Removing space between paragraphs in a Mobi book

HarryT · 08-07-2011, 06:26 AM

I've bought a commercial Amazon eBook, which has all its paragraphs double-spaced. Doing a Mobi-to-Mobi conversion and selecting the "Remove space between paragraphs" option does not change this.

Looking at the HTML code, the problem is self-evident: there is a:

Code:

<br class="calibre4"></br>

between each paragraph.

Is there any way that I can remove this in Calibre?

Thanks!

itimpi · 08-07-2011, 06:42 AM

You could use "Search and Replace" facility under the Conversion settings to replace every occurrence of that sequence with an empty string.

HarryT · 08-07-2011, 06:50 AM

Thanks - that worked

. Appreciate the help!

HarryT · 08-07-2011, 06:57 AM

What I finished up doing was to replace:

Code:

/p><br/><p

by:

Code:

/p><p

so as to only remove single blanks while leaving the multiple blanks used for scene changes, chapter starts, etc.

dwig · 08-07-2011, 09:44 AM

FWIW: I had a similar issue with PG book last night. I wanted a MOBI file and didn't want to mess with my own conversion from their HTML. PG's ePub was a mess so I downloaded the MOBI which had spaces between the paragraphs.

I did a MOBI>EPUB and edited in Sigil to fix several small issues and found the space between paragraphs to be created using a styled paragraph containing a NBSP. It was on 3 lines and Sigil's Search&Replace couldn't handle finding a match (failed to deal with the line ending??) and I wasn't up to creating a successful RegEx.

When I reconverted EPUB>MOBI with Calibre, its legacy "remove spaces between paragraphs" (Look & Feel tab) failed to work. I then tried the new one on the Heuristic Processing tab which did the trick. Apparently the two use somewhat different logic.

Calibre is like a Swiss Army knife. If one blade isn't the right tool another probably is.

ldolse · 08-07-2011, 10:24 AM

The option under look and feel only affects css/styles, it doesn't change html. The option under Heuristics is designed to handle dwig's use case, as heuristics does muck with the html. For some documents both can be useful. Harry's use case is not covered by either feature, as abuse of <br> tags is 'relatively' uncommon, though I'm seeing it more frequently in mobi docs.

HarryT · 08-07-2011, 10:37 AM

The annoying thing is that it's a completely unnecessary abuse. Mobi provides a documented method of adjusting paragraph spacing.

theducks · 08-07-2011, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The annoying thing is that it's a completely unnecessary abuse. Mobi provides a documented method of adjusting paragraph spacing.

Amen!

08-07-2011, 06:26 AM	#1
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Removing space between paragraphs in a Mobi book I've bought a commercial Amazon eBook, which has all its paragraphs double-spaced. Doing a Mobi-to-Mobi conversion and selecting the "Remove space between paragraphs" option does not change this. Looking at the HTML code, the problem is self-evident: there is a: Code: <br class="calibre4"></br> between each paragraph. Is there any way that I can remove this in Calibre? Thanks!

08-07-2011, 06:57 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What I finished up doing was to replace: Code: /p><br/><p by: Code: /p><p so as to only remove single blanks while leaving the multiple blanks used for scene changes, chapter starts, etc.

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08-07-2011, 06:42 AM	#2
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,553 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	You could use "Search and Replace" facility under the Conversion settings to replace every occurrence of that sequence with an empty string.

08-07-2011, 06:50 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thanks - that worked . Appreciate the help!

08-07-2011, 09:44 AM	#5
dwig Wizard Posts: 1,613 Karma: 6718541 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paradise (Key West, FL) Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...	FWIW: I had a similar issue with PG book last night. I wanted a MOBI file and didn't want to mess with my own conversion from their HTML. PG's ePub was a mess so I downloaded the MOBI which had spaces between the paragraphs. I did a MOBI>EPUB and edited in Sigil to fix several small issues and found the space between paragraphs to be created using a styled paragraph containing a NBSP. It was on 3 lines and Sigil's Search&Replace couldn't handle finding a match (failed to deal with the line ending??) and I wasn't up to creating a successful RegEx. When I reconverted EPUB>MOBI with Calibre, its legacy "remove spaces between paragraphs" (Look & Feel tab) failed to work. I then tried the new one on the Heuristic Processing tab which did the trick. Apparently the two use somewhat different logic. Calibre is like a Swiss Army knife. If one blade isn't the right tool another probably is.

08-07-2011, 10:24 AM	#6
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	The option under look and feel only affects css/styles, it doesn't change html. The option under Heuristics is designed to handle dwig's use case, as heuristics does muck with the html. For some documents both can be useful. Harry's use case is not covered by either feature, as abuse of <br> tags is 'relatively' uncommon, though I'm seeing it more frequently in mobi docs.

08-07-2011, 10:37 AM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The annoying thing is that it's a completely unnecessary abuse. Mobi provides a documented method of adjusting paragraph spacing.

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