Quality of epub books converted to Kindle

arturg · 01-26-2014, 01:51 AM

I have all my books in epub format, how does the Calibre do with converting them to Kindle format, any problems with outcome or should I upgrade to a reader that supports epub?

eschwartz · 01-26-2014, 02:02 AM

it should do just fine. Pretty much all the formatting should carry over to .mobi format, unless the book you are thinking of does something exotic. (Although for the pedantically inclined, knowledgeable reader who likes fixing up his own books, the actual code might not look so clean on the inside, but hey, you've got the source EPUB anyway!)

And from what I've googled (

), the Cybook Opus supports EPUB.

arturg · 01-26-2014, 02:22 AM

I do have Opus but I might want to upgrade sometime and been thinking about Kindle PW as one option but alko Nook Simple Touch or Kobo Touch.

Thanks for your help!

eschwartz · 01-26-2014, 03:12 AM

Then you will want to convert to .azw3 (KF8) not to .mobi (KF7) since .azw3 is a more recent version of Kindle Format which is fully compatible with anything EPUB can possibly handle, and plays nicely with cover metadata, and other assorted treats. (It will still read the legacy format.)

As far as which reader to get, that might require it's own thread.

Personally, I suggest the PW2. The Nook Glowlight has locked off the majority of the memory so only downloads from the Nook Store can be read; only a small fraction is available for sideloaded books. Of course, that's also when they removed the MicroSD slot.

The old SimpleTouch didn't do this IIRC, but it doesn't have a light.

HarryT · 01-26-2014, 03:17 AM

Conversion is almost always flawless. As has been said, you should convert to AZW3, not Mobi.

pdurrant · 01-26-2014, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Conversion is almost always flawless. As has been said, you should convert to AZW3, not Mobi.

Only if your device is a Kindle Keyboard 3 or later Kindle. Non-Amazon Mobipocket readers can't handle AZW3.

HarryT · 01-26-2014, 05:36 PM

Perfectly true. Since the question was asked in the Kindle forum, it was a reasonable assumption that the OP either has, or is intending to purchase, a Kindle.

eschwartz · 01-26-2014, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perfectly true. Since the question was asked in the Kindle forum, it was a reasonable assumption that the OP either has, or is intending to purchase, a Kindle.

Especially as the OP specifically said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by arturg

I do have Opus but I might want to upgrade sometime and been thinking about Kindle PW as one option but alko Nook Simple Touch or Kobo Touch.

Thanks for your help!

Which is why I said (first) that conversion should be done to .azw3

.

Yapyap · 01-27-2014, 07:31 AM

I convert to mobi because I use the Send to Kindle app exclusively - it's a lot more convenient for me than physically attaching the Kindle to my computer every time I want to send a book over (+ some books I want to keep in the Amazon cloud). And Send to Kindle can't even see azw3, never mind send it.

For ordinary fiction, I've yet to come across any issues with epub -> mobi conversion. Perhaps if I read books with more complicated formatting or extra features (not even sure what they'd be? mathematical formulae?), I'd need azw3, but as it is, I can't really tell the difference.

HarryT · 01-27-2014, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yapyap

For ordinary fiction, I've yet to come across any issues with epub -> mobi conversion. Perhaps if I read books with more complicated formatting or extra features (not even sure what they'd be? mathematical formulae?), I'd need azw3, but as it is, I can't really tell the difference.

The most notable feature not supported by Mobi is embedded fonts. KF8 supports them, but not Mobi. Important to some people, not to others.

arturg · 01-27-2014, 09:22 AM

If I convert EPUB to AZW3, Does Kindle PW override fonts used in EPUB? If so, what do you think of the fonts available in PW?

HarryT · 01-27-2014, 09:30 AM

If the ePub book contains embedded fonts, the fonts will be present in the converted AZW3 book and it will look exactly the same. If the book doesn't contain embedded fonts, it will request a font from the device which will be mapped as closely as possible to one of the fonts present on the device, exactly as happens with an ePub book. There's no difference in behaviour between the two formats.

If a book contains embedded fonts, you can switch between displaying the book using its embedded fonts (which the Kindle calls "Publisher Fonts") or using your own font selection.

I really don't care about fonts in the slightest, so I'm probably not the best person to ask about how good the Kindle's fonts are. They look absolutely fine to me, but it's not something I'm fussy about.

Yapyap · 01-27-2014, 09:53 AM

The fonts thing is good to know, thanks!

As a rule, I dislike publisher embedded fonts - I have a preferred Kindle font and font size, and don't like it when I cannot turn it off (for some reason, I've come across more than one Amazon-bought, fairly recent book - not in topaz format as far as I can tell - where I cannot change font face at all on my Paperwhite, and it's very irritating).

In reading fiction, I could see it as a positive only for things like using a different font for letters, telegrams, newspaper article quotes etc, to set them apart from the narrative, but I'm not bothered when Kindle standard fonts are used for those as well.

I do think that for anyone who plans to sideload via USB cable for example, azw3 seems like the more logical choice these days, but at least for my purposes, mobi looks like all positives, no negatives.

