Kobo Touch Image upload issues

[Chayes]

Hi All

I'm sending Epub files and with cover images to my Kobo Touch. When I've disconnected and rebooted the Kobo I can see the image I've just sent flash for a second and it is then replaced with a page image. It seems that the Kobo is rejecting the image that Calibre has uploaded and is then replacing with a default first-page image. So far , I've not been able to get the image sent by calibre to load. The books themselves load fine.

I looked in the Calibre library folder and the images all seem to standard jpg images. Does anyone know why the Kobo is rejecting them? What format image is it expecting , I wonder , and can Calibre reformat on the fly to accommodate what the Kobo is excepting?

Grateful for any advice.

[davidfor]

When you send an epub to the device, calibre attempts to modify the cover in it and replaces it with the cover in the library. But, if the cover in the epub isn't well defined, it can't do that. For most formats, the Kobo always uses the first page of the book as the cover. If that displays the cover it will be used.

So, when you open the book on the device, what is displayed? And is the cover you are seeing displayed the first page, or a text cover with the book name and type?

There is a way to force the cover images to the Kobo. The KoboTouch driver has some options to upload the covers when sending the books. The cover images are generated and put in the right place on the device using the library cover rather than the book. For books already on the device, you can use my Kobo Utilities plugin to send just the covers.

And to check, what firmware version is the Touch running? And what version of calibre are you using?

[Chayes]

Hi

OK Thanks for getting back. Most helpful.

I add the book to Calibre and click 'Edit Metadata' to download a cover for it. When the cover has downloaded and displayed , I click 'send to device' to send the book and cover. I eject the device and open the reader - no cover! It's usually an entirely different image or a text shot of the first page. I don't think I've ever managed to get the cover I've downloaded to go with the book onto the Kobo touch. It does seem very buggy in this respect.

I wouldn't mind if the images on the reader were all a neat text plate with author and title providing this were consistent. My preference though would be to have the correct cover of the book displayed as sent from calibre. Presently it's all a bit frustrating , so if you do have a plugin that would ensure the images go across correctly that would be really helpful. Copious notes re installation and use please!

The firmware on the Kobo Touch is version 3.2.0 and i have Calibre 1.31

Thanks.

[davidfor]

As I stated, when calibre sends an epub to any device, it attempts to update the cover in the epub. To do this, it needs to find the current cover image and replace it. If it can't find the cover image, or there isn't one, the cover isn't changed or added. This sounds like what you are seeing.

The solution is to add the cover to the book while it is the calibre library. The "Polish Books" function will do this. Select the books, open Polish books and select "Update the cover in the book files" and press OK. This will either replace the existing cover if calibre can identify it, or insert the cover at the start of the book. Once this has been done, the books will go to the device with the correct cover. This can also be done during a conversion or using the "Modify ePub" plugin. Or you can edit the book and add it manually

The alternative is to select the cover sending options in the KoboTouch driver and have it generate and send the covers separately when you send the books.

[Chayes]

Hi

OK thanks for this. I've followed your advice and the images are showing correctly now.

Best Wishes