[GUI Plugin] Generate Cover - Page 18

davidfor · 05-30-2012, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyspeptica

But I really want an automated method of creation including the cover. It looks like I may get asked to produce *individualized* copies of various books. I want the cover to show the title etc. but I may need to insert individualized dedications, and photos (gifs). Doing that is not difficult, while still in the html file stage, but the cover conversion is a sticky wicket. Would be nice!

If that's the case, I think you are beyond calibre. But, automating this outside of calibre wouldn't be to hard.

As an epub is just a zip file, replacing a file is as simple as running a zip command with the appropriate replace option. For this, I think I would extract the epub into a folder and then create a batch file that took the individualized files, copied them to the extracted epub folder and then zipped this folder up and named it appropriately.

kiwidude · 05-31-2012, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyspeptica

I tried Modify ePub, but notwithstanding the implications of the help page, it does not insert the new cover.

I am guessing you didn't actually download/install the beta version of Modify ePub that is posted within the thread? And instead just used the officially released version that you can get via plugin updater? As the insert cover functionality is only in the beta at this time.

kiwidude · 05-31-2012, 08:14 AM

Changes in this release:

Ensure paths to images used by this plugin are stored as relative paths for portability
Change the calibre library image to appear as {Default Image} in the images list
Reorder the images list so {Default Image} and {Current Cover} appear at the top
Allow renaming images changing only their casing

The main change is to ensure that the plugin no longer stores hard-coded paths to your covers, which should make life easier for users wanting to copy their calibre plugins from one machine to another.

brabender · 06-01-2012, 02:38 PM

Congrats for the plugin, it's my favorite one from the six or seven that I installed on Calibre. There is a minor problem for us non-english speakers: when the book is part of a series, and the checkbox is marked to display it, it appears as "Book ## of ...", regardless of the language used in the rest of the cover or in Calibre. Would it be possible to add a text field to specify the string(s) used? By default, it would contain the actual string in english.

Thanks and good luck.

kiwidude · 06-01-2012, 03:11 PM

@brabender - how could I possibly turn down a polite and sensible request like that

It will be uploaded shortly...

kiwidude · 06-01-2012, 04:24 PM

Changes in this release:

Make the series text an option so foreign language users can change it
No longer respect the calibre preferences Roman Numerals setting - series index will always be displayed numerically.

An example of changing the text away from its default value is shown in the screenshot below. It doesn't have to be for language reasons you change it. As you can see the syntax is the same calibre template language style of formatting like you can use in the custom text field and numerous other places in calibre.

Dyspeptica · 06-01-2012, 07:15 PM

Thanks for the updates. This is awesomely close.

But I am still having problems. I have just updated 'generate' to 1.5.4 and 'modify ePub' to 1.2.1 so I have the latest and greatest.

I have been using --no-default-epub-cover on the command line with ebook-converter. I get a blank background 'cover/first page' with a rectangular section near the top, with the title and publisher. The rectangular area is in a slightly darker shade than the background. I call this the 'generic' cover.

Actual cover generation is fine. I then run 'modify-epub' and select 'insert or replace cover' and the newly generated cover image is inserted, and the old one becomes page 2.

So instead, I tried running 'modify' with 'remove existing cover' *before* generating the cover, and running modify again to insert. The existing cover was not removed (first or at all).

Before, when I re-converted, the generic cover was deleted. So things are very close, but not quite right. There must be a little bug somewhere which treats the generic cover as not being a cover.

Still playing with all this, so re-converting is not a problem.

Dyspeptica · 06-01-2012, 07:18 PM

Oops, brushed 'reply' too early.
Re-converting *does* remove the generic cover from between the generated cover, and the 'frontispiece' of the body.

kiwidude · 06-04-2012, 04:42 PM

@Dyspeptica - I'm assume you posted here just because your earlier comments were here but none of that has anything to do with this plugin, it is all ebook-convert command line and the Modify ePub plugin. But I will answer here anyways.

If you insert a cover during an ebook-convert operation, then Modify ePub can replace it with either of "Insert/replace cover" or "Update metadata" options.

If you don't supply a cover during an ebook-convert operation, but allow calibre to generate a default one, the same as above applies.

If you don't supply a cover during an ebook-convert operation, and tell calibre not to generate a default one, then there is no "blank background/generic cover" created by calibre. That page is part of your original ebook or a byproduct of the conversion pipeline for it, it is not a "cover" as such. To then add a cover, you must use the "Insert/replace cover" option of Modify ePub. Which will as you found add a new cover page to the front of your book since your book does not have a real cover already, leaving the existing content alone.

