epub to PDF: different output in Calibre 3 vs 4

xfrank · 07-18-2020, 09:37 PM

Hi! I highly appreciate this wonderful software, many thanks to the developers!

I have a simple question. I use Calibre regularly to convert epub files to pdf files. I noticed that the pdf output in versions 3 and 4 is quite different. PDF version output is 1.7 in Cal4 and is 1.4 in Cal3. However, the key difference is the font management: in Cal3 the pdf file has the fonts clearly indicated with their names, and the text is easily selected and copied elsewhere. In Cal4 the fonts are not indicated, and when the text is copied&pasted, the words are all chopped, separated with spaces.
When the pdf file is opened with a pdf manager (such as MasterPDF manager), in the files produced with Cal3 the text is easily modified. Not in the Cal4 pdf files: here is impossible to modify the text because each letter is treated as a separate glyph, not as words and lines of text.
This change is not good for me, I had to revert Cal4.20 to Cal3.48. But I'm curious what changed between the two versions of the program, about the conversion to pdf.

Sorry for my poor English, my native language is Spanish.

kovidgoyal · 07-19-2020, 12:14 AM

What changed is that qt webkit which was used with a custom PDF generation backend in calibre 3 was discontinued. So calibre now uses chromium (Qt webengine) to render PDF.

xfrank · 07-19-2020, 11:29 AM

Thanks Kovidgoyal, best whishes

Quoth · 07-20-2020, 09:24 AM

I'd export epubs as RTF and then use something like Word or LO Writer to format the document as required as a PDF.
Though turning ebooks into PDFs seems a retrograde step. They are best either for proofing paper or larger complex documents with equations, tables, colour etc and fixed layout, thus needing a 10" tablet minimum.

Calibre's RTF converison/export works well. I use it to edit PD texts obtained as mobi or epub.

xfrank · 07-24-2020, 03:14 PM

Thanks for you suggestion Quoth, I will try, but that would be a longer way to generate a pdf. With calibre, producing a good quality pdf from an epub is a matter of seconds.
As about the "retrograde step" converting epub to pdf, I do this mostly because I'm a teacher and my students generally read pdf archives in their laptops and phones. They don't read ebooks.

07-18-2020, 09:37 PM	#1
xfrank Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2020 Device: Kindle	epub to PDF: different output in Calibre 3 vs 4 Hi! I highly appreciate this wonderful software, many thanks to the developers! I have a simple question. I use Calibre regularly to convert epub files to pdf files. I noticed that the pdf output in versions 3 and 4 is quite different. PDF version output is 1.7 in Cal4 and is 1.4 in Cal3. However, the key difference is the font management: in Cal3 the pdf file has the fonts clearly indicated with their names, and the text is easily selected and copied elsewhere. In Cal4 the fonts are not indicated, and when the text is copied&pasted, the words are all chopped, separated with spaces. When the pdf file is opened with a pdf manager (such as MasterPDF manager), in the files produced with Cal3 the text is easily modified. Not in the Cal4 pdf files: here is impossible to modify the text because each letter is treated as a separate glyph, not as words and lines of text. This change is not good for me, I had to revert Cal4.20 to Cal3.48. But I'm curious what changed between the two versions of the program, about the conversion to pdf. Sorry for my poor English, my native language is Spanish.

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07-19-2020, 12:14 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	What changed is that qt webkit which was used with a custom PDF generation backend in calibre 3 was discontinued. So calibre now uses chromium (Qt webengine) to render PDF.

07-19-2020, 11:29 AM	#3
xfrank Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2020 Device: Kindle	Thanks Kovidgoyal, best whishes

07-20-2020, 09:24 AM	#4
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,811 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	I'd export epubs as RTF and then use something like Word or LO Writer to format the document as required as a PDF. Though turning ebooks into PDFs seems a retrograde step. They are best either for proofing paper or larger complex documents with equations, tables, colour etc and fixed layout, thus needing a 10" tablet minimum. Calibre's RTF converison/export works well. I use it to edit PD texts obtained as mobi or epub.

07-24-2020, 03:14 PM	#5
xfrank Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2020 Device: Kindle	Thanks for you suggestion Quoth, I will try, but that would be a longer way to generate a pdf. With calibre, producing a good quality pdf from an epub is a matter of seconds. As about the "retrograde step" converting epub to pdf, I do this mostly because I'm a teacher and my students generally read pdf archives in their laptops and phones. They don't read ebooks.

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