Custom Columns - are they written to epub?

[judyni]

Is Custom Column (meta)data written to an epub when you Convert book or Polish? I want to keep track of where I got a book and how much I paid but I don't really want this in the book itself. Looking at the metadata of a test of a custom column I don't see it by clicking on the i in the reader.

I spent quite a bit of time looking for this information but didn't find anything.

To add to the question related to what metadata is written out, what I do see is "Producer+. I cannot really find out what this is. It looks like you can change it if you use the command line but I can't see anything in the GUI interface.

I really don't like every program that touches something putting its name in it. Especially since any original information in that kind of field is lost by the last action... I can add two words in the metadata and it gets a new "Producer."

Thanks!
Judy

[theducks]

I see some of mine in the books OPF file

[BetterRed]

@judyni - For EPUBS

I don't see any of my custom columns in the embedded opf (content.opf), nor do I see 'Producer', although I do see contributor. I suspect only the metadata items defined by EPUB 2.0 are written to the EPUB.

<dc:contributor opf:role="bkp">calibre (1.37.0) [http://calibre-ebook.com]</dc:contributor>

But I do see all my custom columns in the metadata.opf file - if they have a value; if they're undefined then they are not there.

Ah-ha - according to the LoC that role="bkp" in contributor is Book Producer see ==>> http://www.loc.gov/marc/relators/relacode.html.

Are you implying that you get a chain of these contributor items ?

BR

[judyni]

No, there is no chain of contributor items. It is only the last thing. So if one word of the metadata was changed in calibre and I rewrite the epub, then calibre is the "producer."

[BetterRed]

Unlike images, ebooks do not appear to have a specific metadata 'slot' for "Creation Tool", in images you'll see things like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paintshop etc.

If you want to remove the <dc:contributor opf:role="bkp"> entry you can do it with the Sigil Metadata Editor, its in the Tools menu, you can also add roles - eg translator, illustrator etc.

BR

[judyni]

Thank you! Plus I'm assuming that "custom columns" are not written to epubs.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by judyni

Thank you! Plus I'm assuming that "custom columns" are not written to epubs.

They are for me.

Steps I took to check:

1. Open the epub and check content.opf. Custom columns were not there.
2. Run polish books with "Update metadata" checked.
3. Open the ebook and check content.opf. All the custom columns were there, each separately under the attribute name "user_metadata", including ones with null values.

I don't know why I see this and BR does not.

Example of one integer custom column:

Spoiler:

<meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#myint2" content="{
&quot;is_category&quot;: false, 
&quot;#extra#&quot;: null, 
&quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, 
&quot;is_custom&quot;: true, 
&quot;is_csp&quot;: false, 
&quot;colnum&quot;: 1, 
&quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, 
&quot;rec_index&quot;: 34, 
&quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#myint2&quot;], 
&quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, 
&quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, 
&quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, 
&quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;int&quot;, 
&quot;#value#&quot;: 1, 
&quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, 
&quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_1&quot;, 
&quot;is_editable&quot;: true, 
&quot;label&quot;: &quot;myint2&quot;, 
&quot;display&quot;: {&quot;number_format&quot;: &quot;${0:04d}&quot;}, 
&quot;name&quot;: &quot;myint2&quot;}"/>

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

They are for me.

Steps I took to check:

1. Open the epub and check content.opf. Custom columns were not there.
2. Run polish books with "Update metadata" checked.
3. Open the ebook and check content.opf. All the custom columns were there, each separately under the attribute name "user_metadata", including ones with null values.

I don't know why I see this and BR does not.

Ah-ha - BR does not use Polish! It would seem that conversion only writes the bare essentials to content.opf.

After creating a new EPUB usually from a DOCX, I use Modify to delete the cover, Update metadata is not checked, rationale why would I want to do that, given I just did a conversion. The reason I use Modify is to remove the cover from the EPUB.