01-26-2014, 01:51 AM	#1
arturg Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 483146 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Helsinki, Finland Device: Kindle PaperWhite 5 (10th gen)	Quality of epub books converted to Kindle I have all my books in epub format, how does the Calibre do with converting them to Kindle format, any problems with outcome or should I upgrade to a reader that supports epub?

01-26-2014, 02:02 AM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	it should do just fine. Pretty much all the formatting should carry over to .mobi format, unless the book you are thinking of does something exotic. (Although for the pedantically inclined, knowledgeable reader who likes fixing up his own books, the actual code might not look so clean on the inside, but hey, you've got the source EPUB anyway!) And from what I've googled (), the Cybook Opus supports EPUB. Last edited by eschwartz; 01-26-2014 at 02:06 AM.

01-26-2014, 03:12 AM	#4
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Then you will want to convert to .azw3 (KF8) not to .mobi (KF7) since .azw3 is a more recent version of Kindle Format which is fully compatible with anything EPUB can possibly handle, and plays nicely with cover metadata, and other assorted treats. (It will still read the legacy format.) As far as which reader to get, that might require it's own thread. Personally, I suggest the PW2. The Nook Glowlight has locked off the majority of the memory so only downloads from the Nook Store can be read; only a small fraction is available for sideloaded books. Of course, that's also when they removed the MicroSD slot. The old SimpleTouch didn't do this IIRC, but it doesn't have a light. Last edited by eschwartz; 01-26-2014 at 03:27 AM.

01-27-2014, 09:30 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If the ePub book contains embedded fonts, the fonts will be present in the converted AZW3 book and it will look exactly the same. If the book doesn't contain embedded fonts, it will request a font from the device which will be mapped as closely as possible to one of the fonts present on the device, exactly as happens with an ePub book. There's no difference in behaviour between the two formats. If a book contains embedded fonts, you can switch between displaying the book using its embedded fonts (which the Kindle calls "Publisher Fonts") or using your own font selection. I really don't care about fonts in the slightest, so I'm probably not the best person to ask about how good the Kindle's fonts are. They look absolutely fine to me, but it's not something I'm fussy about. Last edited by HarryT; 01-27-2014 at 09:33 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Send epub to Kindle but don't keep the converted file?	Toxeus	Library Management	5	10-03-2012 08:25 PM
Touch Kobo Freezes with Epub to Epub Calibre Converted Books	CarlBullock	Kobo Reader	0	03-08-2012 07:14 PM
iPhone Books converted to epub that don't look right	midlifec	Apple Devices	0	02-20-2011 07:33 PM
Will converted epub whispersync between Kindle 3 and Android app?	kasch18	Android Devices	9	01-01-2011 06:12 PM
can freeread books be converted to epub editions	mr.jjm54	E-Books	2	01-01-2011 12:48 PM

01-26-2014, 02:22 AM	#3
arturg Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 483146 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Helsinki, Finland Device: Kindle PaperWhite 5 (10th gen)	I do have Opus but I might want to upgrade sometime and been thinking about Kindle PW as one option but alko Nook Simple Touch or Kobo Touch. Thanks for your help!

01-26-2014, 03:17 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Conversion is almost always flawless. As has been said, you should convert to AZW3, not Mobi.

01-26-2014, 05:36 PM	#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	Perfectly true. Since the question was asked in the Kindle forum, it was a reasonable assumption that the OP either has, or is intending to purchase, a Kindle.

01-27-2014, 07:31 AM	#9
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	I convert to mobi because I use the Send to Kindle app exclusively - it's a lot more convenient for me than physically attaching the Kindle to my computer every time I want to send a book over (+ some books I want to keep in the Amazon cloud). And Send to Kindle can't even see azw3, never mind send it. For ordinary fiction, I've yet to come across any issues with epub -> mobi conversion. Perhaps if I read books with more complicated formatting or extra features (not even sure what they'd be? mathematical formulae?), I'd need azw3, but as it is, I can't really tell the difference.

01-27-2014, 09:22 AM	#11
arturg Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 483146 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Helsinki, Finland Device: Kindle PaperWhite 5 (10th gen)	If I convert EPUB to AZW3, Does Kindle PW override fonts used in EPUB? If so, what do you think of the fonts available in PW?

01-27-2014, 09:53 AM	#13
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	The fonts thing is good to know, thanks! As a rule, I dislike publisher embedded fonts - I have a preferred Kindle font and font size, and don't like it when I cannot turn it off (for some reason, I've come across more than one Amazon-bought, fairly recent book - not in topaz format as far as I can tell - where I cannot change font face at all on my Paperwhite, and it's very irritating). In reading fiction, I could see it as a positive only for things like using a different font for letters, telegrams, newspaper article quotes etc, to set them apart from the narrative, but I'm not bothered when Kindle standard fonts are used for those as well. I do think that for anyone who plans to sideload via USB cable for example, azw3 seems like the more logical choice these days, but at least for my purposes, mobi looks like all positives, no negatives.

Advert

Advert