Using the "Remove cover" option of Modify ePub is an option you would only choose if it was your intent to strip covers from your books without putting any back in. It is automatically called behind the scenes when you choose "Insert/replace cover", so there is no point in running it in isolation - in fact it could be detrimental to do so. There are a few posts describing this behaviour at the end of the Modify ePub development thread and the implications of it, and should also be info in the Help file for that plugin.

Dyspeptica · 06-05-2012, 09:14 PM

Thanks Kiwidude,

What I get sure looks like a cover. It must be an artifact of the conversion pipeline. And Modify-epub does not touch it.

So I will try some builds with ebook-convert without the --no-default-epub-cover and *then* generate and use modify. Sounds like that should work: actually *have* a cover for 'replace' to work on!

Thanks

affa · 06-15-2012, 09:59 PM

This is an awesome plugin. Thank you.

Iocane · 06-17-2012, 01:49 AM

I've been playing with my library a lot the last few days (...weeks?) and I just want to say how much I love this plugin. It's so easy to change my cover settings, I've got a handful of presets and I tweak them each as needed.

I mostly use it to make a custom cover when the original cover is either non-existent (fanfic/articles) or simply awful (old sci fi / modern trashy romances) ... or if there's an anthology, the short story entries each have their own cover.

I'm somewhat OCD and both the output of this plugin and the usage are wonderful, excellent job!

(This isn't leading up to 'but if you could just ...' I just wanted to give a shout out to how much I very, very much appreciate this plugin, and wanted to put even a fraction of the thought into my thanks that you put into the actual work.)

kiwidude · 06-17-2012, 07:34 AM

@Iocane - thanks for the kind words. I did get a giggle out of your "but if you could just..." comment

affa · 06-17-2012, 06:44 PM

There should be a little zip file somewhere full of people's favorite background images that work well as generic book covers.

DrNefario · 06-19-2012, 08:46 AM

It's not really specifically to do with this plugin, but I'd like to see a nice range of generic plain cover backgrounds, too. It's surprisingly difficult to find anything on the web. I managed to find myself three or four decent images, yesterday, but I'm not even sure any of those are really freely usable. (Not that I intend to distribute them, or anything.)

05-31-2012, 08:14 AM	#258
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,729 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	v1.5.3 Released Changes in this release: Ensure paths to images used by this plugin are stored as relative paths for portability Change the calibre library image to appear as {Default Image} in the images list Reorder the images list so {Default Image} and {Current Cover} appear at the top Allow renaming images changing only their casing The main change is to ensure that the plugin no longer stores hard-coded paths to your covers, which should make life easier for users wanting to copy their calibre plugins from one machine to another.

06-01-2012, 04:24 PM	#261
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,729 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	v1.5.4 Released Changes in this release: Make the series text an option so foreign language users can change it No longer respect the calibre preferences Roman Numerals setting - series index will always be displayed numerically. An example of changing the text away from its default value is shown in the screenshot below. It doesn't have to be for language reasons you change it. As you can see the syntax is the same calibre template language style of formatting like you can use in the custom text field and numerous other places in calibre. Attached Thumbnails

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
[GUI Plugin] Open With	kiwidude	Plugins	404	02-21-2025 05:42 AM
[GUI Plugin] Goodreads Sync	kiwidude	Plugins	1781	02-12-2025 07:09 PM
[GUI Plugin] Clipboard Search	kiwidude	Plugins	29	04-02-2024 10:05 PM
[GUI Plugin] User Category	kiwidude	Plugins	123	03-16-2024 11:59 PM
[GUI Plugin] Quick Preferences	kiwidude	Plugins	62	03-16-2024 11:47 PM

06-01-2012, 02:38 PM	#259
brabender Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 20 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Xperia X1	Congrats for the plugin, it's my favorite one from the six or seven that I installed on Calibre. There is a minor problem for us non-english speakers: when the book is part of a series, and the checkbox is marked to display it, it appears as "Book ## of ...", regardless of the language used in the rest of the cover or in Calibre. Would it be possible to add a text field to specify the string(s) used? By default, it would contain the actual string in english. Thanks and good luck.

06-01-2012, 03:11 PM	#260
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,729 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	@brabender - how could I possibly turn down a polite and sensible request like that It will be uploaded shortly...