If I Polish or Modify a book with the Update Metadata box ticked, then all the metadata is written in content.opf

I guess the same would happen if I did a Save to Disk or Send to Device, but I don't use those either. To get something to my Galaxy Note I open the book folder and put it there via Windows Send To. I never have more than 10 books on my Galaxy Note and they're usually gone within a week or two.

I'm not interested in the metadata embedded in the book. Being a minimalist, the less the better. Now I have discovered Sigil's metadata editor I can more easily remove things. Maybe something like Sigil's metadata editor would be a candidate for a new Plug In or an enhancement to the Modify PI.

BR

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Ah-ha - BR does not use Polish! It would seem that conversion only writes the bare essentials to content.opf.

I just checked 5 recently added and converted books and all of my custom column data was listed in the content.opf file. Conversion does embed all metadata the same as Polish.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I guess the same would happen if I did a Save to Disk or Send to Device, but I don't use those either.

I believe you are correct both of these features will embed all metadata too.

[BetterRed]

Hmmmm, curiouser and curiouser

After converting from DOCX to EPUB I see this in content.opf in calibre Book Editor

Spoiler:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<package xmlns="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf" unique-identifier="uuid_id" version="2.0">
  <metadata xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:opf="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf" xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:calibre="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/2009/metadata" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
    <dc:publisher>SomePublisher</dc:publisher>
    <meta name="calibre:title_sort" content="Book of the City of Ladies, The"/>
    <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;BLAH BLAH BLAH&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator opf:file-as="Pizan, Christine de" opf:role="aut">Christine de Pizan</dc:creator>
    <meta name="calibre:timestamp" content="2012-04-14T11:30:15+00:00"/>
    <dc:title>The Book of the City of Ladies</dc:title>
    <dc:date>1405-06-30T14:00:00+00:00</dc:date>
    <dc:contributor opf:role="bkp">calibre (1.37.0) [http://calibre-ebook.com]</dc:contributor>
    <dc:identifier id="uuid_id" opf:scheme="uuid">f634b407-59b2-4e1c-a8cd-f1b94515f348</dc:identifier>
    <dc:identifier opf:scheme="calibre">f634b407-59b2-4e1c-a8cd-f1b94515f348</dc:identifier>
  </metadata>
  <manifest>
    <item href="index.html" id="id2" media-type="application/xhtml+xml"/>
    <item href="page_styles.css" id="page_css" media-type="text/css"/>
    <item href="stylesheet.css" id="css" media-type="text/css"/>
    <item href="toc.ncx" id="ncx" media-type="application/x-dtbncx+xml"/>
  </manifest>
  <spine toc="ncx">
    <itemref idref="id2"/>
  </spine>
  <guide/>
</package>

After Polishing I see this in content.opf in calibre Book Editor

Spoiler:

