Calibre Metadata not same as EPub Meta

[Brovig]

I am fairly new to the world of eBooks and especially Calibre and have a question about metadata. I'm using Calibre to edit the metadata and to sync with my Kobo Aura ereader. I also use the EPub Metadata Editor utility occasionally.

I am finding that the metadata editing I do in Calibre is not always reflected in the EPub Metadata Editor. The author/creator fields don't always match - eg in Calibre I always make sure that I set author and author sort, and I always make sure I have a cover image.

But in EPub Metadata editor I often see just one Creator entry, usually in Lname, Fname order. And often no cover image.

Do these two programs use different metadata fields? What's the score?!

Thank you kindly for any help!

[itimpi]

When you update metadata in Calibre it only updates it in the Calibre metadata database - it is not embedded into the ePub file at that point. Calibre uses a 'lazy update' technique for performance reasons to make updating metadata faster as database updates are quick. The ePub Metadata editor you mention is probably working off the data embedded in the ePub file.

You can force Calibre to update it immediately using the Calibre Polish feature or the Modify ePub plugin. If you do not use either of those it is only updated in the ePub file if you do a conversion to ePub; Use Send to Device; or use Save to Disk (to export the file from Calibre).

[Brovig]

Many thanks for your help, and your prompt response!

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by itimpi

You can force Calibre to update it immediately using the Calibre Polish feature or the Modify ePub plugin. If you do not use either of those it is only updated in the ePub file if you do a conversion to ePub; Use Send to Device; or use Save to Disk (to export the file from Calibre).

The metadata in the epub will also be updated if the book is retrieved via Calibre's Content Server or sent via calibre's Sharing books by email feature.

[eurasiarc]

I am having similar questions.

I have simply used Calibre to enter some new tags for some books, mostly in epub and pdf format.

I am using the Mantano or Aldiko readers to read most of these books. All of my books have been sent or tranferred to the external sdcard on my Nook HD plus device and then imported into Mantano or Aldiko.

My question is this. If I edit or add to the tags using Calibre, sync or transfer the revised metadata information to my device, then delete the Aldiko or Mantano databases without deleting the files originally sent by Calibre then reimport the same files into the Aldiko or Mantano reader, will the new tags show up in the metadata for the readers?

In other words if I change the metadata for books uploaded or sent to my device using Calibre, then reimport these books into the reader, will the changes in tags or metadata show up in the book information that appears in the readers?

Thanks for any further input on this issue.

[Adoby]

You need to send the modified books to your device again.

I have a custom column for all the books that I have on my device. If I find that I have to edit metadata for a book already on the device, I first connect and delete the book on my device. Then update metadata and send the book to my device again.

Actually I don't send directly to my device, instead I have a folder on my NAS that I send to, and then I sync a folder on my device to that folder over wifi. The sync is done automatically if any books are updated, added or deleted. I use the app FolderSync. But I also have to reimport the book to Mantano.

I usually avoid sending books to my device if I'm not confident that the metadata is complete and correct. Saves a lot of trouble.

[eurasiarc]

Thanks for the fast responses to my questions. It looks like FolderSync is an option for updating books with new tags.

I still have one thing I don't quite understand about integrating the tags and changes to metadata using Calibre.

If you simply reconvert the books with new tags or metadata using the Calibre file converter, will the new tags be integrated into the the reconverted epub files or do you need a special plugin to accomplish this?

Thanks in advance for any help with this issue.

[Adoby]

The tags will be updated in the newly converted books.

[eurasiarc]

Great! Thanks for the help.

I am noticing that to get the new tags integrated in the reconverted files you need to recovert them one at a time.

When I tried to reconvert multiple files with new tags or edited metadata, I noticed that only the first file in the group selected for conversion ended up with the new tags. Other files in the multiple conversion didn't seem to incorporate the new tags. I had to reconvert the files individually to epub format to get the new tags and metadata to appear in the epub files.

[Adoby]

All books that are converted using the GUI, in bulk or individually, should each end up with the tags that the GUI displays for each individual book. If that isn't the case, then you have discovered a very serious bug.

Try to repeat it. Could it be that only the first book in the group actually had metadata updated?

[BetterRed]

I maybe missing the point, but...

