Cover Picture Not Default Thumbnail

rosshalde · 11-10-2014, 12:49 PM

Hello,

I have created 6 epubs using Sigil and have been viewing them on my Kobo Touch. As far as I can tell, I did the same thing to insert each Cover image.

For some reason, only 5 or the 6 covers default as the thumbnail on the front page of my kobo.

The 6th image is present, but I need to scroll backwards once I open the book to view it. I would like it to display as the thumbnail and open to the cover as it has nice graphics.

I have deleted the cover and reinserted it to see if I made a mistake, but this didn't work either. I have checked on other devices and the cover displays (even on iBook which sometimes drives me nuts).

Any ideas why this isn't working on Kobo?

rosshalde · 11-10-2014, 01:14 PM

Here are some things I already tried.

1) deleting the file off of Kobo and then reloading it. Just in case it was storing an old version that I had looked at during the editing process.

2) deleting and re-adding the image in Sigil.
3) One former post in these forums mentioned that the name must be cover.jpg, but none of my other cover images are named that and they display just fine.

Here is the code for my cover page-this was created by Sigil and I compared it to a cover page that is working fine and I don't see an issue.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Cover</title>
</head>

<body>
<div style="text-align: center; padding: 0pt; margin: 0pt;">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="100%" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 1040 1477" width="100%" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
<image height="1477" width="1040" xlink:href="../Images/Misericordia%20Readers%20Second%20Cover%20copy.jpg "></image>
</svg>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Ripplinger · 11-10-2014, 02:05 PM

I would double check the dimensions of the cover for that particular book. 1040x1477 just seems an odd size. If I'm creating my own cover, I generally try to stick to the reader's resolution. Having a larger image sized down is usually just a waste of pixels that inflates the file size for no reason.

Is the image really named "Misericordia Readers Second Cover copy.jpg?" I would try renaming it to just "cover.jpg" and see if that helps. I've seen overly long filenames do strange things in some programs.

If neither of those helps, I'd try changing preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" to preserveAspectRatio="yes" (or "none" would work), just to be sure Kobo isn't having a problem with the xMidYMid (I never remember seeing it in any book). But I usually prefer stretching a cover full screen, even if the AR is off slightly, because those white bands along the sides drive me nuts.

eschwartz · 11-10-2014, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I would double check the dimensions of the cover for that particular book. 1040x1477 just seems an odd size. If I'm creating my own cover, I generally try to stick to the reader's resolution. Having a larger image sized down is usually just a waste of pixels that inflates the file size for no reason.

And sometimes devices will simply spaz out on covers that are too big.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

If neither of those helps, I'd try changing preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" to preserveAspectRatio="yes" (or "none" would work), just to be sure Kobo isn't having a problem with the xMidYMid (I never remember seeing it in any book). But I usually prefer stretching a cover full screen, even if the AR is off slightly, because those white bands along the sides drive me nuts.

I see this all the time. (There is an option in calibre's conversion settings to toggle this, which is also triggered by metadata updates IIRC.)

Can't think why this would change anything.

Ripplinger · 11-10-2014, 03:15 PM

It's just a stab in the dark at that point, and I don't know how that line behaves when the dimension in pixels is larger than what can be displayed natively on a reader. I assume that the other 5 books that do work are using the same line, so I really don't think that's the issue. I'm still suspecting the long name or the dimensions are off or an unusually huge file size or something more along those lines.

DNSB · 11-10-2014, 06:30 PM

One other item to check is the table of contents. Your Kobo will open the book at the first page pointed to in the TOC the first time you open the book. After tht, it will open on the last page read or if the book has been finished, it will open on the cover page.

I also use "xMidYMId meet" and have not seen a problem other than white lines top/bottom or sides due to the image retaining it's aspect ratio.

davidfor · 11-10-2014, 08:04 PM

Firstly, what is being displayed as the cover for the wrong book? Saying it is wrong doesn't help much. But telling us what you are seeing and why you think it is wrong lets us know what is happening so we can explain what you are seeing and make suggestions as to how to get what you want.

As you are sideloading the book as an epub, the Kobo devices simply render the first page of the book and use that as the cover. If that is displays a cover image, then that will be used. If the first page is text, that will also be used. Because of this, the name of the cover image is unimportant so long as it is used correctly in the code for the first page. The code you posted is basically what I use with no problems.

There are of course some gotchas.

The device generates and saves the covers for books on the main memory as it needs them. If you replace the book, the covers are not regenerated from the book. The KoboTouch driver in calibre should delete the cover images when you resend a book. But, the device also caches a few covers in memory. That means that if you resend the book and remove the saved cover images, the device might still be using an old version of the cover. The cover will drop out of the cache after some time or if the device is restarted.

As you are using calibre, you can configure the driver to generate and send the cover images with the books. In this case, it uses the cover that is in the calibre metadata, not what is in the book. And you can use my Kobo Utilities plugin to remove or upload the cover images as a separate step.

As to where the book opens, that is defined in the book code. For the Kobo devices, epubs are opened to the first ToC entry. So, if you add the cover to the ToC, it will open to it when you first open the book. The way I do this is to add a hidden heading of to the cover page. So, I add:

Code:

<h1 class="hidden">Cover</h1>

And in the stylesheet, I have:

Code:

.hidden {
    display: none;
}

After adding this, I regenerate the TOC.

