Frequently Asked Questions

[library addict]

How do I set the Table of Contents correctly when converting PDF to EPUB and the chapters appear as "1 CHAPTER" "2 CHAPTER" etc (with the chapter number before the word chapter)? Calibre finds all the chapter breaks correctly, but none of the digits appear in the TOC or in the ePub itself.

I realize it's probably an easy fix, but I haven't been able to figure it out. Thanks.

[feldashv]

Will Calibre be able to convert books from the new Google eBook store into Kindle format?

Thanks!

[kovidgoyal]

If the google editions are downloadable as DRM free epub files, sure.

[sleepy6553]

This gets filed under "dumb questions." Even better, under the "dumber questions", since I've done this before but just can't remember how. I will be sure to write it down for next time. Sorry.

How do I transfer the books I've gotten from Amazon that are on my Kindle into the Calibre library? I know how to get books I've downloaded from other sources from Calibre to Kindle, just not the other way. I must have known how to do this earlier since I have some books that were sent by Amazon on Calibre right now.

Thanks. I feel like such a dummy!

[Manichean]

Connect the device via USB, go to device view, right-click the books you want and select "add to library".

[sleepy6553]

Thank you! That didn't even ring a bell with me, but I guess I did it before. It's in my notes now. Appreciate the quick response.

[MrsJoseph]

Hi! I'm a new user to Calibre. I recently received my first ereader - a Kobo! - but I already have a ebook library. I contacted one of my book sellers to get converted copies (.pdf to .epub) of my previously purchased books and was informed that they have lost my account and could not help me. They suggested use Calibre to convert the books. I have tried this but I end up with 'hidden text' (author name, book title, and page number). I have been told that the 'hidden text' can be removed using regular expressions. This is where I start to get lost. I have found a tutorial and have created the string: (<A name=\d+>\s*</a>)(<i>author name </i><br>|(<A name=\d+>\s*</a>)(<i>book name </i><br>) - for the header and (\d+ <br> <hr>) - for the footer. For some reason it does not work and I have really hit the limits of my computing ability! I just want to read my books without a big page break filled with unnecessary information *sigh*

Is there any way that you can assist me in figuring out what I did wrong?

Thanks!

[Manichean]

Without knowing how the header and footer look in the ebook file, there's not much we can do about your problem. Click on the magic wand in header/footer removal and have a look at how they are created in the XHTML, then review your regex.

[MrsJoseph]

Thanks, Manichean! (Hey, my tutorial I found was written by you!)

Now, I'm not exactly sure what you meant by that so I'm assuming you are talking about the actual stuff inside the book file rather than the string of blank information that comes up before you click the wand (don't you love my very technical tech speak? lol). Sooo... I'll give you both.

The string in the space beside the wand (before clicking): (?i)(?<=<hr>)((\s*<a name=\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\s*)?\d+<br>\s*.*?\s*)|(\s*<a name=\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\s*)?.*?<br>\s*\d+))(?=<br>)

The header inside the file (after clicking the wand): <br>
5 <br>
<hr>
<A name=6></a><i>Delphine Dryden </i><br>

and

6 <br>
<hr>
<A name=7></a><i>When in Rio </i><br>

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Thanks, Manichean! (Hey, my tutorial I found was written by you!)

Yes, that's been known to happen.

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

The string in the space beside the wand (before clicking): (?i)(?<=<hr>)((\s*<a name=\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\s*)?\d+<br>\s*.*?\s*)|(\s*<a name=\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\s*)?.*?<br>\s*\d+))(?=<br>)

That seems to be the standard expression calibre uses when you do not provide a custom one. It gets automatically filled into the regex field.

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

The header inside the file (after clicking the wand): <br>
5 <br>
<hr>
<A name=6></a><i>Delphine Dryden </i><br>

and

6 <br>
<hr>
<A name=7></a><i>When in Rio </i><br>

That's the stuff we need. Now, looking at your expression

(<A name=\d+>\s*</a>)(<i>author name </i><br>|(<A name=\d+>\s*</a>)(<i>book name </i><br>)

the part describing the <a name>- tag should be correct. There seem to be some mismatched parentheses in the next part- the one you open just before the <i> tag never gets closed. Also, obviously, you'd need to replace the string "author name" and "book name" by the actual author and book names. Personally, I'd suggest using

<A name=\d+></a><i>[a-zA-Z ]+</i><br>

For the footer, you used

(\d+ <br> <hr>)

I see no linebreak in that expression, but there is one in the markup. Try using

\d+\s+<br>\s+<hr>

[MrsJoseph]

Thank you so much! You're a genius! I really appreciate this!

[Manichean]

You're welcome, although that's too much praise.

[kenjo]

First post here, so forgive me if this question has already been answered. I did try to search out the answer, without success. I'm using version 0.7.33 and a Aluratek Libre (Kobo clone) ebook reader. Windows XP.

Although the calibre desktop shows an icon for the reader's SD card ("Card A"), when I click on the icon it does not show the ebooks stored on the card. Not a big deal, but puzzling.

I also would like to send ebooks from the library directly to the SD card, rather than the reader memory. Is there a way to change the send destination? Otherwise I have to move files from the reader's built in memory card to the SD card manually.

Thanks

[kenjo]

Originally Posted by kenjo

First post here, so forgive me if this question has already been answered. I did try to search out the answer, without success. I'm using version 0.7.33 and a Aluratek Libre (Kobo clone) ebook reader. Windows XP.

Although the calibre desktop shows an icon for the reader's SD card ("Card A"), when I click on the icon it does not show the ebooks stored on the card. Not a big deal, but puzzling.

I also would like to send ebooks from the library directly to the SD card, rather than the reader memory. Is there a way to change the send destination? Otherwise I have to move files from the reader's built in memory card to the SD card manually.

Thanks

Um...never mind. I found the answer. Clicked on arrow on the right side of the send to device icon and it provided a list of destinations, including Card A.

[ThePage]

Have recently found that if I'm "ahead of" the computer in typing into a field that I'm clicking open that it move my viewpoint to the next field actually containing the character that I attempted to type too soon - somewhat disconcerting - I'm wondering if this is fortuitous - or not?

This is one of 3 questions I put in yesterday, which are not appearing except in a search, as far as I can find.