<?xml version="1.0"  encoding="UTF-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf" unique-identifier="uuid_id" version="2.0">
  <metadata xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:opf="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf" xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:calibre="http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/2009/metadata" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
    <dc:creator opf:role="aut" opf:file-as="Pizan, Christine de">Christine de Pizan</dc:creator>
<dc:publisher>SomePublisher</dc:publisher>
    <meta name="calibre:title_sort" content="Book of the City of Ladies, The"/>
    <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;BLAH BLAH BLAH&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
    <meta name="calibre:timestamp" content="2012-04-14T11:30:15+00:00"/>
    <dc:date>1405-06-30T14:00:00+00:00</dc:date>
    <dc:contributor opf:role="bkp">calibre (1.37.0) [http://calibre-ebook.com]</dc:contributor>
    <dc:identifier id="uuid_id" opf:scheme="uuid">f634b407-59b2-4e1c-a8cd-f1b94515f348</dc:identifier>
    <dc:title>The Book of the City of Ladies</dc:title>
<meta name="calibre:user_categories" content="{}"/>
<meta name="calibre:author_link_map" content="{&quot;Christine de Pizan&quot;: &quot;&quot;}"/>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:identifier opf:scheme="calibre">f634b407-59b2-4e1c-a8cd-f1b94515f348</dc:identifier>
<meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#filepaths" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 17, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 34, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#filepaths&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;composite&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: &quot;DOCX:E:\\Calibre Libraries\\Test\\Christine de Pizan\\The Book of the City of Ladies (90)\\The Book of the City of Ladies - Christine de Pizan.docx,EPUB:E:\\Calibre Libraries\\Test\\Christine de Pizan\\The Book of the City of Ladies (90)\\The Book of the City of Ladies - Christine de Pizan.epub&quot;, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_17&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;filepaths&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;composite_template&quot;: &quot;program: formats_paths()&quot;, &quot;contains_html&quot;: false, &quot;make_category&quot;: false, &quot;composite_sort&quot;: &quot;text&quot;, &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;File Paths&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#approxformats" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 8, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 23, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#approxformats&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;composite&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: &quot;DOCX,EPUB&quot;, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_8&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;approxformats&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;composite_template&quot;: &quot;{:'approximate_formats()'}&quot;, &quot;contains_html&quot;: false, &quot;make_category&quot;: false, &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0, &quot;composite_sort&quot;: &quot;text&quot;}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Database Formats&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#have_read" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 12, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 37, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#have_read&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;bool&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_12&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;have_read&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Have Read&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#meta" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 9, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 32, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#meta&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;bool&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_9&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;meta&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Meta&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#wordcount" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 13, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 29, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#wordcount&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;int&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_13&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;wordcount&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;number_format&quot;: null}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Words&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#bookid" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 5, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 27, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#bookid&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;composite&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: &quot;90&quot;, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_5&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;bookid&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;composite_template&quot;: &quot;{id}&quot;, &quot;contains_html&quot;: false, &quot;make_category&quot;: false, &quot;composite_sort&quot;: &quot;number&quot;, &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Book id&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#testenum" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: true, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 1, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 24, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#testenum&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;enumeration&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_1&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;testenum&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;enum_colors&quot;: [], &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0, &quot;enum_values&quot;: [&quot;One&quot;, &quot;Two&quot;, &quot;Three&quot;, &quot;Three and a Half&quot;, &quot;Four&quot;, &quot;Five&quot;]}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Test Enum&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#status" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: true, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 2, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 22, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#status&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;enumeration&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_2&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;status&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;enum_colors&quot;: [], &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0, &quot;enum_values&quot;: [&quot;03 New&quot;, &quot;05 Duplicate&quot;, &quot;10 Added&quot;, &quot;20 Converted&quot;, &quot;25 Meta'd&quot;, &quot;30 Templated&quot;, &quot;35 Formatting&quot;, &quot;40 Formatted&quot;, &quot;50 Correcting&quot;, &quot;51 Paragraph Join&quot;, &quot;53 Layout Correct&quot;, &quot;54 Dialogue Fix&quot;, &quot;55 Spell Correct&quot;, &quot;57 Grammar Correct&quot;, &quot;60 Corrected&quot;, &quot;62 Converted DOCX&quot;, &quot;70 Final&quot;, &quot;72 Final DOCX&quot;, &quot;75 Final Paged&quot;, &quot;99 Missing&quot;]}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Status&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#filedates" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 16, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 35, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#filedates&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;composite&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: &quot;EPUB:2014-05-17 17:01:04,DOCX:2013-12-30 16:35:39&quot;, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_16&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;filedates&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;composite_template&quot;: &quot;program: formats_modtimes('yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss')&quot;, &quot;contains_html&quot;: false, &quot;make_category&quot;: false, &quot;composite_sort&quot;: &quot;text&quot;, &quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;File Dates&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#metachecked" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 11, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 28, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#metachecked&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;datetime&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_11&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;metachecked&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;date_format&quot;: &quot;dd MMM yyyy&quot;}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Meta Date&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#subtitle" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: true, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 10, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 31, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#subtitle&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;text&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_10&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;subtitle&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Subtitle&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#last_action_date" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: false, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 6, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 25, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#last_action_date&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;datetime&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: {&quot;__class__&quot;: &quot;datetime.datetime&quot;, &quot;__value__&quot;: &quot;2014-05-17T06:05:26.622000+00:00&quot;}, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_6&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;last_action_date&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;date_format&quot;: &quot;yyyy MM dd hh mm ss&quot;}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Last Action&quot;}"/>
        <meta name="calibre:user_metadata:#location" content="{&quot;is_category&quot;: true, &quot;#extra#&quot;: null, &quot;kind&quot;: &quot;field&quot;, &quot;is_custom&quot;: true, &quot;is_csp&quot;: false, &quot;colnum&quot;: 15, &quot;column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;rec_index&quot;: 33, &quot;search_terms&quot;: [&quot;#location&quot;], &quot;link_column&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;is_multiple2&quot;: {}, &quot;is_multiple&quot;: null, &quot;datatype&quot;: &quot;text&quot;, &quot;#value#&quot;: null, &quot;category_sort&quot;: &quot;value&quot;, &quot;table&quot;: &quot;custom_column_15&quot;, &quot;is_editable&quot;: true, &quot;label&quot;: &quot;location&quot;, &quot;display&quot;: {&quot;use_decorations&quot;: 0}, &quot;name&quot;: &quot;Location&quot;}"/>
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I also converted a purchased EPUB to EPUB and saw similar results, after the conversion there was a minimal set of metadata, after the Polish all the custom columns were included.

