download the ebooks directly from amazon with the "Download to USB for transfer" option but it told me I did not have any valid devices to do this.

Is my only option to manually go through and change the metadata myself? (There are quite a few books and this will take an age).

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it.

Chris

What version of Kindle for PC did you install? This will help us to know if you are downloading azw3 or KFX format books. Can you open the ebook with calibre's ebook-viewer and see readable text?

You may want to check the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre sticky for more information on this topic.

cjb0723 · 05-21-2020, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

What version of Kindle for PC did you install? This will help us to know if you are downloading azw3 or KFX format books. Can you open the ebook with calibre's ebook-viewer and see readable text?

You may want to check the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre sticky for more information on this topic.

Thank you for the prompt response. I just downloaded the Kindle for PC the day I posted so I presume it's the most up to date version. I looked it up and it says version 1.28.0. When I check the ebook properties in my directories they all say .azw. However, after you suggested checking I found that I cannot open them in Calibre and the error message says that they are kfx files.

I will review the link you posted to see if that answers my questions.

Thank you so much!

cjb0723 · 05-21-2020, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

What version of Kindle for PC did you install? This will help us to know if you are downloading azw3 or KFX format books. Can you open the ebook with calibre's ebook-viewer and see readable text?

You may want to check the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre sticky for more information on this topic.

Followed the instructions on downloading a previous Kindle version and using the KFX Input Plugin for Calibre and that did the trick! Again thank you so much for your help. I greatly appreciate it.

Chris

DNSB · 05-21-2020, 10:03 PM

Good to hear you managed to fix the problem. And equally good that you posted feedback.

05-20-2020, 04:05 PM	#1
cjb0723 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Kobo Clara II HD	Loss of metadata after import Hello, I have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to perusing the threads. So I have long been committed to solid, tangible paper books but I am now traveling a lot for work and have decided to invest in an e-reader. At the same time I am trying to shift to a lifestyle that does not support Amazon (for obvious reasons). Therefore I ultimately opted to get a Kobo. That being said, I do have a fair number of Kindle ebooks already that I read on the app via my phone. I would like to have these transferred to my Kobo when I get it. From my websearches it seems that the best way to do this is via Calibre (with the de-dRM plugin) and converting to epub. I have not yet received my Kobo device but I have been trying to prep my library in advance. I have successfully downloaded the books I want to transfer via the Kindle for PC program (I am running Windows 10) and then imported them into Calibre. However, on import all of the metadata is lost. I am left with a list of books with jibberish titles and no author info or covers. Some of the solutions I found online: check the Calibre settings to make sure that the metadata is taken from the file contents and to make sure the plugins were enabled and everything checked out there. I also tried to download the ebooks directly from amazon with the "Download to USB for transfer" option but it told me I did not have any valid devices to do this. Is my only option to manually go through and change the metadata myself? (There are quite a few books and this will take an age). Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it. Chris

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05-21-2020, 10:03 PM	#5
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 45,321 Karma: 168808723 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Good to hear you managed to fix the problem. And equally good that you posted feedback.

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