Aura HD Strange Cover Image problem

Filmbrain · 12-27-2013, 04:06 AM

Hello All --

I sideloaded a bunch of epubs as kepubs (converted via KoboTouchExtended plugin) the other day, and I'm seeing something very strange with the covers on two books.

I should add that before transferring them to my Aura HD, I added cover images to several of them via the Modify Epub plugin.

Both Woody Allen's WITHOUT FEATHERS and Raymond Carver's WHERE I'M CALLING FROM are showing up in the library with generic white covers (with title and author text), yet both of them appear as Woody Allen, Without Feathers.

Not sure why that is happening, and not sure why the covers I added aren't appearing for these two titles.

Any thoughts?

davidfor · 12-27-2013, 05:35 AM

For sideloaded kepubs, the cover image needs to be identified in the OPF file. The extended driver attempts to find the cover and add a property to the definition in the OPF. If the extended driver can't do this, the device will use the generic cover you are seeing. The main reason for this not working is that the cover is not defined in one of the expected ways in the epub. But, adding the cover using the Modify ePub plugin should have set the cover up correctly. To have a guess at why it didn't work, I would need to see the original epubs.

Some things that might solve the problem are:

- Powering off the device and restarting. The covers can be cached and this is the simplest way to clear the cache.

- Deleting books and resending them. If this still has problems, change the driver options to send the covers with the book. With this, the driver generates the images and copies them to the device.

- Use the cover upload options of my Kobo Utilities plugin.

PremaEbooks · 12-27-2013, 07:00 AM

It is a strange issue.
Even if the cover is identified, it doesn't show up as thumbnail.
The same thing happens if you sideload a KF8 in Kindle Paperwhite.

Code:

 <meta content="cover.jpg" name="cover" />

No problem at all if you sideload the ebook as epub.

I mean I don't connect the device through USB. I use Dropbox to download the ebook using the built in web browser...

davidfor · 12-27-2013, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PremaEbooks

It is a strange issue.
Even if the cover is identified, it doesn't show up as thumbnail.
The same thing happens if you sideload a KF8 in Kindle Paperwhite.

Code:

 <meta content="cover.jpg" name="cover" />

That isn't the line that is used. The line is in the <manifest> section. It should look like:

Code:

<item href="Images/cover.jpg" id="cover-image" media-type="image/jpeg" properties="cover-image"/>

The file name doesn't matter and I don't think the id does eitherThe "properties" bit is what the extended driver adds. If that is not there, then the device will not extract the cover image and will use the generic cover you are seeing.

Quote:

No problem at all if you sideload the ebook as epub.

Quote:

The covers for all other types of books are created from the first page of the book. The device renders that page and creates the cover images needed.

I mean I don't connect the device through USB. I use Dropbox to download the ebook using the built in web browser...

Sorry, but in the first post you say you use the KoboTouchExtended plugin. That can only be used to send the books to the Kobo devices over the USB connection. Does this mean you are actually using the kepub output plugin and doing a conversion to kepub? And if so, how are you getting the kepub to Dropbox? And having the file recognised as kepub?

Filmbrain · 12-28-2013, 05:23 AM

I think the confusion is that the person who started the thread (me) isn't the same as the person who described the other problem.

I deleted and re-added the books, and that sorted the problem, thanks. (I also turned on the send cover option in your plugin.)

Thanks!

davidfor · 12-28-2013, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filmbrain

I think the confusion is that the person who started the thread (me) isn't the same as the person who described the other problem.

You're right, I didn't notice that. But, other than the comment about the extended driver, it all applies.

Quote:

I deleted and re-added the books, and that sorted the problem, thanks. (I also turned on the send cover option in your plugin.)

Good to hear.

PremaEbooks · 01-03-2014, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

That isn't the line that is used. The line is in the <manifest> section. It should look like:

Code:

<item href="Images/cover.jpg" id="cover-image" media-type="image/jpeg" properties="cover-image"/>

The file name doesn't matter and I don't think the id does eitherThe "properties" bit is what the extended driver adds. If that is not there, then the device will not extract the cover image and will use the generic cover you are seeing.

Sorry, but in the first post you say you use the KoboTouchExtended plugin. That can only be used to send the books to the Kobo devices over the USB connection. Does this mean you are actually using the kepub output plugin and doing a conversion to kepub? And if so, how are you getting the kepub to Dropbox? And having the file recognised as kepub?

Thanks for the quick answer... obviusly in a copy/paste I did reference to the wrong line

I edit all my books in Sigil, and it's enough for the device to recognise the cover by just adding the extra code: properties="cover-image"

The next step is just to rename the file manually to kepub.epub drop it in your dropbox folder and use the Kobo web-browser to get the file from dropbox.

I've tried BOX and DROPBOX.
But I cannot manage to download the kepub using my BOX acount, but no problem at all with DROPBOX.

But again I see that I can't use adding notes or highlights if I use kepub...
I know about the extra <span> tags

Another issue seems to happen with hyphens in Spanish, which I set to "auto"... but I've seen some wrong hyphenated words

Anyway, these are my first steps with Kobo...