I also checked a couple of books in my main library - same deal, only if I Polish or Modify with the Update metadata checked do I see any custom metadata in content.opf.

I'm not aware of doing anything to make this happen - but given that its what I want, I'm not complaining

The metadata.opf file does of course contain all the metadata.

BR

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I also checked a couple of books in my main library - same deal, only if I Polish or Modify with the Update metadata checked do I see any custom metadata in content.opf.

I'm not aware of doing anything to make this happen - but given that its what I want, I'm not complaining

I wonder if there is a setting in preferences or a tweak that you have set that prevents the custom metadata from being written during conversion?

Update: I found the setting. You are correct about minimal metadata during conversion. I had update metadata on opening the book set in the editor's preferences.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

I wonder if there is a setting in preferences or a tweak that you have set that prevents the custom metadata from being written during conversion?

Nothing leaps out at me in conversion, see attachment for the Tweaks I've tweaked - nothing leaping in there either.

The only 'odd' thing that comes to mind is I do not have a connected device or folder. I have a Galaxy note, but I manage its contents manually via my file manager. The way I use it doesn't warrant the complexities of 'plugging' it into calibre.

Just saw your update - needless to say I have that setting Off

BR

[judyni]

Darn! I get it now. The entire metadata.opf is in there. The custom columns are not visible in the metadata display, but they are there nonetheless.

I do want all the standard metadata but not the "custom columns". I don't think that's an option. I think it should be. Surely I'm not the only one who doesn't want all of my comments to be attached to a book someone else might read.

So my plan isn't going to accomplish what I wanted.

[judyni]

I installed sigil and it doesn't "see" the custom columns in its metadata editor. Of course I can edit the metadata.opf by hand in either calibre or sigil but I don't want to do that. So my custom columns are there but not easily visible...

[chaley]

If it is important for you to remove some or all custom columns in exported books, create a new library that has only the columns you want then use copy to library to copy the books from your main library to this new one. Export the books from there. Delete the books from the new library once exported so that you don't get into future merge-books difficulties.

EDIT: the easiest way to create the new library is to create a new library at ... with "copy structure" true, then switch to the new library and delete the columns you don't want to publish. Of course, if you want to remove *all* custom columns then don't check the copy structure box.