GeoffR · 11-11-2014, 01:42 AM

Deleted, sorry.

11-10-2014, 12:49 PM	#1
rosshalde Zealot Posts: 142 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: nook	Cover Picture Not Default Thumbnail Hello, I have created 6 epubs using Sigil and have been viewing them on my Kobo Touch. As far as I can tell, I did the same thing to insert each Cover image. For some reason, only 5 or the 6 covers default as the thumbnail on the front page of my kobo. The 6th image is present, but I need to scroll backwards once I open the book to view it. I would like it to display as the thumbnail and open to the cover as it has nice graphics. I have deleted the cover and reinserted it to see if I made a mistake, but this didn't work either. I have checked on other devices and the cover displays (even on iBook which sometimes drives me nuts). Any ideas why this isn't working on Kobo?

11-10-2014, 02:05 PM	#3
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I would double check the dimensions of the cover for that particular book. 1040x1477 just seems an odd size. If I'm creating my own cover, I generally try to stick to the reader's resolution. Having a larger image sized down is usually just a waste of pixels that inflates the file size for no reason. Is the image really named "Misericordia Readers Second Cover copy.jpg?" I would try renaming it to just "cover.jpg" and see if that helps. I've seen overly long filenames do strange things in some programs. If neither of those helps, I'd try changing preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" to preserveAspectRatio="yes" (or "none" would work), just to be sure Kobo isn't having a problem with the xMidYMid (I never remember seeing it in any book). But I usually prefer stretching a cover full screen, even if the AR is off slightly, because those white bands along the sides drive me nuts. Last edited by Ripplinger; 11-10-2014 at 02:25 PM.

11-10-2014, 08:04 PM	#7
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	Firstly, what is being displayed as the cover for the wrong book? Saying it is wrong doesn't help much. But telling us what you are seeing and why you think it is wrong lets us know what is happening so we can explain what you are seeing and make suggestions as to how to get what you want. As you are sideloading the book as an epub, the Kobo devices simply render the first page of the book and use that as the cover. If that is displays a cover image, then that will be used. If the first page is text, that will also be used. Because of this, the name of the cover image is unimportant so long as it is used correctly in the code for the first page. The code you posted is basically what I use with no problems. There are of course some gotchas. The device generates and saves the covers for books on the main memory as it needs them. If you replace the book, the covers are not regenerated from the book. The KoboTouch driver in calibre should delete the cover images when you resend a book. But, the device also caches a few covers in memory. That means that if you resend the book and remove the saved cover images, the device might still be using an old version of the cover. The cover will drop out of the cache after some time or if the device is restarted. As you are using calibre, you can configure the driver to generate and send the cover images with the books. In this case, it uses the cover that is in the calibre metadata, not what is in the book. And you can use my Kobo Utilities plugin to remove or upload the cover images as a separate step. As to where the book opens, that is defined in the book code. For the Kobo devices, epubs are opened to the first ToC entry. So, if you add the cover to the ToC, it will open to it when you first open the book. The way I do this is to add a hidden heading of to the cover page. So, I add: Code: <h1 class="hidden">Cover</h1> And in the stylesheet, I have: Code: .hidden { display: none; } After adding this, I regenerate the TOC.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Help with scaling cover to fit thumbnail	Alda	ePub	1	10-09-2013 01:23 AM
Help with scaling cover to fit thumbnail	Alda	Sigil	2	10-01-2013 07:29 AM
iPad SVG Cover thumbnail on iBook	Viridovix	Apple Devices	7	05-01-2013 01:03 AM
KPW - Thumbnail Cover Missing	Nine989	Amazon Kindle	3	10-19-2012 01:48 PM
Cannot get thumbnail cover image to display	Derek R	Sigil	6	02-13-2012 06:52 AM

11-10-2014, 01:14 PM	#2
rosshalde Zealot Posts: 142 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: nook	Here are some things I already tried. 1) deleting the file off of Kobo and then reloading it. Just in case it was storing an old version that I had looked at during the editing process. 2) deleting and re-adding the image in Sigil. 3) One former post in these forums mentioned that the name must be cover.jpg, but none of my other cover images are named that and they display just fine. Here is the code for my cover page-this was created by Sigil and I compared it to a cover page that is working fine and I don't see an issue. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>Cover</title> </head> <body> <div style="text-align: center; padding: 0pt; margin: 0pt;"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="100%" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 1040 1477" width="100%" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <image height="1477" width="1040" xlink:href="../Images/Misericordia%20Readers%20Second%20Cover%20copy.jpg "></image> </svg> </div> </body> </html>

11-10-2014, 03:15 PM	#5
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	It's just a stab in the dark at that point, and I don't know how that line behaves when the dimension in pixels is larger than what can be displayed natively on a reader. I assume that the other 5 books that do work are using the same line, so I really don't think that's the issue. I'm still suspecting the long name or the dimensions are off or an unusually huge file size or something more along those lines.

11-10-2014, 06:30 PM	#6
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 45,830 Karma: 168959602 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	One other item to check is the table of contents. Your Kobo will open the book at the first page pointed to in the TOC the first time you open the book. After tht, it will open on the last page read or if the book has been finished, it will open on the cover page. I also use "xMidYMId meet" and have not seen a problem other than white lines top/bottom or sides due to the image retaining it's aspect ratio.

11-11-2014, 01:42 AM	#8
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Deleted, sorry.

Advert

Advert