Alternative Book Height Calculation in Bookshelf View?

GuruKast · Yesterday, 05:55 AM

Good Day!
Not sure how the height calculation is done currently, but for variable book height, could we get one based on a formula using the cover image height/aspect ratio in some way? Perhaps as a "based on cover image" Checkbox?
Reason being, I would like my series to be the same height in a group, and this way the onus is on us (calibre users) to make sure covers are the same dimensions

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kovidgoyal · Yesterday, 08:01 AM

It's based on the book id. Basically a deterministic hash of the book id. As for making it controllable, that could be done, but using cover height is not viable as that would involve reading the cover image enough to get its dimensions during shelf layout calculation, which is too slow. The way to do it is to use a template similar to the width template, but that is rather a lot of work to implement.

GuruKast · Yesterday, 09:22 AM

Hmm, yeah, speed is important; bookshelf view doesn't need to be any slower than it is. How about something along the lines of: when it's in group mode and it gets the group divider info (group name), it sets a group height based on the first-in-the-group calculation. All books in that group will then use that height setting, which only changes when the group name changes or when there's no group info. This should not really impact speed right? Not sure if I explained it clearly or the level of difficulty involved.

kovidgoyal · Yesterday, 10:46 PM

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...3e6a00f60e46c0

Yesterday, 05:55 AM	#1
GuruKast Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 39902 Join Date: Feb 2026 Device: none	Alternative Book Height Calculation in Bookshelf View? Good Day! Not sure how the height calculation is done currently, but for variable book height, could we get one based on a formula using the cover image height/aspect ratio in some way? Perhaps as a "based on cover image" Checkbox? Reason being, I would like my series to be the same height in a group, and this way the onus is on us (calibre users) to make sure covers are the same dimensions

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Yesterday, 08:01 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 46,114 Karma: 29626208 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	It's based on the book id. Basically a deterministic hash of the book id. As for making it controllable, that could be done, but using cover height is not viable as that would involve reading the cover image enough to get its dimensions during shelf layout calculation, which is too slow. The way to do it is to use a template similar to the width template, but that is rather a lot of work to implement.

Yesterday, 09:22 AM	#3
GuruKast Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 39902 Join Date: Feb 2026 Device: none	Hmm, yeah, speed is important; bookshelf view doesn't need to be any slower than it is. How about something along the lines of: when it's in group mode and it gets the group divider info (group name), it sets a group height based on the first-in-the-group calculation. All books in that group will then use that height setting, which only changes when the group name changes or when there's no group info. This should not really impact speed right? Not sure if I explained it clearly or the level of difficulty involved.

Yesterday, 10:46 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 46,114 Karma: 29626208 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...3e6a00f60e46c0

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