Thanks for your interest

davidfor · 01-03-2014, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PremaEbooks

Thanks for the quick answer... obviusly in a copy/paste I did reference to the wrong line

I'm very happy to say that I have NEVER done that

Or at least that's my story.

Quote:

I edit all my books in Sigil, and it's enough for the device to recognise the cover by just adding the extra code: properties="cover-image"

The next step is just to rename the file manually to kepub.epub drop it in your dropbox folder and use the Kobo web-browser to get the file from dropbox.

I've tried BOX and DROPBOX.
But I cannot manage to download the kepub using my BOX acount, but no problem at all with DROPBOX.

That sounds like BOX isn't setting the appropriate mime type or something. You should be able to check from a browser.

Quote:

But again I see that I can't use adding notes or highlights if I use kepub...
I know about the extra <span> tags

The spans and ids are needed to set the bookmark and reading positions correctly. But, there are also some extra CSS and javascript that are needed. Have a look at what the extended driver adds when it generates the kepubs.

Quote:

Another issue seems to happen with hyphens in Spanish, which I set to "auto"... but I've seen some wrong hyphenated words

There has been some discussion about Spanish recently. I don't remember if it covered hyphens or not. At least part of it was in the extended driver or kepup output plugin threads.

PremaEbooks · 01-04-2014, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm very happy to say that I have NEVER done that

Or at least that's my story.

It's the first time that something like this happens to me... I promise...

Quote:

That sounds like BOX isn't setting the appropriate mime type or something. You should be able to check from a browser.

It really doesn't bother me...
I've tested BOX in Kindle and it works fine.

Quote:

The spans and ids are needed to set the bookmark and reading positions correctly. But, there are also some extra CSS and javascript that are needed. Have a look at what the extended driver adds when it generates the kepubs.

Yeah... I know
I've been reading all your post about it.
Seems like they only want people to use de ACCESS render if the book is bought through their store.
Kobo is not a very popular ebook store here in Spain, so I'm triyng to give solutions to our costumers about people asking about the posibility of using kepub.

I've been busy the last few days, but I'll have a look at what you say.
Thanks!!!

Quote:

There has been some discussion about Spanish recently. I don't remember if it covered hyphens or not. At least part of it was in the extended driver or kepup output plugin threads.

Thank you David. I'll have a look at that thread.

12-27-2013, 04:06 AM	#1
Filmbrain Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 9796 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura HD	Strange Cover Image problem Hello All -- I sideloaded a bunch of epubs as kepubs (converted via KoboTouchExtended plugin) the other day, and I'm seeing something very strange with the covers on two books. I should add that before transferring them to my Aura HD, I added cover images to several of them via the Modify Epub plugin. Both Woody Allen's WITHOUT FEATHERS and Raymond Carver's WHERE I'M CALLING FROM are showing up in the library with generic white covers (with title and author text), yet both of them appear as Woody Allen, Without Feathers. Not sure why that is happening, and not sure why the covers I added aren't appearing for these two titles. Any thoughts?

12-27-2013, 07:00 AM	#3
PremaEbooks Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 8504 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Spain Device: Kindle(all), Nook, Sony, Onyx Boox, iPad 2	It is a strange issue. Even if the cover is identified, it doesn't show up as thumbnail. The same thing happens if you sideload a KF8 in Kindle Paperwhite. Code: <meta content="cover.jpg" name="cover" /> No problem at all if you sideload the ebook as epub. I mean I don't connect the device through USB. I use Dropbox to download the ebook using the built in web browser... Last edited by PremaEbooks; 12-27-2013 at 07:03 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Cover image isn't displaying as cover image	Eugene88	Sigil	3	08-15-2012 04:05 PM
Cover Story EB05 strange behaviour	Cygnus X-1	iRiver Story	3	02-26-2012 09:25 AM
Strange image conversion problem ePub to mobi	AlexBell	Conversion	19	09-10-2011 02:42 AM
strange cover issue	affa	Sigil	6	05-03-2011 06:59 PM
Strange cover	jdomingos76	Amazon Kindle	0	02-16-2011 07:22 AM

12-27-2013, 05:35 AM	#2
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	For sideloaded kepubs, the cover image needs to be identified in the OPF file. The extended driver attempts to find the cover and add a property to the definition in the OPF. If the extended driver can't do this, the device will use the generic cover you are seeing. The main reason for this not working is that the cover is not defined in one of the expected ways in the epub. But, adding the cover using the Modify ePub plugin should have set the cover up correctly. To have a guess at why it didn't work, I would need to see the original epubs. Some things that might solve the problem are: - Powering off the device and restarting. The covers can be cached and this is the simplest way to clear the cache. - Deleting books and resending them. If this still has problems, change the driver options to send the covers with the book. With this, the driver generates the images and copies them to the device. - Use the cover upload options of my Kobo Utilities plugin.

12-28-2013, 05:23 AM	#5
Filmbrain Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 9796 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura HD	I think the confusion is that the person who started the thread (me) isn't the same as the person who described the other problem. I deleted and re-added the books, and that sorted the problem, thanks. (I also turned on the send cover option in your plugin.) Thanks!

Advert

Advert