06-01-2012, 07:15 PM	#262
Dyspeptica Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: iPad	Thanks for the updates. This is awesomely close. But I am still having problems. I have just updated 'generate' to 1.5.4 and 'modify ePub' to 1.2.1 so I have the latest and greatest. I have been using --no-default-epub-cover on the command line with ebook-converter. I get a blank background 'cover/first page' with a rectangular section near the top, with the title and publisher. The rectangular area is in a slightly darker shade than the background. I call this the 'generic' cover. Actual cover generation is fine. I then run 'modify-epub' and select 'insert or replace cover' and the newly generated cover image is inserted, and the old one becomes page 2. So instead, I tried running 'modify' with 'remove existing cover' before generating the cover, and running modify again to insert. The existing cover was not removed (first or at all). Before, when I re-converted, the generic cover was deleted. So things are very close, but not quite right. There must be a little bug somewhere which treats the generic cover as not being a cover. Still playing with all this, so re-converting is not a problem.

06-01-2012, 07:18 PM	#263
Dyspeptica Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: iPad	Oops, brushed 'reply' too early. Re-converting does remove the generic cover from between the generated cover, and the 'frontispiece' of the body.

06-04-2012, 04:42 PM	#264
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,729 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	@Dyspeptica - I'm assume you posted here just because your earlier comments were here but none of that has anything to do with this plugin, it is all ebook-convert command line and the Modify ePub plugin. But I will answer here anyways. If you insert a cover during an ebook-convert operation, then Modify ePub can replace it with either of "Insert/replace cover" or "Update metadata" options. If you don't supply a cover during an ebook-convert operation, but allow calibre to generate a default one, the same as above applies. If you don't supply a cover during an ebook-convert operation, and tell calibre not to generate a default one, then there is no "blank background/generic cover" created by calibre. That page is part of your original ebook or a byproduct of the conversion pipeline for it, it is not a "cover" as such. To then add a cover, you must use the "Insert/replace cover" option of Modify ePub. Which will as you found add a new cover page to the front of your book since your book does not have a real cover already, leaving the existing content alone. Using the "Remove cover" option of Modify ePub is an option you would only choose if it was your intent to strip covers from your books without putting any back in. It is automatically called behind the scenes when you choose "Insert/replace cover", so there is no point in running it in isolation - in fact it could be detrimental to do so. There are a few posts describing this behaviour at the end of the Modify ePub development thread and the implications of it, and should also be info in the Help file for that plugin.

06-05-2012, 09:14 PM	#265
Dyspeptica Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: iPad	Thanks Kiwidude, What I get sure looks like a cover. It must be an artifact of the conversion pipeline. And Modify-epub does not touch it. So I will try some builds with ebook-convert without the --no-default-epub-cover and then generate and use modify. Sounds like that should work: actually have a cover for 'replace' to work on! Thanks

06-15-2012, 09:59 PM	#266
affa Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 1234 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: kindle	This is an awesome plugin. Thank you.

06-17-2012, 01:49 AM	#267
Iocane Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 1162 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Sony PRS-600	I've been playing with my library a lot the last few days (...weeks?) and I just want to say how much I love this plugin. It's so easy to change my cover settings, I've got a handful of presets and I tweak them each as needed. I mostly use it to make a custom cover when the original cover is either non-existent (fanfic/articles) or simply awful (old sci fi / modern trashy romances) ... or if there's an anthology, the short story entries each have their own cover. I'm somewhat OCD and both the output of this plugin and the usage are wonderful, excellent job! (This isn't leading up to 'but if you could just ...' I just wanted to give a shout out to how much I very, very much appreciate this plugin, and wanted to put even a fraction of the thought into my thanks that you put into the actual work.)

06-17-2012, 07:34 AM	#268
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,729 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	@Iocane - thanks for the kind words. I did get a giggle out of your "but if you could just..." comment

06-17-2012, 06:44 PM	#269
affa Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 1234 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: kindle	There should be a little zip file somewhere full of people's favorite background images that work well as generic book covers.

Advert

Advert

06-19-2012, 08:46 AM	#270
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,203 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	It's not really specifically to do with this plugin, but I'd like to see a nice range of generic plain cover backgrounds, too. It's surprisingly difficult to find anything on the web. I managed to find myself three or four decent images, yesterday, but I'm not even sure any of those are really freely usable. (Not that I intend to distribute them, or anything.)