Content review: Kindle, Calibre, and how ebooks can make you smarter faster

Lancer Kind · 10-17-2010, 10:43 AM

I've been using the Kindle and Calibre. (I haven't used iBooks enough yet to write about it.) In the review, I point out Calibre doesn't support section breaks which makes it layout look not at good as it could be.

[Link removed - Moderator]

==>Lancer---

terencek · 10-18-2010, 05:47 AM

Not sure what your issue is with section breaks as the review was removed, but it might be worth pointing out that the freebie MobiPocket Reader for PC often does a far better job of converting PDFs, Word, HTML and plain text than Calibre. It's a drag and drop affair too, and you can then run the resulting PRC file through Calbre to get a MOBI (they are essentially the same format) with no loss -- which you need to do if you have made any changes to the metadata and you want them to stick.

Lancer Kind · 12-17-2010, 10:45 AM

A link to the review the review we are discussing is beneath my signature.

I used MobiPocket Reader on the PC. It does a quick and easy job if you are putting together something quick for friends or work, but for creating a well-crafted book, it did not do a good job in converting from Word/HTML into PRC. Now I'm being picky because I want my readers to have a high quality ebook. I ended up doing a lot of hand editing of the HTML to get the page breaks indented in the same tradition as a paper book (paragraph breaks starting a new section aren't indented by a tab where all following parapgraph breaks are indented.) That is something you may not be conscious of, so let me pick something more obvious:
How to remove the bullet icons from the front of each item of the TOC?

I couldn't overcome that choice hardcoded by the MobiPocket team.

Can you quickly create a functional ebook with MobiPocket? Yes.
Can you easily craft it so it has the same (ignoring the fonts issue here as that is unsurmountable for the Kindle) vague look as a printed book? Not without a lot of hand work.

The layout differences between Calibre and Kindle, I feel is a Calibre bug. Maybe it's been resolved by now.

==>Lancer---

http://www.lancerkind.com/2010/10/17...marter-faster/

charonme · 12-17-2010, 11:20 AM

what is the "fonts issue" and what problems does kindle have with fonts?

Lancer Kind · 12-25-2010, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charonme

what is the "fonts issue" and what problems does kindle have with fonts?

The Kindle only supports around 2 typefaces and a few fonts in those typefaces (around 3 sizes, plus italics and bold). So there are few choices in how to present your text. Calibre supports all the fonts installed on the computer so you can make your text very custom/beautiful.

I'd like to see support for embedding fonts into ebooks so we can maintain the craft of using the perfect typeface/font.

10-17-2010, 10:43 AM	#1
Lancer Kind Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: iPhone	review: Kindle, Calibre, and how ebooks can make you smarter faster I've been using the Kindle and Calibre. (I haven't used iBooks enough yet to write about it.) In the review, I point out Calibre doesn't support section breaks which makes it layout look not at good as it could be. [Link removed - Moderator] ==>Lancer--- Last edited by Dr. Drib; 10-17-2010 at 12:36 PM.

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10-18-2010, 05:47 AM	#2
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	Not sure what your issue is with section breaks as the review was removed, but it might be worth pointing out that the freebie MobiPocket Reader for PC often does a far better job of converting PDFs, Word, HTML and plain text than Calibre. It's a drag and drop affair too, and you can then run the resulting PRC file through Calbre to get a MOBI (they are essentially the same format) with no loss -- which you need to do if you have made any changes to the metadata and you want them to stick.

12-17-2010, 10:45 AM	#3
Lancer Kind Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: iPhone	A link to the review the review we are discussing is beneath my signature. I used MobiPocket Reader on the PC. It does a quick and easy job if you are putting together something quick for friends or work, but for creating a well-crafted book, it did not do a good job in converting from Word/HTML into PRC. Now I'm being picky because I want my readers to have a high quality ebook. I ended up doing a lot of hand editing of the HTML to get the page breaks indented in the same tradition as a paper book (paragraph breaks starting a new section aren't indented by a tab where all following parapgraph breaks are indented.) That is something you may not be conscious of, so let me pick something more obvious: How to remove the bullet icons from the front of each item of the TOC? I couldn't overcome that choice hardcoded by the MobiPocket team. Can you quickly create a functional ebook with MobiPocket? Yes. Can you easily craft it so it has the same (ignoring the fonts issue here as that is unsurmountable for the Kindle) vague look as a printed book? Not without a lot of hand work. The layout differences between Calibre and Kindle, I feel is a Calibre bug. Maybe it's been resolved by now. ==>Lancer--- http://www.lancerkind.com/2010/10/17...marter-faster/

12-17-2010, 11:20 AM	#4
charonme Zealot Posts: 103 Karma: 11904 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: K3	what is the "fonts issue" and what problems does kindle have with fonts?

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