I don't (re)Convert to get updated metadata into an ePub, it happens automatically if I (re)Send to device, or (re)Save to disk. And if I want the updated metadata to appear in the library epub I (re)Polish the book

Save and Polish work in bulk, I don't do much Sending to device but I from memory it also works in bulk (assuming the device is willing and able).


BR

[theducks]

they all work in Bulk

Edit Metadata and Convert, both have Bulk Modes that are slightly different from their single Title Modes

[eurasiarc]

Thanks for getting back.

I have tried repeating the multiple reconvert after installing Calibre 1.6.0. The multiple reconversions seem to incorporate the new tags and metadata in the epub files. Other files like mobi books do not incorporate the tags created by Calibre.

What happens if these recoverted files are resent to the tablet device using Calibre companion and stored in the same folder.

Will readers like Montano or Page Turner that look for books in the same folder where Calibre - Calibre companion is storing the books, incorporate the new tags and metadata or do the books have to be reimported. It seems that Montano just uses the file sent by Calibre to the device and does not make an extra copy. When I access the newly updated or reconverted epub books, will the new tags show up in the reader's listings?

[Adoby]

Some ebook formats don't support all the different types of metadata that calibre allows you to specify. There simply isn't anywhere to put the information. The format that supports the most metadata is epub. For instance mobi books can't store series information. One way to handle that is to add series information to the title of the book. This can be done automatically by calibre, when you send books to a device, using "plugboards".

Another way around limitations of book formats to store metadata is to use Calibre Companion. That allows you to show all the metadata that you have entered in calibre, by copying the data to a database on your device. CC can display that metadata and allows you to open books in a reading app. When you update metadata in calibre and connect using CC, then that database can be automatically updated. But the books themselves are not updated. For that to happen you have to resend the books to the device again.

When it comes to Mantano I know that updated books have to be deleted from Mantano, and reimported, for new metadata to be shown in Mantano. There is no "reread metadata" functionality in Mantano.

The way I handle this is to make sure that the metadata and cover is complete and correct before I send the books to my device. Then I won't have to update or resend any of the books ever again. And I mainly use epub as the book format, so I have access to most of the metadata from calibre that way. I don't use CC, instead I use the book browsing functions of Mantano.

[eurasiarc]

Thanks for the constructive ideas about Calibre and book management.

I am finding Calibre companion quite useful for organizing books and access to whatever readers one has on an android device. All of my books have now been converted to epub, except pdf files. With regard to tags and metadata, It is great that you can update them and reconvert them to epub, which I find is the most useful and preferable format for most books.

I am relatively new to reading books on an android device and have been checking out and experimenting with some of the main readers. Here are a few things that I have observed about several of the readers. It is good that most readers allow you to locate epub books by their tags.

Montano readers have the advantage of allowing one to create categories and subcategories and also show tags. Montano also allows you to set a folder on your external sdcard as the default folder for books and does not create new copies of each book and store them in a new folder taking up unnecessary space. This can be the same folder that you use to send and store your Calibre books.

So far what I have found with Aldiko is that it imports files and folders created with Calibre and copies them into a separate folder taking up enormous space.

Moon reader seems to have a strange way of page numbering with epub books. It starts numbering books from the beginning of each chapter instead of numbering them from the beginning of the book.

For any ebooks, I find that book marking and annotation is important, in my case, mostly book marking. Some pdf readers seem to have ability to make annotations but not bookmarks.

Google play books has a great number of free books from about 1930 and backwards. Most of these books are in both pdf and epub form. The epub form is atrocious for its inability do do correct OCR. The pdf version with a photocopy of each page instead of flowing text is actually quite readable. The problem is that wireless network access can be very slow and Google Play seems to store copies of everything your read on the internal SD card of an Android. I'm finding that they can be read more easily downloading them to a computer then sending them back to the Android device using Calibre and calibre companion after you set the external microsdcard as the default for file storage. Google play books stored on the android can be accessed without difficulty whereas sometimes it is difficult to read them off of your Google play books account on the Internet.

Just a few of the things I have discovered racently about managing and reading ebooks.

Hope that these observations have been accurate and may be of use to other new ebook managers like myself.